Two Frisian families duped by Schiphol parking company

Translation by Traci White

The Leeuwarder Courant reported last week that a family from the Frisian town of Gorredijk learned that an employee of a valet parking company at Schiphol decided to play house in their home while they were away.

Another Frisian resident has now come forward with his own unfortunate experience related to valet parking at Schiphol. The man had a dongle inside his car to monitor how fast the vehicle was being driven in order to get a discount on car insurance for remaining under the speed limit. While he was on vacation in Mallorca, Henk Mennega from Balk was notified that his car had been travelling 150 kilometers per hour in a 100 kilometer per hour zone near Schiphol.

Insurance

Mennega’s insurance was automatically cancelled after a second violation, but Mennega was able to get the situation straightened out with the insurance company after explaining that he was not the one behind the wheel at the time. He says that he is planning to leave his car in long term parking the next time he flies out of Schiphol rather than relying on the valet service.

The story from last week was uncovered by a neighbor, who was startled to find strangers inside the home while they were away. It turned out to be a man who worked for a valet parking company at Schiphol Airport in Amsterdam and his girlfriend. The parking company employee was using the family’s home in Friesland while they were on vacation in Spain: the family’s house keys were on the same keychain as the car keys, which they handed over to the company along with their car.

Omroep Max

Earlier this year, Omroep Max, a Dutch channel primarily catering to older citizens, aired a segment about issues related to the valet parking service at the airport. Similar reports of valet staff taking joy rides in the cars and damage to cars going uncompensated were covered in the broadcast.

Photo source: Wikipedia