Fraudently clamped my car by taking dodgy pictures!

taichiky

Hi there I was recently clamped by Citywatch Parking Enforcement who operates out of Duck Lees Lane in Brimsdown, London. Their reason for this was that I did not have my residents parking permit showing. I did in fact have it showing in my car as I have always left it in my car as I didn't see any point of taking it out. My car is a 2002 Fiat Punto and on the dashboard there is a groove where you can place your keys or change etc. Not so much where you cannot clearly see what's in it if you came up to the car. I normally leave my parking permit in the groove since June and have never had a problem until the other day. They told me the car was clamped on the 15th October and taken away on the 16th which I recovered on the 17th from them. The reason why I didn't notice initially was because I don't use my car all too often so didn't check on it as I thought I was secure from any theft etc. It was only when my brother came to visit on the 17th did I notice my car had gone, hence why I called the police.

Initially I called the police because I thought the car had been stolen. But they informed me it had been taken by Citywatch. After much argument with Citywatch I went down to retrieve my car. When they showed me the photos they had taken, it was taken in such a way where you cannot see my parking permit. I just want to know is this even legal? You can clearly see it when you stand close to the car but someone had deliberately taken the photos to cover up the permit. In all of the photos they have taken from a bottom to up angle so you can only see the front of the dashboard not the groove area. In most of the photos you can clearly see a third is of the background over the top of the car. I can recreate the angles they took the shots of and also cover up my permit by doing so just like they did.

I am thoroughly upset as I had bought my property here thinking I would be protected from illegal parkers by the clampers when in fact they are just trying to cheat anyone they think they can get away with! It is not so much about the money it’s more about the principle of the situation. I have effectively had my car stolen and someone has forced me to pay over £500 to have it given back. The breakdown of the charges were: £100 for clamping, £365 for towing, £30 for storage fees (1 day) totalling £495 and 5% for credit card fees. Even then he has charged me £544.50 when 5% should only add up to £519.75. On the receipt where it says Time Clamped; Time Unclamped; Reason; Officers Name; Licence Number he has put on all of them N/A. Again is this proper procedure? There is also no VAT number on there.

I would be extremely grateful if someone can maybe be give me some sound legal advice or just even your views on this as I do not think this kind of practice can be allowed. I am so upset about this as I have never broken the law once, not even a parking ticket or speeding fine! I hope there is someone out there in this forum that can help me!

Cumbrian_Male

Clamper have to be SIA licensed. Make a complaint to the SIA.

ArsenalFC

People from here maybe able to help - http://www.pepipoo.com/

I would certainly would take them to court and seek full refund and compensation for the time and distress caused by their action. These scums need to be taught a lesson as often they think people will not complain.

anewman

Try this. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wOuVhMz4WFw HTH.

Hintza

I would write them a strongly worded letter demanding your money back, otherwise you will be forced to take legal action where you will prove that the have used misleading evidence to fraudulently clamp your car. Not sure how many days notice you have to give them.

Also tell them you will be seeking all costs etc etc.

If it was me I would be really out to get them, if I was sure off my ground.

sarahg1969

You will also need to pursue the landowner for recovery of your money.

chorlton

If you paid by credit card you might be able to claim back from the card company. You need to be able to say that the payment was made under duress, I'm sure someone on the Pepipoo forum will be able to advise the best approach.

taichiky

Thanks for the messages received so far. I am happy that other people out there care.

So far I have emailed Trading Standards, Newham council, Watchdog, Consumer Direct and the SIA. Haven't received any replies yet but hopefully soon!

I had already told the clamping company I will be taking them to court and the bloke just really didn't care, he was so cocky about the whole thing. The people who run the service for my block of flats still haven't replied or called me. I actually asked them to have a face to face meeting so I can show them the pictures.

I am not sure about the charge back on the credit card as I am worried they will just come back to clamp my car again if I do, as I don't have anywhere else to park it. But it is an option I am seriously considering! I might just try to charge back the difference on what they should have charged me in the first place which was £519.75 not £544.50.

I am going to write on the pepipoo forum and see if I can get more advice there.

Thanks again for all the help so far I really appreciate it. If there's any more advice or help other people can give I am more than happy to hear suggestions.

For now I am going to fight on and make sure these idiots don't try it on with other residents of my area.

anewman

taichiky wrote: »

I am not sure about the charge back on the credit card as I am worried they will just come back to clamp my car again if I do, as I don't have anywhere else to park it. But it is an option I am seriously considering! I might just try to charge back the difference on what they should have charged me in the first place which was £519.75 not £544.50.

If you do you want exactly what you paid as that will tally up with credit card records of what was paid. You can't ask for random amounts of money - you're disputing a transaction not an amount.

Plus if they come and do it again then they've done it twice and I am sure the courts won't look favourably on that.

Keep trying.

tinkerbell84

Find some other way to display your parking permit too, and they can't do it again!

Can you sellotape it to the windscreen or blu-tack it to the dashboard (not in the groove)?

taichiky

Hi there well I am not sure how chargeback on credit cards work so im guessing from what ur saying i can only chargeback the full amount or nothing at all. i will have to think about that.

also i have now placed the permit right on the windscreen so theres no chance those scumbags can con me like that again. i even made sure to take some photos to see if it can be manipulated by angles!