Couple distraught after firm which parks cars in muddy field lost their £10K Mercedes
A COUPLE who spent years saving up to buy a £10,000 Mercedes were horrified to return from holiday and be told by a car parking firm that their vehicle had disappeared.
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Antony Smith and Lisa Hook booked their silver Mercedes C-class 220 CDI AMG sport edition into a company operating close to Manchester Airport ahead of their two-week trip to Turkey. But when they arrived back in the UK the group called Meet and Greet Manchester Airport Services Ltd told them they could not find their car - and even questioned if they had ever left it in their care.
Ms Hook, 50, told Manchester Evening News: “We rang after we’d landed and they said they couldn’t find the car.
“There were a lot of phone calls back and forth - all in the early hours of the morning.
“First they were saying they couldn’t find the car, then they couldn’t locate the keys and then they started denying we had ever left our car with them.
The pair from Barnsley had left their car with a driver who knew their names and booking number when they arrived at the airport ahead of their holiday.
Ms Hook, a warehouse operator, and her boyfriend Mr Smith, a wagon driver, had found the company on a website called Fly Park Plus and paid them £77 to look after their car.
After failing to get answers on the phone shortly after touching down in Manchester on October 8, the pair jumped in a taxi and headed to the company’s site in Styal, three miles away.
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But to their dismay, a female staff member whom they had spoken to on the phone emerged and denied they were the company who had taken the couple’s booking.
Ms Hook recalled: “At one point she asked if we were sure if we’d dropped it off at the right place. It was ridiculous.”
Hours later, the couple returned to the site during daylight and were appalled at the sight before them.
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Scores of cars were parked in a field covered with mud, patches of which were ankle-deep.
She said: “We couldn’t believe it when we saw what it looked like in daylight. It was shocking.
“All those people who book with these firms don’t realise where they’re actually leaving their car.”
Meet and Green Manchester Airport Services Ltd is not affiliated with the airport.
Greater Manchester Police said the car had been reported as stolen and enquiries are ongoing.
The car parking group’s daytime dispatch manager who gave his name as Mr Ali said a similar situation has not occurred with them “for a while”.
He said the Mercedes was registered coming into the field and also leaving the site and CCTV was being analysed to determine its whereabouts.
He blamed rain for the dire state of the carpark and said the firm is cooperating with police.
A spokesman for Manchester Airport said: “Meet and Greet Airport Services has no affiliation to Manchester Airport and does not offer official airport car parking.
“We would urge any customers to thoroughly research the company they book their parking with before handing their keys over.”