Causes of Airport Parking Issues, Scams, Parking Fines and their Precautions

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People find having to deal with parking troubling under normal circumstances. You add airport rush in the mix and you have a full-blown disaster at hand unless you take care of your parking well in advance by reserving a smart airport parking facility online to take care of your car. This can be easily done online where you can find many parking vendors easily. Therein lies the problem, you have too many vendors offering the same services only with a different marketing tact or convenient customer-oriented sales pitch. All of this confuses you instead of helping you make your decision. But you can easily deal with it if you follow the basic online purchase rules that will ensure you find the best service provider in the herd.

Here is what you should do while you are booking airport parking deals online or purchasing any other goods or services online for that matter:

  • Compare parking deals to choose reliable vendors
  • Read previous customer reviews

This will not take much of your time but it stands to benefit you a lot. Comparing the deals ensure you engage with reputable vendors that offer quality services and their prices are fair and competitive. It also gives you options by presenting deals from multiple independent vendors side by side. All the necessary info is readily available and you can browse and compare to decide which deal serves your needs the best while fitting into your budget outline.

Be Careful While Comparing

When you decide to compare parking deals, there are a few other things you need to understand. While you compare airport parking deals, your actual parking service will still be provisioned to an independent parking vendor. That is to say, the comparison service does not conduct parking itself. They are only responsible for bringing you a reliable vendor with quality services at competitive prices to compare and book.

It would be prudent if you read and understood the terms and conditions of both your parking as well as your comparison provider to know how their responsibilities interact and what is the extent of their individual liabilities. It will help you to have this info in case there is a problem or if you have any questions regarding the operations as you will know the right party to contact and have the issue resolved.

There are a few things that fall under your purview to ensure before you choose your parking vendor. You also have to choose a comparison platform and the quality of parking deals and ultimately your experience hinges on your right selection of a reputable comparison service.

Finding a Reliable Comparison Platform

When you are looking for a comparison provider online you come across a lot of apparently similar-looking options. They all generally claim to have the same benefits with cheapest price deals but all of them can’t be trustworthy. This makes it necessary for you to vet the website before you compare cheap airport parking deals.

Here is how you verify the dependability of your comparison service and avoid scams by making sure your chosen platform has the following attributes:

  • Email address, physical trading address and landline number

Note: Websites with a mobile number as a point of contact are usually scammed no matter how legit they appear or how quick they are to answer their mobile.

  • Offers deals at competitive and verifiable rates

Note: Deals with too low a price tag will provide equivalent corresponding services which are not good for your vehicle safety. You should be pay at least near the amount that is being offered for parking services on other platforms.

  • Read the reviews of your comparison company on an independent platform

Note: Every legitimate service provider has an accessible presence on multiple independent review platforms. Read those reviews to see how satisfied their previous customers are. Make sure there are good and bad reviews about the service as it speaks to the credibility of the reviews itself. All good reviews with no bad ones are a red flag.

  • Make sure you have all the necessary info about the deal available

Note: Comparison displays all their best deals and basic info for you to glance over but it is not enough. Before booking airport parking Heathrow via a comparison platform, make sure you understand how it operates and has all the necessary data and detailed instructions along will any additional fees at hand. It will help you to know what to expect at any given time.

Preventing Airport Parking Fines and Scams

A lot of people have to incur heavy fines at the airport while they are at the terminal forecourt to pick or drop a passenger or hand over their car for long term parking. Even if you stop before the terminal to drop off or do so because your parking agent instructed you so, you might get heavily fined for not doing it according to the rule. It is also pointless and a total waste of time if you argue with a collection agent or try to sort it out by contacting your vendor because you have to pay it. So, you should manage your airport parking expense by adding these fares to it. Make sure you do not get fined because you did not know or thought this fee would be covered in your airport parking deals.

Some vehicle handovers take place nearby via short-stay parking plazas. Please know that you will have to pay the entrance and exit fees for it unless your cheap Heathrow airport parking vendor specifies that it is included in the package you purchased.

Also, there are scam services that take your money and park your cars in open muddy ground. Not only is unsafe and can cause vehicle damages and thefts but you also have to pony up for a car wash. You must find a vendor that offers a properly secure and fenced compound to keep your car safe and if your budget can afford it go for covered car parks.

Airport Parking Complaints

People complain about their vehicle collection agents asking for money at the time of pick up and drop off. You need to understand it is not a scam if you were not aware of it. Certain airports charge you for parking at the terminal or short-stay parking by the minute. You have to complete the drop-of passengers or the car within that limit. If this time exceeds the paid period time, they make you exit, come back and pay again. If you overstay and do not exit you either have to pay more or are fined especially upon refusal.

Some people complain that their parking agent kept trying to hurry them along which was rude. Let it be clarified that they hurry you so that you do not have to pay extra for your stay or are fined for staying longer then you paid for. Since this amount is going to come out of your pocket, they are doing you a favour.

Precautions

  • While booking, see if your vendor has provided clear info on where the vehicle handover is supposed to take place, if not, call their customer service centre and inquire. Do be sure to get proper directions for it too or coordinate if your car has navigation.
  • Avoiding airport parking fines is entirely possible if you are aware of its cause. Lack of info is your enemy here so while reserving your parking spot, check if the short-stay parking fee is included in the package. If it is not mentioned then you must assume that you will be paying for it. You should find out how much and keep exact cash in an easy access pocket. If it is being covered in your parking deal fare then generally the vendors highlight it.
  • Bad scheduling is the worst thing you can do to your travel plans, which will effectively ruin the fun of your journey. While booking cheap park and ride Heathrow parking you must account for any weather-related delays, traffic problems and rerouting issues. If you are late do call and inform your parking operator. They generally reschedule their services of sending an agent to collect your car for a certain period time giving you as much space as possible. But if you cannot make it even in the extended time, then they reserve the right to refuse services and will not be liable for a refund.
  • If the delays happen at the time of vehicle drop off on vendor’s ends, then you have every right to protest unless there was an unusual case of weather, traffic, accidents, reroutes etc. but this problem can be avoided if you choose a deal where the parking compound is located fairly close to the airport reducing all effect of all these risk factors.
  • If you need urgent assistance, choosing a platform with customer services will come in handy. They are equipped to handle all your issues and provide assistance whenever you need. But you need to be mindful of their availability hours. If the customer service is only available during office hours, don’t waste time on it if it is outside their working hours. If your chosen company is offering 24/7 customer support then you are golden.
  • Since you booked online, any complaints, views and suggestions you have about the services will need to be dealt with online too. Your booking website and confirmation email contains e-address where you can forward your complaints. But do be patient for a response as they have to confirm their identity, investigate, resolve and then get back to what is going to take some time. Also, try working around the weekends to get a quick response.
  • When people have complaints and are in a hurry to get a response which has not come yet, they resort to trashing the company services on review platforms which will only matter the matter worse and the company less inclined to help you sort matters out. You must wait and let it then resolve it and then you can review however you like.

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