Airport car parking companies are urging agents to continue booking them after an investigation by the BBC’s Watchdog programme exposed one company for racing cars, crashing them and parking them in supermarket car parks.
BCP managing director Stephen Moss said to guarantee good service agents should only book car parking companies registered with the Independent Airport Park and Ride Association (IAPRA).
He added airport parking is still a good source of commission, the company’s payments to agents start at 15%, while BCP has a complaint rate of less than 0.5% of the million bookings it took last year, half of which were made by agents.
Moss said: “Incidents such as those uncovered with Pink Meet and Greet could encourage the public to contact their local travel agents to know they can get the best advice on car parking.”
Holiday Extras major account manager Steve Wilkinson said the company had written to its agent clients, who accounted for more than a third of the company’s million plus bookings last year, to reassure them its IAPRA-registered service is also safe.
He added: “We’re constantly monitoring the work of all our suppliers.”
The Watchdog programme showed Pink Meet and Greet customers’ cars, which should have been in a secure compound, parked in nearby streets and supermarket car parks and one was driven by staff at 106mph.
Other cars sustained heavy damage and were frequently returned full of empty food wrappers and smelling of cigarette smoke. The company, which had no official licence to trade at Gatwick, has ceased trading.
Haslemere Travel managing director Andrew Brownrigg said his agents would continue to organise car parking when asked to do so and only books through IAPRA registered companies.