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Private Parking Industry Hits back blog discussion

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Comments

  • daveyjp
    daveyjp Posts: 12,949 Forumite
    Part of the Furniture 10,000 Posts Name Dropper
    Since when has a body which relies on member contributions to survive ever been keen on getting rid of members?

    Just like the response to Martin the code of conduct is nothing more than a sham.
  • Hels28
    Hels28 Posts: 18 Forumite
    Yes - we realise that - but how long does it take for the police to arrive when they are dealing with "real" crime all the time. I had to sit in the middle of the road waiting to turn into our flats a couple of weeks ago whilst some kid used the cash point. Because he knew I was waiting to get in he took even longer. He was not only preventing me from access, he was also preventing someone else from getting out. Even having clampers (who do not operate on Sundays anyway where we live) have no effect on these ignorant imbeciles.
  • daveyjp
    daveyjp Posts: 12,949 Forumite
    Part of the Furniture 10,000 Posts Name Dropper
    town_cryer wrote: »
    Martin
    I am a registered disabled (blue badge) driver and frequently find that the allocated 'disabled' bays at supermarkets etc are taken by non-badge drivers. Although not your intention I think that many of those will now see your article as encouragement to continue to do so. Clearly you are saying that if a one of these selfish drivers is using someone elses car (or the the owner SAYS someone else was driving it) there is no need to pay the charge/fine.
    When you say you are protecting the consumer please remember that people like me, who would like to use the bay provided for our benefit, are consumers too.

    There is a perfectly workable solution to this and our local supermarket did it. They made the disabled spaces a Council car park. Anyone parking there without a blue badge received a Council ticket which cannot be ignored.
  • in short words
    WELL DONE MARTIN - KEEP UP YOUR GOOD WORK
    with you all the way
    Thanks
  • sporedude
    sporedude Posts: 1,563 Forumite
    So much !!! kissing on this thread.......
  • Hels28
    Hels28 Posts: 18 Forumite
    savemoney wrote: »
    Surely it would be better to have raised bollards and chains if its a large area or perhaps some gate an the entrance if its practical

    I understand the need for a deterrent anyone who owns land has a right to stop peopel parking on it, but some of these owners and cowboys only want this as a source of revenue and some deliberately try and be deceitful by putting notices up in very discrete places and have cowboys waiting within minutes of driver leaving and clamping them
    We couldn't agree more. However, our council town planning obviously went to the University of Toy Town. We cannot have a barrier because anyone driving in who cannot access the property would then have to reverse out. Reversing onto a main road is illegal - therefore to prevent people from breaking the law we cannot have a barrier. On top of that, the bus stops across our drive and apparently it can't be moved although this was meant to happen before we moved in.

    The notices we have at our property are in no way discreet. They are on both sides of the drive at driver eye level at the entrance to the property. They clearly state what will happen if you park there. The tenants/owners at this property do not make money but actually have to pay a monthly contribution to have the clampers come, and they don't come regularly enough.

    However, I do get some sadistic pleasure as I drive as slowly as I possibly can and take as much time as possible when being followed by someone who has just popped to the bank. Just so they realise next time it will be quicker for them to park in the public car park across the road. They can even park in the supermarket for free but are too lazy to walk.

    When you have suffered the inconvenience that we have, tell us that you don't agree with clamping. I understand that there are dodgy companies out there but the one we use is legit and people still get away with not paying.
  • thelawnet
    thelawnet Posts: 2,580 Forumite
    Part of the Furniture 1,000 Posts Name Dropper Combo Breaker
    aqib wrote: »
    Great reply to the slimeballs Martin!

    I was robbed of £85 by clampers when I was a student and my brother who still is a student actually had his car towed and kept by another company (because it was uneconomical for us to have pay over £300 to get an old nissan sunny out of their lock up) and that was even after he had paid to park there but got back just two minutes late.

    Yes as the slimeball said landowners have a right to protect their land but they don't have a right to highway robbery and bloodsucking.

    These guys should be made illegal but better still they should be named and shamed on websites and everyone who knows them should ostracise them until they get a proper job.

