Customer fury over Melbourne Airport parking

MELBOURNE Airport has been accused of “misleading” advertising, after one airline passenger says carparking chaos resulted in her being stuck at the terminal for more than five hours.

A FURIOUS passenger has slammed Melbourne Airport after turning up for her pre-booked and prepaid spot to find the car park was full.

Victorian woman Rosemary Hamilton accused the airport of “misleading” customers, saying carparking chaos resulted in her being stuck at the terminal for more than five hours.

Ms Hamilton said she pre-booked a spot in Tullamarine’s T4 car park for Sunday afternoon ahead of an interstate flight, but wasn’t allowed to park there after being told it had been full for nearly two hours.

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Instead, the PR professional said she and other drivers were left with no choice but to park elsewhere at the airport and the resulting confusion meant she missed check-in for her Tigerair flight by minutes.

Melbourne Airport parking rules have sparked customer fury. Picture: Jay Town.

A parked car park at Tullamarine. Picture: Jason Edwards

Ms Hamilton was booked on a 4.05pm flight and first tried to park shortly before 2pm but was told T4 was full — the first time that had happened since it opened in 2015, according to Melbourne Airport.

Ms Hamilton said she eventually got to Brisbane shortly before 10pm.

“Knowing it was a holiday weekend, I was like ‘I’m definitely going to pre-book to make sure I get a spot’,” she told the Herald Sun. “Now I feel like, is it even reliable?”

Ms Hamilton said there was little to help direct passengers to the alternative parking area.

‘They didn’t give us a map or anything to help us get between those places,” she said.

“The implication of the messaging on their (Melbourne Airport’s) website is you’re pre-booking for convenience and you can choose which terminal.

“You’re paying for choice and the security that you’ve got that spot.

“(It’s) very misleading.”

Melbourne Airport told the Herald Sun pre-booking parking online guaranteed a discounted price but did not reserve a specific parking spot or bay.

“Because most customers who park at the airport don’t book ahead, and we can’t just turn away people who have turned up to catch a flight,” spokesman Grant Smith said in a statement.

“From time to time individual car parks do fill up, and as they get full we start referring drive-up customers to alternative facilities.

“We do try to preserve a number of bays for pre-booked customers, however this isn’t always possible — for example if someone with a booking turns up early, or someone who has already parked doesn’t return when we think they will.

“We’re talking about small numbers but it only takes one car to fill a bay.”

In Melbourne Airport’s carparking terms and conditions, it says “in the event that the car park you have booked has reached capacity prior to the commencement of the Booking Period, Melbourne Airport will use its best endeavours to locate an alternative Car Park at no extra charge to you”.

“If you are required to park in a less expensive car park, Melbourne Airport will refund the difference,” it said.