“It wasn't like the 'Meet and greet' experience I'd previously experienced at Stansted airport, which is operated by 'Stansted Official Parking'.
My first mistake was to pull up at the wrong 'meet and greet' only to be redirected to another 'meet and greet'! Apparently there are numerous different operators at Stansted and it can be very confusing.
When I found the correct location I had to call a phone number and wait for the car to be collected from an off site driver. The person I spoke to on the phone was rude and scorned me for not calling earlier (apparently 10 mins before arrival). This task must be carried out while driving (I was a solo traveller) on the M11 and in my opinion is not acceptable or safe. When the 'meet and greet' collection driver arrived he was also curt and informed me I was in the wrong parking bay......which had a large sign saying 'meet and greet' parking, but it is not this particular (APH) operators!
So, when you get up at 03.00 and drive for 2hrs, negotiating the M25 (which had closures for maintenance), the M11 and arrive at the airport at 06.00, you can feel a little bit disorientated. The last thing you want on arrival is a disjointed transitional interface with the parking arrangements. Unfortunately, this was my experience.
Upon my return from my weekend away, I was subjected to a similar experience. I called the operators number as instructed and was greeted by a disinterested voice who informed me that they were busy and there would probably be a 20 minute wait. I waited outside at the agreed meeting place, it was raining and blowing a gale, how lovely!!
Eventually my car arrived and was returned to me. However, not at the agreed meeting place but across two lanes of busy traffic in the place I'd been berated for parking in when I dropped off the car!! The irony!!
And, lastly to add insult to injury, when you leave the agreed drop/pick up point you have to pay an airport exit fee, which is not included in the cost of this appalling 'meet and greet' service.........haha......Service! I dont think so!
I found nothing about APH's 'meet and greet' to recommend it. It did not enhance my travel experience, infact it induced a stress which in turn gave me chest pains. AVOID, YOU HAVE BEEN WARNED!.”