    £85 seems like the right amount to me. If the fee were much lower, people would not be deterred.
  • It usually happens when your car is on someone else's private property, and the premise is that you're the one trespassing.

    Of course whether the signage warning you of what might happen at said private property is adequate/even in existence or whether the 'fines' are proportionate is another matter.

    I live in a town centre flat, opposite a local leisure centre, and know only too well how much hassle people parking in your private spaces are, in fact staff from the leisure centre have parked up and then gone to work which is infuriating to say the least. There are 4 signs posted throughout the car park to inform people of clamping and towing.

    However i have my own bone to pick with these people,

    1) If you do need them to come out, they only arrive when they want, way past the time when the offending vehicle is there.

    2) from reading up on the blog, is it any wonder people are so brassed off with clampers etc, if they cant follow their own codes either because of pure laziness, or maybe it is a complete inability to read, in which case there are many adult education courses out there for free english, perhaps this may be of use.

    3) I am also in complete agreement with Martin and his team, with respect to the BPA, who is obviously a trade body, do these people think we are morons, if they dont give a rats !!!! about their victims of their members then they are a trade body.

    Finally if the BPA is so concerened with the industry, is it not about time to have compulsory regulation, which is checked to make sure members adhere to the rules that the BPA so cherish. With so many members and non members who are basically theiving of the general public is it any wonder they have had such a backlash.
  • Recently I was clamped by a rogue company called Parking Control Management (UK) in my own apartment in our own parking lot since the space I had parked did not have any markings even though it was well within a row of bays and looked like any other bay.

    Even though the car was not causing any obstruction whatsover, these rogues deliberately lifted my car and put in on a tow truck ignoring all my pleas. They then coerced and extorted 240 pounds from me all within a few minutes!

    When I started talking to my neighbours in the complex, I came to know that more than 90% of the residents had been clamped and/or had their cars towed by this rogue company for one frivolous reason or the other. Some of them had been clamped thrice over time for reasons such as cutting the white line in their own bay!

    The irony is they NEVER EVER clamped an outsider. This is despite when residents had called them when there was an outsider's car in their bay. Its a classic case of fence eating the crop - since most of the residents are tenants they had been living with this rogue company appointed by the flat owners. I'm sure this is what is happening in many many flat complexes.

    After I wrote to all the tenants, everyone has come together and we have now got rid of this rogue company.
    Kevin says

    'let’s not forget that landowners have a right to manage their land and motorists do not have the right to park where they like when they like and for free'

    for which I would say

    Yes but for that appointing a clamper is NOT the solution - it only acts as a boomerang. A simple sign saying private parking - clamping in operation or something like that is more than enough to scare people who may be thinking of parking. Do NOT ever appoint a clamper - they are all rogues.
  • Armbase
    Armbase Posts: 65 Forumite
    town_cryer wrote: »
    Martin
    I am a registered disabled (blue badge) driver and frequently find that the allocated 'disabled' bays at supermarkets etc are taken by non-badge drivers. Although not your intention I think that many of those will now see your article as encouragement to continue to do so. Clearly you are saying that if a one of these selfish drivers is using someone elses car (or the the owner SAYS someone else was driving it) there is no need to pay the charge/fine.
    When you say you are protecting the consumer please remember that people like me, who would like to use the bay provided for our benefit, are consumers too.

    Which is why in Scotland you CAN be legally fined for stopping in a disabled bay in a supermarketr etc when you are not entitled to. I used to be a taxi driver (a nice one) in loch lomond and I sat at the supermarket most days. I've seen how disabled bays are abused.

    I've also seen, when they introduced council residents parking in my area of glasgow, an explosion of blue badged. Now I'm not making this next bit up, honest I can give you the street, one chap sudenly got one for his 911 (yep a Porsche). Also I know someone with MS who is entitled to a blue badge, which they dont want to apply for, and they only have problems during relapses. The rest of the time they are fine, but from the casual observer they look okay. However, too much walking knackers them. So don't assume that because someone "looks" okay that they are gettting round the system.
    PS the guy with the 911 is at it..... fact. :-(


    PPS I'm totally against the clampers and cowboys and I wouldn't pay.

    I'm so glad Scotland has outlawed the clampers.

    Cheers
    Bob
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