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Original poster

Daughter working at a festival. Car has been moved and damaged.

31 replies

Sparklynewname · 14/08/2023 02:57

My daughter has been away working at a festival since Thursday morning (doing 14 hour days yuk!)
When she arrived at the festival, she was instructed exactly where to park (the exact spot) and was given a pass which she had to write her phone number on and leave on her dashboard.
She returned to the car this evening to leave and couldn’t find it anywhere. It transpires that it had been moved into a compound.
On her way home she was repeatedly being flashed by other motorway drivers. She got off the motorway at the services and realised that she has no rear lights working. She also feels like the steering is not right or that the rear wheels just aren’t right.
I have had a quick look at the website and it says “1.15 We shall have no liability for any loss, injury, illness or damage to any person or property sustained at the Event howsoever caused (including by Us and Our agents) in any circumstances unless caused by our own negligence and that which cannot by law be excluded or limited. Any personal property brought to the Event is at your own risk.”

I will take her car to a garage tomorrow and see if anything can be done to repair it although I very much doubt it can as it’s elderly. Is there actually any recourse she can take? It seems a bit bloody harsh that she has worked her bum off for 4 days to get some money for next year and is now potentially facing a huge bill for car repairs OR car replacement.
Thanks all for reading, I’m glad I had stayed up until she got in now!

OP posts:
Aquamarine1029 · 14/08/2023 03:02

Who moved her car and how? Was it towed?

Original poster
Sparklynewname · 14/08/2023 03:40

It must have been the people overseeing the parking and I assume they either towed it or dragged it. It was still on the site but had been moved to a different area.

OP posts:
Aquamarine1029 · 14/08/2023 03:50

Given the circumstances, I don't think your daughter has any recourse, sadly. It would be her word against theirs.

Thatladdo · 14/08/2023 03:53

No rear lights and the back end feeling "not right" makes me think they might have lifted it by telehandler or the like and damaged the wiring underneath and not knowing what car it is but its elderly im guessing its something smaller with torsion bar or similar and they have nudged that while they were at it.
Mechanic will know as soon as its on some ramps.

Tosspots!

OrderOfTheKookaburra · 14/08/2023 03:55

I don't think they can exclude themselves from having any liability like that, there is a raft of legislation about this sort of stuff. Worthwhile finding out more.

BlueMoe · 14/08/2023 04:18

Aren’t the websites t&c’s for customers not employees?

Original poster
Sparklynewname · 14/08/2023 04:21

She wasn’t being employed by the festival though. She was working for one of the food trucks there.

OP posts:
EmmaEmerald · 14/08/2023 04:23

Sparklynewname · 14/08/2023 04:21

She wasn’t being employed by the festival though. She was working for one of the food trucks there.

Not sure that matters

whoever moved it was neligent.

saffronsoup · 14/08/2023 04:27

When she couldn't find her car - did she follow up on who and why and how it was moved? If my car was not where I left it, I would have a lot of questions and be talking to the people involved - even before I drove it and found out it wasn't working right.

autienotnaughti · 14/08/2023 04:30

Insurance? Surely it's criminal damage?

Original poster
Sparklynewname · 14/08/2023 04:37

saffronsoup · 14/08/2023 04:27

When she couldn't find her car - did she follow up on who and why and how it was moved? If my car was not where I left it, I would have a lot of questions and be talking to the people involved - even before I drove it and found out it wasn't working right.

I’m not sure, I’ll find out more info when she wakes up later. She was very tired when she got home at 2am and has had a long horrible drive with very heavy rain on an unlit motorway with no rear lights.
( I have no idea why she didn’t call me or her breakdown provider when she realised she had no lights- utterly terrifying)

OP posts:
WandaWonder · 14/08/2023 04:45

How did they get the keys?

marcopront · 14/08/2023 04:54

WandaWonder · 14/08/2023 04:45

How did they get the keys?

With the damage it doesn't sound like they drove it.

FrippEnos · 14/08/2023 05:06

Your problem is proving that they damaged it.
They will just say that it was already like that and that your DD is just trying to get money out of them.

WandaWonder · 14/08/2023 05:07

marcopront · 14/08/2023 04:54

With the damage it doesn't sound like they drove it.

