Meet-and-greet users at Stansted Airport tell of car damage and mystery miles

BBC News

23-05-2025

A woman says she has been left in a "nightmare" with up to £6,500 worth of damage to her car after leaving it with a company offering "secure" parking for airport passengers.Sophie Rose used Keir Allan's meet-and-greet service at Stansted Airport for her 30th birthday trip, but said on her return she was told her car had been in a "hit-and-run accident" 21 miles (34km) away in Harlow.The BBC has spoken to other Keir Allan customers whose claims include them returning to vandalised cars, finding hundreds more miles on their odometers and dash cam footage showing a trip to Burger King.GetAwayEssentials.com Limited - which trades as Keir Allan - told the BBC it did not cause the damage to Mrs Rose's car so were "not liable", and disputed the repair costs.The firm said it notified Essex police of the accident and provided the force with a witness statement.
On arriving back from Dublin last month, Mrs Rose's car was returned with its "boot up in the air and the bumper completely smashed in".Her insurers said that, in order to cover the repairs, she needed to claim on Keir Allan's insurance. But Mrs Rose claimed Keir Allan had "refused... and said that it's a police matter". "I contacted Essex Police and the reference number Keir Allan provided me with doesn't exist," she said.Mrs Rose, from Felixstowe in Suffolk, thought Keir Allan had "been nothing but rude, disrespectful".Musa Ahmed, director at Keir Allan, said Mrs Rose had received a much lower repair quote and the matter was now with the civil courts to resolve.
Jamie Andersen and his father-in-law used Keir Allan for parking during a family trip to Fuerteventura from Stansted in April.On arriving back at Stansted, Mr Andersen said they were sent a post code for the nearby village of Burton End by WhatsApp to collect their vehicles.Mr Andersen, from Haverhill in Suffolk, said they "had no choice" but to spend £40 on a taxi for seven people "not knowing if our car was there, [or] if someone was there with our key".The post code was for a yard, where Mr Andersen found a person "very overwhelmed with phone calls and angry customers".The family was taken to a makeshift "office" - a black Vauxhall Astra which contained hundreds of car keys in folders.
Mr Andersen's key was there but his father-in-law's one was missing.Mr Andersen said his father-in-law, who was carrying a spare key at the time, had unexpected extra mileage on the clock, his dash cam had been wiped and cables disconnected.Mr Ahmed strongly denied the allegation that dashcam footage had been deleted.The BBC has spoken to another customer who said he had had an extra 264 miles (425km) on the clock and a previously full tank of fuel in the red after it was left in the care of Keir Allan.
Mr Andersen's dashcam footage was available and showed the car parked at a Burger King restaurant for more than an hour after he had dropped off his car."I just felt like someone had broken into my house and it wasn't a nice feeling," he said. "I know what a meet-and-greet is but you don't expect your car to be driven to a drive-through."Mr Ahmed said: "We refute any suggestion that customers cars were used for any other purpose than to store and return the cars to the customers."However, he said that "since at any one time we have over 300 keys of our customers, naturally, due to human error keys do get misplaced".He said the company reimbursed customers for the cost of any lost keys.
Essex Trading Standards has had 38 airport parking complaints so far this year - compared to six in 2023 and 16 in 2024.Isaac Occhipinti, from the British Parking Association (BPA), said there were many reputable companies but that issues can "erode trust".He said the sector had an "inherent vulnerability at its core in that anybody can turn up at an airport car park with a clipboard and a high-visibility jacket and claim to be a meet and greet company"."We would really strongly recommend don't always go for the cheapest option on the market, he said. "If it's incredibly cheap there may well be a reason for that."The BPA has tried to introduce accreditation but take up has been poor, said Mr Occhipinti, and he called for further government regulation.A government spokesman said: "We are aware of concerns about some 'meet and greet' parking companies at airports."All privately operated car parks must abide by consumer law, with complaints properly investigated, ensuring fairness and protection for customers."
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