Car Clamp HELP NEEDED PLEASE .. Castle Car Park Windsor

madmel1983

Hello Money Saving Experts

Any Help Would Be Very Helpful :beer:

So the long and short

On the 28th March 2009 I parked in the Castle Car Park Windsor. At the time of parking I assumed wrongly that this car park was owned by the Council. (The car park across the road is council owned and offers free parking after 7pm)

I left my car at 8pm without a ticket (I accept this part was my fault as I did not check the notice next to the ticket machine) I then returned to my car at 12.30am and it had been clamped. :eek:

I had a note on the windscreen with a £120 release fee. Upon calling the number the clampers were back at the car park within a matter of minutes.

During this time I realised that at least six other cars had been clamped and a couple came back and they too had a yellow boot attached.

I told the clampers that I would pay the release fee of £120 as it was late and I did not have a valid ticket. However I did tell them that I had not seen or read any of their signs upon parking and therefore had not entered into any contract with them regarding release fees.

I was then told along with the other couple that due to it being 12.45am that it would be double as it had now gone over two days so I would have to pay £240 to be released. :mad:

At this point the police that happened to be driving past came into the car park as more people had come back to find their cars clamped and a large crowd had formed. The police spoke with the clampers and checked that they both had SIA badges. They then told the clampers that the wording on the board was not clear that they would charge £120 per day. Also the car park is free to park between 12.00am and 9am so the 2nd £120 that they have charged me for is for a period that is free to park. :mad:

I have paid the fine via credit card which they then added another £5 fee.

After I had paid and the clamp was released the clampers left the car park, just before I left a group of girls came back to their car and offered me there valid car parking ticket. Do you think I should now try to use this?????

TO ANYONE READING THIS

* PLEASE DO NOT USE CASTLE CAR PARK WINDSOR

* IF YOU ALSO GOT CLAMPED ON THE 28TH MARCH 2009 AT CASTLE CAR PARK PLEASE CONTACT ME

Finally if anyone has ever had any success in re-claiming a clamp fee please can you let me know how?

I think I will write to the car clamping company 'Parking Control Management' and if I have no joy I will take this to the Small Claims Court.

For the record, the parking control company has a contract with the car park owners who pay them nothing for their services. The clamping company makes its income solely from clamping release fees. The employees make a significant amount (perhaps all) of their income from a percentage of the release fees yet are liable if any clamped victim wins a claim against the company in the courts.

Many thanks Mel

peter_the_piper

Worth investigating a chargeback on your credit card. You will have to fight quite hard as they will say that you volunteered your pin number. You could counter with extreme duress etc.

QQuaver

madmel1983 wrote: »

After I had paid and the clamp was released the clampers left the car park, just before I left a group of girls came back to their car and offered me there valid car parking ticket. Do you think I should now try to use this?????

What do you mean use it? Do you mean like you've found your ticket under the seat?
Better not lie, there were witnesses.

Alx*27

• contact the clampers and set out why you want a refund. When they don't co-operate, try again. They will not refund you, but then you can go onto the next part..

• contact your credit card company and demand a refund under the 1974 Consumer Credit Act and demonstrate your dealing with the clampers.

• your credit card co will fob you off

• try again

• your credit card co will fob you off

• threaten your credit card co with court, express your disgust, tell them you will not be paying, tell them you will go to Watchdog, tell them you will go to the local press etc. etc. etc.

• then they should refund you

Credit card companies are crooks as well. They can be persuaded though!

h.walton125

Dear Mel, We also got clamped in this car park on 31st March - we were passing through Windsor on the way home to Cornwall from London and stopped to get something to eat. The service was a bit slow and we were 15 minutes late back to the car. I'm not disputing the fact that we were late - what I'm unhappy about is the outrageous fee that was charged for that 15 minutes and their method of operation - i.e. waiting in their van in the car park ready to spring into action the minute the clock ticks over! You have no option but to pay as they have got you by the b*ll*cks haven't they? I have just phoned the Town Council to see who grants their licence to operate but they have not been very forthcoming. Apparently 'they have nothing to do with privately run car parks'! It sounds like a case of turning a blind eye to me. Windsor is a lovely town - I should know, I used to live there - but I won't be coming back in a hurry. This is almost daylight robbery - at least !!!!!! Turpin had the grace to wear a mask!! I think I'll try writing to the local paper at least. Any more suggestions on how to deal with these operators would be much appreciated (we unfortunately didn't pay by credit card).
Cheers Hev

peter_the_piper

Visa debit cards also do a chargeback system although other cards do not AFAIK.

Paranoid

Dear Mel
I'm not a lawyer but I have spent nearly two years succesfully fighting a clamping company and the owners of the land on which they are (were) allowed to lucratively terrorise motorists.

The grounds for "legal" clamping and towing away have been laid down in Case Law and are:-

1. Warning signs must be displayed where a reasonable person is bound to see them - like at the entrance to the car park.
2. The release fee must be reasonable (???)
3. Arrangements must be in place for prompt release of the vehicle once the motorist has agreed to pay.

(1) is probably the only useful point. Don't even think about using a ticket bought by another motorist. Invariably they are not transferable and at best you will just lose all credibility.

By allowing the clampers to operate on the property the owners are also liable as they have legally entered into a contract (doesn't have to be written). Many landowners do have a genuine problem with parking and are possibly quite reasonable, unlike villainous profiteering clampers. If the landowner has instructed the clampers to follow certain guide lines and the clampers have failed to do so they are in breach.

It's an intersting variation on the usual legal extortion that it takes place in a pay and display car park. I would be interested to know just what the signs say.

Scotland got it right - making clamping illegal!

Ask more if you want. Good luck.

RichardJW1

Paranoid,

This is purely an hypothetical questiion but how does the law work if by some way you manage to remove the wheel clamp?........let's say with bolt cutters to remove the padlock.....I'm not trying to be smart or suggest that's the way it could be done but just interested in where they draw the line and what the likely outcome would be.

If someone 'attaches' something to your car then surely you have now taken legal possesion of it and therefore up to you what you do.

maninthestreet

As Paranoid said, clamping should be made illegal.

mikey72

RichardJW1 wrote: »

Paranoid,

This is purely an hypothetical questiion but how does the law work if by some way you manage to remove the wheel clamp?........let's say with bolt cutters to remove the padlock.....I'm not trying to be smart or suggest that's the way it could be done but just interested in where they draw the line and what the likely outcome would be.

If someone 'attaches' something to your car then surely you have now taken legal possesion of it and therefore up to you what you do.

We had a contract to work for British Rail.
We were told to park in a BR car park, by the BR guy in charge, to unload and work. A clamper turned up, made threats etc, told us we couldn't park, BR guy couldn't allow us, we had to have a permit, if we didn't pay he would clamp us, etc, we pointed out if he clamped us we would get the petrol angle grinder out, and he could **gger off. The outcome was he went, no ticket, no fine, nothing.
I've seen the same on tv, where clamps have just been removed, and left behind.
Doubt it's legal though.

bargepole

Due to the inadequate signage, you would have a very good case for claiming back your clamping fee through a County Court.

It's important that you take action jointly against the landowner and the clampers, because if you sue the clampers only, they hide behind PO Box numbers, and don't have any assets for bailiffs to sieze.

You can get the landowner's name from the Land Registry, I would suggest a 14-day letter before action to both parties, and if they don't pay up, do a moneyclaim online.