A man who left his car with Manchester Airport's official meet and greet service has vowed never to do so again after he was hit with a bill of £2,000.
Paul Matthews paid just over £100 to leave his Mercedes E Class with the airport firm before jetting off to the US for a work trip on February 25.
When he returned to his car a week later, on March 4, the 55-year-old from Royton, Oldham, was met with a message saying his vehicle had 'detected a collision' on March 3 - whilst it had been in the care of the meet and greet service.
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Despite not spotting any obvious damage to the car, Paul decided to take his car to a Mercedes dealership in Stockport the next day.
Speaking to the M.E.N, he said he was "shocked" after claims he received a call from the dealership saying the car had been hit at the front, and would cost around £2,100 to repair.
Manchester Airport say that after carrying out a review, including CCTV footage and vehicle movements, they are 'confident that there was no damage to his vehicle while it was in our car park.'
According to the airport's meet and greet terms and conditions, they "accept no liability for loss or damage, including any damage to your vehicle's paintwork (including where caused by a third-party) unless proved to be caused by our negligence."
Paul had been flying to Denver in the United States with work on February 25 and used the official airport meet and greet service at Terminal 3, which he's used many times before.
"When I landed and got the keys I went to the car and walked round it quickly which I always do," He said. "I put my bag in the boot and got in the car and got a message saying my car had been involved in a collision on March 3.
"I got out of the car and couldn’t see any particular damage. I went back to reception and told them about it. The guy said they often get this with Mercedes and it’s a false message.
"But I said I’d never had that before. There was a young lad there who could see I was getting annoyed and he said he would try and get someone to speak to me."
Paul said a manager came over but after looking at his car said he couldn't see any damage and told him to fill out a form and that they would investigate.
"I took it to Mercedes the next day and they said the car had been hit at the front and the damage was going to cost £2,100 to repair," he said.
"Meet and greet won't accept responsibility for it but how can that be when they have taken the vehicle from me. It does say in the terms and conditions it's my responsibility but how can it be when I didn't park it.
"It's a bit of a shock really, I've been using the service for years and nothing like this has ever happened. I definitely won't be using it again after this though."
A spokesperson for Manchester Airport said: "Having investigated this customer’s complaint, including reviewing CCTV footage and vehicle movements, we are confident that there was no damage to his vehicle while it was in our car park.
"Our official Meet and Greet service has a robust set of processes in place to ensure customers’ vehicles are treated with due care and respect."
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