First Choice Parking Gatwick Airport

Rang for over an hour before someone answered, 15 of us waiting for pick-up. Finally get picked up and our car is blocked in by 2 other cars. Called to make a complaint the next morning and was literally told they don't care "they are still making money and all the bad reviews on social media don't bother them" I never post reviews but I hope this saves someone else from using this company.

My car was returned to me early January not only smeared and streaked with mud on the outside, but somehow the mud had found its way to the dashboard, steering wheel, inside of drivers door as well as very muddy footwell, wont be risking this again!

When I booked I had to chase for email confirmation 3 times, left me worried that I would actually be met at the airport

I went with 1st choice through Looking 4 Parking, as they came up with a great price. The usual method of contacting them half an hour before dropping of the vehicle was expected, however we called them for 45 minutes without response. We also called their pickup number, again without response. In the end we had to pay for a different car parking service as it was obvious we weren't going to be able to use what we had paid for.

Since coming back we've been trying to reclaim the money for the failed service. I've sent in call logs to Looking 4 Parking, who have communicated with 1st Choice who admitted they had failed us, and advised that they would refund my money. I've since sent on my bank details, however 3 and a half months later I still am yet to receive my refund. Yusuf at 1st Choice refuses to answer emails.

The annoying thing is that I've used so many meet and greet services over the years, and never had an issue. This one occasion of awful service combined with an ostrich response when requesting my refund has really put me off using a meet and greet again. As far as I'm concerned, 1st Choice are the last choice, and I wouldn't recommend them to anyone

They're ok but there are better for similar price.

Customer service is average whether by the controller on the phone or by the drivers (and I'm being generous). Exit fees from Gatwick short stay (£3.50) weren't included in price. My main issue is that our return flight was delayed resulting in car collection slipping into the next day by 30 minutes. For 1stChoice this is another day parking i.e. £10 but "the airline will pay" according to 1st Choice. Actually they won't pay as it's not their fault and 1stChoice are simply applying their own terms and conditions however unreasonable this might seem.

I wouldn't use them again.

This is the second time we have used SimplyParkand Fly (a trading name of First Choice parking). The first time, in June 2015 they were OK but took rather longer than 20 minutes to return our car at end of the hire.

This time, late September 2015, the collection was reasonably OK. On our return, we waited about half an hour for return of the car which was undamaged and with an increase in total mileage of no more than I would have expected. The driver handed me a ticket to get out of the car park and left us to it. Upon reaching the barrier I was informed that I needed to pay £3.50. This figure was supposed to be included in our Parking fee. I had to pay the £3.50 in order to get out of the car park. The next day I rang First Choice who agreed that I should not have paid and they would reimburse me into my bank account if I emailed information to them. I sent them some of the information they needed and asked them to confirm receipt, upon receiving their confirmation of receipt I would provide the balance of information that they needed. It is now several days later and I have still not received confirmation of receipt of my email, nor can I contact First Choice by phone. It is begining to look like the small claims court is my next port of call.

To whom it may concern, my car was supposed to be returned to me at 01.20 sun 30th August,  from the hrs of then till approx 04:00 16 families were left without their cars, only until police were called was something done. 

I spent 4 hrs in a muddy field trying to find my car as you had "lost" it, then when I did many to find it you had then "lost" my keys. To say I'm livid is an understatement,  my car is also thick with mud inside and outside. 

Absolutely disgusting debacle, children were sleeping on the pavements at the airport, I had to leave two 16 yr olds there also as the was just the 3 of us travelling. 

From a very angry customer

NOT EVEN WORTHY OF ONE STAR! In short, on delivering our vehicle back to us after giving us the runaround, we waited over an hour on level 2 of a car park and if it wasn't for my daughter needing the toilet we wouldn't have seen my car parked up on a verge! The driver had crashed my car into the back of a taxi and has caused £600 worth of damage to my car alone. It's now over 2 months on and they still haven't sorted it. They wanted 'their' people to fix it but unfortunately I have a contract car and any damage needs to be carried out at a reputable dealership. I was then told to get 2 quotes locally, of which I done over 4 weeks ago and they would transfer funds to my account and I am still waiting. Last I heard they had transferred the money but warned it sometimes takes a long time to clear!! Am now having to get legal advice as obviously my insurance company will not be getting involved due to me nor my husband driving the vehicle at the time. PLEASE DO NOT USE THIS COMPANY, THEY ARE LIARS AND DECEITFUL.

We turned up to drop our car off and there was no one there. 15 mins later a stressed driver had to deal with us plus a few other customers.

But this pails into insignificants compared to our return journey. We arrived back at Gatwick at 1am (I have a 2 and 5 year old). We called the controller to advise them we were ready to collect our car.

Our car turned up at 2am!

In this time we called numerous times and either the phones were engaged or they were not answered.

The company blamed a traffic jam at the car parks entrance. I checked and there was no traffic jam.

I have used meet and greet many times and there is always someone on hand when you arrive/depart. This was not the case here.

There clearly were not enough drivers and they were so unorganized.

I have made a complaint, but surprisingly I have not received a response.

Despicable service drivers cannot speak English waiting around both ways, car eventually returned covered in mud, they tell lies, tell you wrong car park levels then use excuse to say driver was waiting on another level or terminal. Complete rubbish!!!!!

Had to call them around 30 times for someone to answer. Was told the car will be with us within 30 mins. Called back and they said 20 minutes then 10, then 10 more. Ended up waiting 2 hours to collect the car and had to make a total of 60+ phone calls. WOULD NEVER USE AGAIN, AVOID!!!