Show quote history

I thought the car was moved

Crzy · 14/08/2023 05:07

@WandaWonder via being towed or pulled not driven

prh47bridge · 14/08/2023 08:11

Whoever moved the car was clearly negligent if they have damaged it. Assuming it was someone working for the festival, their terms cannot exclude liability. The only problem will be if they deny moving the car.

StillWantingADog · 14/08/2023 08:19

This is tricky but someone will be liable here and not your daughter
sounds like criminal damage, no idea how you’d prove that though

underneaththeash · 14/08/2023 10:04

prh47bridge · 14/08/2023 08:11

Whoever moved the car was clearly negligent if they have damaged it. Assuming it was someone working for the festival, their terms cannot exclude liability. The only problem will be if they deny moving the car.

Exactly this. They cannot contract out of statute law.

I’d see what the garage says

AnotherDelphinium · 14/08/2023 10:43

I’d assume it was moved by telehandler. There will be significant numbers available at a festival, and it’s very easy to do.

However, they should have attempted to contact her first, unless she was blocking a fire lane or similar, but that’s very unlikely if that’s where she was directed to park.

I suggest you get the complete story from her first, but then you’d need to put a complaint in to the festival organisers, find who was responsible for that area, and ask for their control logs, and then go from there.

Original poster
Sparklynewname · 14/08/2023 11:18

I have a little more information now.
She parked where she was told to park.
When she returned to the spot her car wasn’t there. She freaked out thinking it had been stolen. Another pair of women were also looking for their car a row over.
Other car owner and DDs friend went over to the security person and asked where the car might be. Security said it must have been moved to the compound.
They then had to walk to the compound and speak to the security person there. He started looking through paperwork and wanted DD to go with him to locate her car in the compound. She refused to wander around in the dark with a strange man (combination of extreme tiredness, having been off crutches for 1 week and ADHD with her meds having worn off by that point). Her friend went and they located the car.
Security said it must have been moved for “health and safety” but couldn’t give an actual reason- he thought maybe it was parked too close to a road (she was one row in and parked where she was told to park).
She asked why they didn’t contact her on her phone number which was written on the ticket by the person who gave her the ticket. Security man was unaware that her number was visible on her dashboard.
He told her that it was multiple different companies dealing with parking so couldn’t explain the reasoning.
She then left with her car not realising at that point that there was anything wrong with it.
It’s a 57 plate Renault Clio. The spare is kept underneath the car and if it’s been lifted up by that, I’m worried that they might have snapped something major underneath it.
She is distraught as she is a broke uni student who is about to move into a house on the other side of the country.
I am anxious because we are going on holiday on Wednesday morning and will now be leaving her at home with no car. Her boyfriends car died last year and they have shared this little car for the year and it was just about keeping them afloat.
I guess I am going to be car shopping today!

OP posts:
DanceWithTheBigBoysAgain · 14/08/2023 11:23

They can't exclude negligent damage like that. Apart from anything else, your DD hasn't paid to attend the festival so hasn't signed up to those terms and conditions on the website anyway. The T&C that apply to her are the T&C on her contract of employment, or possibly T&C clearly displayed on the car park in the unlikely event that there were any - though those would seem to be probably unfair and unenforceable in that circumstance anyway. Small Claims Court ahoy - though you'd need to decide exactly who to sue.

Gnomegnomegnome · 14/08/2023 11:42

Was this boardmasters?

It’s worth contacting the people providing the parking. They could have contacted her but instead damaged her car so I don’t think that their t and c’s cover them.

Whenever I’ve worked at festivals our parking is usually a bit more protected than the main parking.

Original poster
Sparklynewname · 14/08/2023 12:08

Not Boardmasters, no.
I’ve been out to look at the car and she does have lights working all round. Also her tyres look squidgy so I will pump them up for her and then see if that affects the handling 🤦🏻‍♀️
So except for the scratches on the rear quarter it seems that they may not have damaged the car after all.
However, walking up to her car, I can see the A4 sized parking ticket on the dashboard with her number written very large and very clearly so why the hell did they not call her?

OP posts:
KTKeane · 14/08/2023 12:24

I have privately messaged you , as the same thing happened to my son's car last night , he was also working at festival