A HOLIDAYMAKER was left seething after being slapped with a £16,000 parking bill after returning from a foreign jaunt.
Ioan Williams added that his wheel was allegedly hanging off his vehicle when he arrived at the Meet and Greet service at Manchester Airport.
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Ioan, 44, was reportedly told that there had been an incident involving his white Range Rover at the service after returning from a sun-drenched trip to Alicante with his children Ela and Sion, Wales Online reported.
The holidaymaker, from near Caernarfon, was left open-mouthed when his motor’s wheel was allegedly sitting at an abnormal angle.
Ioan was reportedly told by insurers that the repair cost would set him back an eye-popping £15,800.
“I left the car with them on the 9th of August,” he told North Wales Live.
“This is the official meet and greet at Terminal 2 and a camera surveys your car before you enter the car park to assess any pre-existing damage.
“My car didn’t even have as much as a scratch on it.
“I dropped my keys off inside the terminal where they gave me a receipt. We then went away on our holiday.”
But the car was allegedly in a very different condition upon Ioan’s return on August 16.
He continued: “I went to get some coffee while my friends who also parked there went ahead of me.
“When I arrived at the pick up for meet and greet I saw my friends loading their luggage into their car.
“I went to scan my barcode to retrieve my keys. But it said seek attention.”
“I instantly knew something was up and thought that my car had been stolen but he said one of ‘our drivers have kerbed your wheel’.
“I thought ‘oh god’ and said ‘I hope you’re going to paint it’.
“To which he replied ‘I think you need to have a look at it’. When we walked up to the car I noticed that the angle of the wheel wasn’t right and obviously been involved in a high impact and I stated this to him.
“He agreed and said that the driver has been dealt with but there weren’t any cameras in that area.
“The car was obviously not drivable as something had snapped. They paid for a taxi home for us and I had to leave the car there. I wasn’t home until 5am.”
Ioan hit out at Manchester Airport and vowed never to use their Meet and Greet service again.
“Manchester Airport refunded the £149.99 I paid to park there,” he said.
“But I haven’t had an apology email/letter from them or an offer of compensation whatsoever.
“I’m there quite often but I’ll never use their meet and greet service again.”
The Sun has reached out to Manchester Airport for comment.
WHAT ARE YOUR RIGHTS?
With the number of ‘Meet and Greet’ parking services at UK airports on the increase, how do you know you’ve made the right choice? While you leave your vehicle at an airport at your own risk, we provide a series of top tips to follow when selecting a Meet and Greet parking service.
Beware airport parking comparison websites
Searching for parking online is probably the first thing most people do. However, whilst some comparison websites display the Park Mark logo either on the home page, against parking operators they compare, or state that some of the parking companies listed have the award, these websites may not necessarily provide a full list for you to check which ones actually do.
Note – Park Mark is a registered trademark and is awarded to the car park, not the organisation or operator, and the logo can only be displayed in the car park itself or in conjunction with the car park name by the operator. A comparison website has no authority to display the Park Mark logo.
You can check which operators have Park Mark on our dedicated website, parkmark.co.uk using the postcode, town, meet and greet or airport checkboxes. The closest 10 will be displayed and the website is updated monthly so you can trust the information provided.
Source: British Parking Association