‘No chance I’d pay’ Man stung with £870 bill for using wrong airport car park

Scott Avery, 51, booked Manchester Airport’s Meet and Greet option in advance of his holiday to Egypt, but when he and his new wife arrived on May 30, they were instead ushered to Terminal 2 West Car Park, where they took a token and went on holiday.

The couple enjoyed the honeymoon, however, when they returned, they used the same token to check out and found the initial bill was an eye-watering £870.

The holidaymaker, who paid £120 for the Meet and Greet option through the AA app, said: “When we dropped the car off two weeks ago to go on honeymoon and I paid £120 to do the Meet and Greet. When we got to the car park, the carpark was full, the man at the barrier said ‘you can’t come in here mate, it’s full’ so he told us to go to the West Car Park, drop off your car keys and take the token with you.

“So this morning, put the token in the machine and that came up, £870. I thought, what the b***** hell is that?”

The airport has since waived the bill as a gesture of goodwill as he had a Meet and Greet booking in the system, Lancs Live reports.

Scott, from Burton-upon-Trent, Staffordshire, added: “I wouldn’t have paid it, not a chance I would pay that.”

The airport’s ‘Meet and Greet’ option promises customers that they do not need to ‘worry about finding a space’ as staff will take care of their vehicle and parking so that they can get on with checking-in.

On its website, Manchester Airport offers several options for parking with prices beginning at around £75.99 if you book in advance, with bus transfer direct to the terminal.

A spokesperson for the airport said: “It appears Mr Avery has inadvertently parked in the incorrect car park on arrival at Manchester Airport and gone on his holiday. Upon return on exiting the car park, the system generated what the amount would be for 14 days turn up parking.

“As he had a Meet and Greet booking in the system and as a goodwill gesture, our teams waived the turn up fee on this occasion. All our car parks are clearly signposted, and we’d always encourage all passengers to prepare for their airport journey prior to coming to the site.”