Phone app nets meet-and-greet driver speeding
A WOMAN on holiday in Spain was warned by an app on her mobile phone that the car she had left behind with an airport meet-and-greet driver had been driven at breakneck speeds.
Aimee Buxton, 18, handed her keys to the driver when she flew from Stansted Airport in Essex for a holiday in Malaga.
She warned him to drive carefully as a ‘black box’ had been installed. The device sends an insurance company and the driver information on how safely the car is driven, to keep premiums to a minimum.
The meet-and-greet firm’s website promises: ‘Our professional and courteous staff are fully trained… so you rest easy knowing you and your car are in safe hands.’
But incredibly, as Miss Buxton settled down for a drink on the first evening of her holiday, she saw her app was warning that her car had been speeding. It had broken the speed limit four times in ten minutes, once hitting 55mph in a 30mph zone, and reaching 64mph on a 50mph road.
Miss Buxton, of Witham, Essex, who paid £87.50 to leave her Citroen DS3 with Stansted Meet and Greet Parking for the week last month, said: ‘I couldn’t believe it. I was really wound up because you feel like you can drop the car off and they’ll look after it. Instead, someone drove my car like a maniac.
‘As I handed over my keys, I said, “You’re going to have to stick to speed limits as I have a black box fitted”. There’s even a sign on the back.’
When she contacted the parking company from Malaga, they sent an email confirming she was not the driver when the car was breaking speed limits and offering to contact her insurer if necessary. The firm also promised to take better care of the car when she picked it up on August 14. But when she returned, her app showed it had been driven at 85mph in a 60mph zone and 51mph in a 30mph area.
Miss Buxton said: ‘I couldn’t believe they did it again. They broke the law by driving my car at those dangerous speeds. My car is my pride and joy. If I lost my insurance, I would be devastated.’ She said the firm had refused a refund.
A spokesman for the company said: ‘An investigation has been launched to confirm if our driver broke the speed limit.’
Asked why there had been no refund, the spokesman said: ‘The service paid for is the service we provided. We stored her vehicle while she was away and the vehicle has been collected and delivered to her.’