car clamping - can they do this?

KtheK

HELP!

I was on a night shift last night and my colleague parked her car in what we now realise was a clamping zone. we've parked there loads of times and never had a problem so we're guessing the clamping thing is something new... unfortunately it was dark at 2am so we didnt see the sign.

anyway, we were at this particular project where we work between 2am and 4am and during that time her car was clamped.

she had a ticket on the car saying she had to pay £150 to release it, but when she called them they changed it to £250, saying they had to tow it away.

can they really do this?
she didnt have £250 in her bank so she's had to let them take it away and they wouldnt let her know where it has gone and she was literally stranded at 5am... it was a nightmare.

so... does anyone know how she can get her money back or get them to agree to taking the original £150? they now want an extra £25 per day on top.

The man on the phone hung up on her and now she doesnt know what to do.


arhghghg!

Astaroth

Yes they can do it as long as there are signs saying that clamping is in operation. The fact it was dark and you didnt see them is not the responsibility of the property owners or the clampers. It may well be that they have been inforce for a long time and she has simply been lucky in the past.

No way of reducing the cost of it other than paying it as soon as possible to reduce the storage charge unless you go back to the area and see if there is no notice about clamping. Guess she could try and claim it back from her employers but I am sure they wouldnt consider this as a business "expense" and just tell her not to park on other peoples property.

dalliance

The CAB have a fact sheet about clamping, available here:-

http://www.adviceguide.org.uk/nw/index/your_world/travel/travel_fact_sheets_index.htm

hawkwinddotcom

Once the "offender" has paid up and got their car back, really annoy the clampers every night your on shift and phone them (withholding your number) every few minutes, then let them get back to sleep and phone them again.

It doesnt matter about them as they are scum and deserve all the sht you can give them.

KtheK

i dont think they should have insisted on towing it away... they said there was a £150 release fee to take the clamp off, which she could pay and was willing to do... then when she called them to do this they said that she now had to pay £250 as they were going to tow it away.
all this happened in a 2 hour space of time - how come at one point they were happy with £150 and then suddenly it had to be £250? greed - im sure of it. we were not obstructing anyone or getting in the way of the business at all. our private spaces had been taken up so we had no choice but to park there.... grrr.
ah well..... im going to check out if the clamping company is liscenced and fingers crossed she can claim the cash back from our company - but we work for a charity so its not looking good...

such a pain!

tr3mor

They really should ban camping like in Scotland. To me it's just licensed theft!

EasilyAggravated

clampers are the scurge of the earth. they really are absolute scum. they take great pride in robbing people. its not just a few quid either. its an extortionate amount of money and what makes it worse is the fact that this government is doing nothing about it. they're practically condoning it by not getting involved. its about time we all stood up against these thieving toerags and made our voice heard. and as for it being dark, well if its an area where clampers are in operation then surely they should have sufficient lighting for the signs to be seen. as the law states that signs should be seen, if you cant see them for whatever reason then id be making my case known.
take it further. dont pay them. and then make a claim for loss of earnings due to the fact you need your car for work. they deserve all they get, and more.

trickytrolleys

I'd speak to the local council and enquire about the firm doing the clamping - they may be able to help you, sounds a bit much all that within two hours. Couldnt agree more about the phoning - they ARE scum and DO deserve all they get!!

Astaroth

I cant stand clampers either but at the same time I hate the b*******s who keep parking in both my home space and previously in my work space which costed me £10 a day as I had to go into the NCP next door cos they couldnt be bothered to.

KtheK

Astaroth wrote:

I cant stand clampers either but at the same time I hate the b*******s who keep parking in both my home space and previously in my work space which costed me £10 a day as I had to go into the NCP next door cos they couldnt be bothered to.

we only went to this particular car park because people had taken our work spaces.... thanks everyone for your help... i'll pass on the info to my colleague and take the CAB fact sheet.
fingers crossed something can be done... i'll let you know if we get a result!

chrisw

tr3mor wrote:

They really should ban camping like in Scotland. To me it's just licensed theft!

I rather like camping in Scotland, I didn't realise it was banned.:D