My £18,000 Mercedes has been completely transformed by a cowboy airport parking company – I feel hurt and it could happen to anyone

A stunned father returned from a family vacation to find his new Mercedes had different tires and part of the engine had been replaced.

Dave’s £18,000 car was also spattered in black paint and had an extra 240 miles on the clock, he claims.

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The driver left his used car at a meet-and-greet valet at Heathrow Airport before flying to Thailand.

He had only bought it 12 days ago and described it as “spotless inside and out”.

The only damage was to the side front bumper and wheel, which he says was documented before handing over the keys.

But when Dave got back from his trip it was in “a terrible state”.

The 61-year-old software company manager said: “It was appalling.

“I paid in good faith and expected my car to be picked up, driven to the location, parked and returned to me in the same condition it was dropped off.

“But it was terrible. I felt like I was completely hurt.”

Dave said his car’s brand new alloy wheels were scratched and chipped and his tires had been replaced with older ones, causing his low pressure light to come on.

His navigation settings have also been changed, the passenger seat has been reclined and the child seat has been moved, he claims.

The LCD screen inside was riddled with scratches with a blurry image and the wrong time so Dave fears this has also been swapped out for an older model.

And he believes his brake pads and some engine parts have been modified or replaced entirely.

“Someone might have even swapped out the whole engine for an older one,” he said.

“A package containing wheel removal equipment was left in the trunk.”

Finally, there were paint splatters above the hood, which Dave thinks were left there by a garage shop.

And its mileage had reportedly increased by about 240 miles using half a tank of gas.

Dave said the “horrible” experience began when he arrived at the airport and discovered EzyBook had messed up his booking with Skylink Parking Services, forcing him to pay the £89 fee again.

He argued for half an hour before finally handing over the keys.

It was awful. I felt like I had been completely raped

David

Despite having a “wonderful” two week holiday, Dave returned to London on October 27 to find his trip more or less ruined.

After he picked up their bags, his group picked up their motor and drove home — only to find it badly parked in a handicapped space with the keys under the sun visor.

Upon closer inspection, they noticed the extensive problems.

Dave, who paid £18,149 for the vehicle, said: “We filled the car up before we left the house so I know it was low.

“But one of the worst parts was that there was a significant number of black spots all over the hood.

“It turned out to be car paint, which I believe came from a workshop that replaced several parts.

To make matters worse the parking company didn’t leave a ticket to exit the car park so Dave had to pay a further £11 just to get out.

And since it was left in a disabled parking space for almost an hour without a blue badge, he feared he would be fined.

Dave immediately complained to Skylink and EzyBook but described the process as “terrible”.

He added: “Ezybook said it had nothing to do with them and Skylink didn’t even reply.

“I filed a report with the Met Police who said there was nothing they could do about it.

“I would like to be compensated and shut down Skylink because there are bad reviews all over the internet.

“If only I had checked first. I can’t believe they got away with it.

“They caused thousands of pounds worth of damage and alteration.”

A spokesman for EzyBook said it acted as a booking agent, but complaints are being handled by service providers and the matter escalated to the provider’s management team.

Skylink has been contacted for comment.