Classic Parade review: Security deposit and rental fee not refunded

On the 17th July 2023, I enquired for a 1-day rental of a Mercedes G63 AMG for the 12th August 2023 with Classic Parade.

I received an initial email back from Andrew Brown (Andy) confirming availability, colour choice and price details of the vehicle, and he was also helpful in answering my queries regarding additional mileage charges, accepted payment methods and adding an additional driver to the insurance.

The amount of rental was £2350 (£2000 Security Deposit & £350/day rental fee). On the 19th August 2023, Andrew sent a separate email containing an invoice, which I promptly paid via Bank Transfer. After receiving confirmation of the payment from Andrew and providing mine and my Partner's driver's license details for the insurance, Andrew confirmed that everything was all set for my booking.

2 days before my rental on the 10th August, I reached out to Andrew in the morning via email just to confirm that my booking was still going ahead and to check if there was anything else he needed from me beforehand. He replied promptly the same day confirming it’s all still going ahead and his Delivery Team will be in touch within 24 hours of my booking.

Around 11pm that same day, I received another email from Andrew stating that the engine management light on the vehicle had just popped up and they’re unable to have the vehicle ready for my booking. Obviously, I was disappointed by the news - but understood that safety is priority. Andrew offered 3 options:

* Contact a Third Party Company to see if they have the same vehicle available

* Reschedule my Booking

* Process a Refund straight away

As this rental was a surprise for my Partner, I didn’t want to disappoint and replied early hours of Friday morning kindly asking if he could reach out to the third parties to see if there was any vehicles available. A few emails went back and forth throughout the course of that day with little to no luck finding a replacement vehicle. I was appreciative of Andrew’s efforts.

On the 12th August - the morning of my rental (which was no longer going ahead) - I emailed Andrew requesting a full refund for my booking. Again very promptly, he replied within a couple hours apologising for the embarrassing situation and asked for my bank details for the refund. I provided the necessary details later that same day and haven’t had any further correspondence from Andrew or a member of his team - nor a refund to my account.

Andrew did mention a couple times within our email thread how it is the busiest time of year for them, so - giving the benefit of the doubt - I’ve waited nearly a whole week to receive at least an update regarding my refund, but have so far heard nothing. I decided to follow-up with another email to Andrew on the 18th August just to check if he received my previous one with my bank details, but still no response. Which was odd, given how prompt and helpful he has been leading up to this point.

I’m generally pretty organised when it comes to my emails, and check not just my Inboxes but my Junk/Spam folders several times a day, and I cannot find any emails relating to the matter. I’m not looking to discredit Andrew or Classic Parade as a company - I simply would like my full refund of £2350 issued and received back into my account.

Andrew has been sincere and apologetic throughout and has promised to make it up to me next time, if I get them the opportunity. I genuinely hope he is a man of his word and is able to rectify this issue as soon as possible.

I look forward to receiving updates from them soon.