TWOK was the No1 complaint received:
Fair enough as of August 2025, only five complaints were been received but two were for TWOK (taking without consent).
Smell of moisture inside a vehicle:
The second most complaint was the smell of moisture inside vehicles when collected after a period of time in storage. So, what can happen. There are Business owners who'll happily take the money. But then, won't actually do any of the said maintenance. Some older cars do have water leakages due to the age of seals, so it's not the responsibility of the Business owner pursay. However, they should be able to keep up with any residue increments and odors.
Damage of cars inside a unit
The TWOK example.
Ways to help identify the incorrect vehicle storage owner:
It's always easier to assume a storage owner with an empty unit would be someone who can't be trusted with cars. It's always been an issue of confidence knowing that when a car is dropped off at a unit when it's freshly opened that because
In our understanding of the Business people to hand who runs these operations, they can be very wealthy by the way but also extremely shady. If you visit a unit that is not registered for Vat but when you estimate the monthly storage fee multiplied by the number of cars you see there is a reg flag here. Someone clients have no issued in this because they want the cheapest price of course. However, we witness that the Vat scammers have that mind set. They tend to have zero care, whatsoever.
Another example we found out about from a supplier is when the storage company books in repair and service work they use their company to confirm the booking. Request copies of invoices but ask the vehicle owner to go into the garage to settle up. The garage provides the owner a bill/invoice/receipt and the storage company may they reduce their Vat bill by putting the Vat receipt through as expenses their end. But the client paid in full usually by credit card or sometimes in cash.
We always like to add that, if they are prepared to rob us, they'd be prepared to rob anyone else too. However that would be around 8 out of 10 Businesses we've worked with over the years. These types of people, especially when struggling financially in life may be tempted to steal something from the vehicle. You just do know these days.
You could store with a grumpy old man who's not got long left. He decides that he's never driven a McLaren before and takes it out for a quick spin. The probability of something seriously happening is slim but this is not the point. Even say, a small wheel curb can be covered up without the owner knowing.
The storage owner may get upset that you'd regularly wish to take out the car on the weekend. He happens to be a mechanic, so decides to pour something into the engine bay just so he can get the job of an engine rebuild.
Ways to ensure safety of vehicles.
