A man was forced to pay hundreds of pounds to park at Glasgow Airport after claiming his park and ride booking was ‘misleading’.

William Hunter, 68, and his wife Margaret, 59, booked parking for their holiday to Tenerife last month with Skyport, a company they have used and trusted for years, through booking site Holiday Extras. Glasgow Times:

However, when they arrived at the car park in Paisley in the early hours of the morning, they were shocked to discover it was derelict and abandoned.

William said: “The car park was closed and there was a bulldozer parked right in front of the entrance. We drove round to Parksafe, which is in the same area, and it was shut too.”

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After calling the company and not managing to get through, the couple, from Wemyss Bay, were concerned they would miss their flight and so they drove to Glasgow Airport, where they had to pay £249 to park.

“Because we were driving around trying to find the right place, we only got one hour in the airport lounge when we booked three hours,” William added. “There was no indication of where we should go and park.” Glasgow Times:

While in Tenerife, they contacted Holiday Extras who then informed them that they should have gone to Flying Scot, another car park with a separate address in Paisley, as Skyport was temporarily closed.

William also claims that Holiday Extras told them Flying Scot should have informed them of this change in location, but they had not.

“We called Flying Scot and they said that they simply take bookings transferred to them. They also told us that they’ve been getting a lot of no-shows because people are given the Skyport address and don’t where to go.”

A spokesperson for Flying Scot said: “All bookings are transferred to us, and Holiday Extras are responsible for transferring them to us and telling customers that we are dealing with them. We are an entirely separate company from Skyport.”

A spokesperson for Holiday Extras said: “While the Skyport car parks have been temporarily closed this winter, their customers have been looked after by another nearby car park.

“The address of this second car park is noted on our website and confirmation emails, but we appreciate there is still the possibility for confusion if customers have used Skyport before and head to the usual site.

“We have therefore offered these customers a refund on their booking, with our apologies for the trouble they encountered this time. Skyport reopens on February 1.”

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While Holiday Extras did refund William and Margaret £39 for their booking, William claims that the website is so misleading that she could not have known to travel to the Flying Scot car park. Glasgow Times:

He said: “When you go onto the website to book, they give you the address Burnbrae Drive in Paisley, which is Skyport."

The Glasgow Times visited the Holiday Extras website on January 17, and Skyport was still advertised as an option to choose for booking, with the Burnbrae Drive address. 

Flying Scot was not listed on the choices of booking options. 

William added: “They gave us the refund, but they still advertise Skyport and its address. It’s very misleading.

“If we had known to go to Flying Scot, we wouldn’t have had to pay to park at the airport.”