Stansted Official Long Stay reviews

"It was fine except that the entry machine would not give me a ticket when I slotted my credit card into it!
I had to obtain an entry card by pressing the "normal" button. When I finally left the car park there was obviously some delay in sorting the problem which delayed others exiting as there was only one line open. However the problem was sorted very efficiently by the operator.

I got the impression that this problem frequently happened so it is worth highlighting it in this email.

Regards"

"I have changed my email address from email@paulinehunt.fsnet.co.uk - the address through which I booked.
Everything was absolutely fine about the Pink Elephant car park and I waited very little time for a bus in either direction. The driver was particularly helpful on the return journey when the bus was packed."

"This was the first time i've used pink elephant at stanstead. I found everything very straight forward, easy to find. Didn't have to wait long for a bus at all - 5 - 10 minutes going and hit lucky on return only a couple of minutes. Would definately use again next time."

"Excellent service.Just put card in at barrier on way in and again on way out-just as instructed. Bus arrived within few minutes for transfer to airport.
Service just as quick when came home at 04.00!
Would definitely use you again.
Thanks"

"Excellent. Safe, inexpensive and good service. We will definitely use Stansted Pink Elephant again (and again and again)."

"Quite efficient service. We had to wait about 10 min for the bus, but then everything else was very straightforward."

"Hello Mr. McLoughlin,

Finding the car park was very easy and entry was facilitated by my having booked on-line with my credit card. The only difficulty I had was finding a
space. The car park was full and I had to wait for someone to leave before I could park.

I encountered no problems at all on the return journey.

Regards,
Clive Wilson"

"great Facility"

"Two points.

a/ When I received the confirmation I could find no instructions on how to get into the car park, (with my credit card on which it was pre paid. I was with a friend who knew this.

b/ More importantly on our return we had to queue for the bus for over 25 minutes and we were not the first in that queue, indeed the whole queue could not all get on that particular bus so had to wait for the next. I find that unexceptable"

"Straightforward and simple. Exit gates signage didn't really seem to correspond to the directions on the bus. But it's a minor quible."

"Good fast service, no problems encountered"

"The car parking was good, clearing signs etc. returning was not good. I got on the wrong bus (I wanted the blue zone, but got on the red zone bus). The driver was extremely unhelpful and rude. I then waited where he had told me to wait, along with several other passengers, but the blue zone bus was at a different place and we missed it, resulting in a lenghty wait for another. I feel that your service was let down but this driver."

"Simple and easy"

"The whole process was excellent.
Even when we forgot to record our zone number, which we remembered as zone Z and consisted of 7 mini zone (Z1-Z7) help was at hand and assistance provided.
We will have no problem in selecting and recommending you to our family and friends."

"Very easy to find car park bus pick up good will use again Natasha"

"over-priced (of course) and with very slow coach service - far slower than advertised times. on my return I waited 30 mins and then was squeezed onto a bus with hordes of other dissatisfied customers."

"It did it's job well, easy to book, transfer worked fine between car park and terminal...and our car was still there when we got back...all in all... nice one!"

"Very quick and easy. Also the best prices I could find.Did have a bit of a wait for return bus but it was a busy time of year."

"Thank you for giving me the opportunity to share my experiences - I hope you take them in the spirit they are intended & see that you have a chance to improve the customer experience.

The journey to the airport was quick & efficient and you should be congratulated on that service . Unfortunately we were lulled into believing that this would be the standard of efficiency we would receive on our return, sadly it was not. We arrived at the Blue Zone stop outside of arrivals at approx. 19.50pm on Monday 23rd July where we joined a queue of 50 or so people - by the time the bus turned up 20 minutes later, this had more than trebled. Half the queue in front of us departed with this first bus. A further 25 minutes later, in the cold & rain, the next bus arrived which fortunately we managed to squeeze on, and were the last to do so. Clearly there was only one bus servicing the area where we were parked. I hazard to guess how long the people near the end of the queue had to wait, or indeed whether they are still waiting. This level of service is unacceptable. Everyone deserved to be treated with more respect than they were shown .

There maybe mitigating circumstances that lead to this level of service, it surely cannot be standard.
These circumstances made known to people would alleviate some of the hostility, generally people are naturally understanding when presented with an explanation.

Finally, a small point, and I am to blame for this oversight , but was clearly not the only person to make this error . In these days of mass communication, emails, for those who receive them in vast quantities, are speed or scan read. We require things to be slightly clearer as we may not always read everything we should. A number of people, as I did, did not wait for the automatically issued ticket … having only read as far as the ‘DO NOT PRESS A BUTTON TO GET A TICKET’ . This resulted in chaos as we tried to exit the barriers. The lady attendant at the booth then had to issue me, and the other drivers, with a ticket to allow us to leave . I did confirm with her that this was a regular occurrence and that I was not the only person to have made this oversight .

Your confirmation email reads .-
On your arrival, at the barrier, DO NOT PRESS A BUTTON TO GET A TICKET if you have paid BCP with a credit/debit card. Insert the SAME credit/debit card used to make the booking. A ticket showing your reference number will automatically be issued. Follow signs to zone indicated noting the zone and nearest bus stop.

Could I suggest a small alteration in the layout of these instructions to read as follows .
On your arrival, at the barrier,please follow these FOUR steps .
1) DO NOT PRESS A BUTTON TO GET A TICKET if you have paid BCP with a credit/debit card.
2) Insert the SAME credit/debit card used to make the booking.
3) A ticket showing your reference number will automatically be issued.
4) Follow signs to zone indicated noting the zone and nearest bus stop.

Apologies that this review has become so long winded, but you did ask and this was most definitely not a pleasant experience .
We will be using Stansted Airport again in September and in all probability would give Pink Elephant Parking the benefit of the doubt and book again, but would expect a significant improvement in service. Were we to discover this is your normal level of service we would definitely seek alternative parking arrangements for future journeys."

"Everything went according to plan. Courtesy coaches clean and prompt. Would use again."

"Very Good, Punctual shuttle service.
Will use it again."

"Easy to find, easy to park, didn't wait long for a bus and the journey was quick and pleasant. When we got back had to wait a little longer for the bus but not too long, were dropped near the car. No problems would use again."

"A fast efficient service with no hold-ups or delays when pre-booked. Also no waiting for transfers to the airport as coaches were waiting for both journeys."

"easy to follow instructions and work well,no problems"

"Everything you would like or need for parking at this airport. Low price, good directions provided both on the confirmation and when arriving at the airport, fast regular transfers - both ways (which is important)and last but by means least both drivers were cheerful."

"Bus waiting when we parked. 5 min wait for bus on return."

"Very efficient,easy to pre-book.Quick bus transfer to terminal."

"Excellent service! Efficient bus/shuttle to and from terminal. Sigh posts were clear and easy to follow as well as on line instructions & on line booking system. Very good value for money. Not the first time I've used pink elephant and it certainly won't be the last!

Keep up the good work!"

"Very Good service and accesability."

"I found the arrival experience very good as we had prebooked and just had to insert our credit card to enter - but unfortunately the exit was a complete nightmare with machines not accepting peoples cards to exit and meant a long line of cars waiting to exit which I was told was normal!
I would not like to use Pink Elephant again from choice for that reason."