Private Parking Industry Hits back blog discussion

g4ran

Well done Martin

I don't for one minute think that the BPA will take you up on your offer,

As a victim of these private clampers i was illegally clamped and before i paid i went over to the local police station and spoke to the police about it, i was told that it was a civil and not criminal matter, i asked the police what would happen if i cut the clamp off, i was told that i would not be arrested as it was a civil matter the clamping company would have to take me to court to get compensation for the clamp, so armed with this information i went back to the clamper who happened to be sitting in his van with a smug look on his face and told him if he didn't take the clamp of i was going to get a friend of mine to bring me an angle grinder and i was going to cut the clamp in half and remove it, he at first refused so i made a phone call in front of him for the angle grinder, at this point he rang his boss who told him if i cut the clamp off he would have to pay for a new clamp, by this time my friend has turned up with the angle grinder, the clamper not wanting to pay for a new clamp decides to to remove the clamp without payment, so i drive off leaving him standing there with the smug grin wiped of his face and i have a smug grin on mine, the moral of this story is, if you stand your ground and they know that you know it is a civil and not criminal matter to cut a clamp off and that 1. they have to take you to court to get their money back and 2. you are more than willing to cut the clamp off, then there is a pretty good chance that they will remove it without payment.

I-LOV-MONEY

Although this has not happened to me, but imagine the scenario of returning to your car and finding it clamped. No sign of anybody from the PPC but a telephone number to call.

Do you just remove the clamp (providing you have the facilities) and leave it in the car park or telephone them (undoubtedly a mobile or 0870 number!) and threaten to remove it yourself, if they don't come to do it themselves ?

Little_RAY

I don't have anything new to say here - there are some powerful posts already in this thread. I just wanted to "stand up and be counted" so to speak, and voice my revulsion at the behaviour and actions of all Private Parking Companies all over the UK.

How can any one PPC be considered to be more honest than the other?? They are working with the sole motivation of making money (maybe they should just print their own, it wouldn't be any less moral!) - they don't care about the private land they are protecting or the standards presented in car-parks for users / customers. How do they get away with it?

The BPA - what a joke! Their rules are laughable (who are they protecting exactly??)! They can't/don't even enforce their own rules. It's just one big joke that lots of people are getting paid to keep up.

Thanks Martin - can't wait to hear about BPA's reply to your letter!!!

Countertenor

I'm not sure how long the BPA has been in existence, but I was certainly ignorant of it when I challenged a parking ticket issued by a private company 3 yrs ago. I wrote to my MP, and the SIA, who I was informed were the responsible body. I received no satisfaction. They are similarly there to represent the clampers, and seemingly only act as a registration point. They do not regulate the behaviour of the clampers, and more importantly, cannot (or would not) address my specific issue - that the signage warning people of the possibility of clamping should be clearly & prominently displayed. I got nowhere with my complaint, and felt the SIA were a waste of time & taxpayers money. I wrote to several of their executives personally, but never received the courtesy of a reply. I can only hope the BPA are an improvement, although it appears they are no more a representative of the public than anyone else. Just exactly what do they do and who pays for them, I wonder?

Coblcris

Sadly you will be disappointed by the BPA.

I should point out the the SIA is a Public Body and as such has various rules to follow should anyone wish to pursue evidence of the fulfillment or non-fulfillment of their obligations..

Camberwellbod

I am the joint owner of a private car park behind a block of flats.We charge £25 per month for parking. There are 10 spaces, most of which(before we acquired the car park,rented out the spaces and employed a clamping company), used to be occupied either by commuters using a nearby tube station or by abandoned cars.The situation has greatly improved as a result of the activities of the clamping company but we are not happy because :
a) the clamping company charges offenders much more than can be justified as a deterrent and insists on clamping being followed within the shortest possible time by removal of the offending vehicle,thus ensuring that the maximum of £430 is almost always levied;they say that if left, the clamps are often destroyed.

b) the high level of charges gives us as owners of the car park a bad reputation with the tenants of the flats - it is not generally appreciated that we receive no part of the fines.

c) the clamping company will not commit to (or report to us on) the specific regularity of their patrols and we have the impression that when they have "made their money for the year" they cease to patrol.The whole system is certainly very "hit and miss" as regards catching those who trespass by parking on our property,especially at the weekend.

d) they refuse to pass on to us to help maintain the car park, any of part of the huge profit they undoubtedly make.

e) none of the clamping companies we contacted operated any differently: all stated that they levy charges in line with those recommended by the BPA.As a result,there is no competition,we,the client have no choice and there is a effectively a cartel operating.

The alternative of a barrier is not realistic.Anything other than a manual barrier (which would pose problems for our disabled customers) costs a lot more than we could afford,would be vandalised and requires electricity.

Methusela

Countertenor wrote: »

I'm not sure how long the BPA has been in existence, but I was certainly ignorant of it when I challenged a parking ticket issued by a private company 3 yrs ago. I wrote to my MP, and the SIA, who I was informed were the responsible body. I received no satisfaction. They are similarly there to represent the clampers, and seemingly only act as a registration point. They do not regulate the behaviour of the clampers, and more importantly, cannot (or would not) address my specific issue - that the signage warning people of the possibility of clamping should be clearly & prominently displayed. I got nowhere with my complaint, and felt the SIA were a waste of time & taxpayers money. I wrote to several of their executives personally, but never received the courtesy of a reply. I can only hope the BPA are an improvement, although it appears they are no more a representative of the public than anyone else. Just exactly what do they do and who pays for them, I wonder?

BPA act only on behalf of the clampers and other parking companies, to provide them with a semblance of legitimacy that they do nothing to deserve.
Needless to say, BPA are funded directly by the parking companies, who pay substantial fees every year to be members. That is why the BPA couldn't care less about what the private motorist thinks, or how the parking companies behave.
To make their association look more legitimate, BPA have a "Code of Practice" to which all their members are supposed to adhere. Needless to say, many of them ignore the code of practice completely but this fact doesn't faze BPA who respond to all complaints from the public by saying that they have "no legal authority" to control the activities of their members. Even the DVLA seem to be in league with BPA and the parking companies, as you will see if you read back through some of the earlier posts. They often ignore complaints and when they do occasionally respond they just offer feeble excuses for their part in the fraudulent goings-on.
The whole thing is a can of worms and the sooner that can is split open in public, so that all of its rotten contents can be seen openly, the better we will all be. This is what Martin is trying to do, so good luck to him!
:T

I-LOV-MONEY

Could someone perhaps get Dom from 'The One Show' or Anne Robinson who takes over on 'Watchdog' onto the case ?

Crabman

I-LOV-MONEY wrote: »

Could someone perhaps get Dom from 'The One Show' or Anne Robinson who takes over on 'Watchdog' onto the case ?

Please not Dom - his programmes are about as useful as a trap door on a canoe.

The inaccuracies contained within his programme about PPC charges was shocking. Especially so, since the BBC used to have better editorial standards. He claimed PPCs are allowed by law to fine people :rolleyes: Luckily we money savers know better

savemoney

Motorists to get 'consumers'' protection against cowboy clampers