Clamping - over £1000 for ringing a bell for delivery

DailyClicker

kwaks wrote: »

Solution is simple.

1 Buy an angle grinder.
2 Wait for clamp to be applied.
3 Call Police to attend immediately
4 Negotiate a release fee of your own with driver (£40 max should cover it)
5 Remove padlock from clamp with grinder, in full view of the police.
6 Offer the clamper £40 compensation for his padlock( if you feel nice)

Remember, they are charging a release fee, therefor if they do not do the releasing then they cannot charge.

As the Police have stated (wrongly in fact) it is a civil matter so they can stand by to ensure you are not hampered by the actions of the clampers in your new vocation as a clamp remover. (only clampers need be registered, not removers, also get someone to film this (added bonus points for a third person to clamp the clampers whilst distracted.)

I'd absolutely love to do this, and give them what they deserve, but I'll probably end up finding my house windows smashed and my own car towed away when it's dark.

Or end up in hospital - these guys are that sort of type, you cannot have a discussion with them.

king100

Right

The landlord has to have allowed the clampers to clamp on his land.

Please inform the landlord that he is liable for any and all costs and could be taken to court. If he is allowing the illegal clamping on his land.

Clampers dont worry about CCjs but landlords do. If the guy who paid £1000 does get charge back tell him to write to the landlord advinsing him of a "notice before action".

Take him and the clamping copmpany to SCC and get his money back. A judge cannot rule in favour of the defendant as £1000 is well over what they find an acceptable charge.

Can you let us know where on googlemaps thius is happening?

peter_the_piper

Maybe a letter to Sainsburys advising them that the press are getting interested in a major UK retailer using clampers who charge £1000.00 a go. If no joy then I'm sure the Mail, sun (name the red top of your choice)would be interested.Maybe do it anyway if really p***ed off. The adverse publicity should help get rid of them.

Fergie76

I'm Scottish (although, I do live in England), so not sure how it works in England, but do people not have right of access to these other businesses?

Also, I'm a little confused as to who the Landlord is, as you have mentioned both Sainsbury and a Landlord.

At least in Scotland, clamping is illegal.

DailyClicker

king100 wrote: »

Right

The landlord has to have allowed the clampers to clamp on his land.

Please inform the landlord that he is liable for any and all costs and could be taken to court. If he is allowing the illegal clamping on his land.

Clampers dont worry about CCjs but landlords do. If the guy who paid £1000 does get charge back tell him to write to the landlord advinsing him of a "notice before action".

Take him and the clamping copmpany to SCC and get his money back. A judge cannot rule in favour of the defendant as £1000 is well over what they find an acceptable charge.

Can you let us know where on googlemaps thius is happening?

How do I prove who the land owner is? I believe I know who he is, but he's putting the responsibility onto who is paying him for the property/land rent.

I don't want to disclose exact location but it's happening near the locations mentioned in this link:

http://www.bbc.co.uk/blogs/watchdog/2009/05/citywatch.html

DailyClicker

peter_the_piper wrote: »

Maybe a letter to Sainsburys advising them that the press are getting interested in a major UK retailer using clampers who charge £1000.00 a go. If no joy then I'm sure the Mail, sun (name the red top of your choice)would be interested.Maybe do it anyway if really p***ed off. The adverse publicity should help get rid of them.

Sainsburys are denying the access/delivery road is owned by them, but have asked a few neighbours who have been here for over 50 years, and they have informed me Sainsburys built the road and informed all landlords over 30 years ago that they will own/maintain and clean the road.

I'll double check with the council on Monday, and then get some letters out to Sainsburys/local newspapers.

pippitypip_2

I think you can possibly find out who owns the land:

https://www.landregistry.gov.uk/wps/portal/Property_Search

How to find a property

If you're buying or selling a house or are just interested in a property, you'll be glad you visited us. To obtain property details just enter the postcode and house number/name above and click 'Search'.
If you know the full address you can submit a Detailed enquiry, if you don't you can submit a Map enquiry.

For properties you are interested in, you can download:

• a title register where you can find out who owns the property, price paid/value stated information if sold since April 2000 and any rights of way or restrictions on the land noted on the register for only £4 (view title register example)

hth,
pippitypip

peter_the_piper

pippitypip wrote: »

I think you can possibly find out who owns the land:

https://www.landregistry.gov.uk/wps/portal/Property_Search

How to find a property

If you're buying or selling a house or are just interested in a property, you'll be glad you visited us. To obtain property details just enter the postcode and house number/name above and click 'Search'.
If you know the full address you can submit a Detailed enquiry, if you don't you can submit a Map enquiry.

For properties you are interested in, you can download:

• a title register where you can find out who owns the property, price paid/value stated information if sold since April 2000 and any rights of way or restrictions on the land noted on the register for only £4 (view title register example)

hth,
pippitypip

Definitely worth doing before outing Sainsburys, it could get dirty otherwise.

Coupon-mad

If the chargeback is being refused verbally, the delivery man should request it in writing- as then the Bank should respond in writing and it gives a tangible answer. If they do still refuse then a complaint can be made to the Financial Ombudsman who does deal with 'refused chargeback' issues as I have seen some examples of decisions on the FO website. Google to see them.

It doesn't have to have been the landowner who agreed to let the clampers do their worst there, just someone with a beneficial interest in the land I think, whose lease allows them to do this. So it could have been the business occupiers of the land who contracted the clampers (Sainsburys?). Personally I doubt it was private renting residential occupiers (could have been that private landlord though...).

In the absence of a chargeback, what your friend and the delivery driver need to do is take the clampers and whichever occupier or landowner contracted them on that site, to Small Claims Court. You have six years to bring about such an action so it's not too late for the three-point turn guy either!

It will cost £30 or £40 as a Court fee but the claimant can claim that back in the action. Sending both parties a Notice before Action is the first place to start.

CityWatch have such a bad reputation as rogue clampers, that I reckon you could include in your argument against the landlord/occupier the fact that they have a duty of care to their customers/visitors/residents/delivery men, to ensure that any parking firm they employ isn't a bunch of scammers (or words to that effect).

Then there's the signage - what does it say? Take photos of the wording, draw a plot of where those signs are on site. Did the delivery man see the signs and was he aware of the risk of daring to stop even for a moment? Does the signage make that extortionate amount clear?! If not then the signs could be argued as not forming a contract between him and the clampers and he'll likely win at Small Claims.

Then there's the paperwork they gave him - in particular the receipt and appeal info. Does it include the readable name, SIA number and signature of the person who released the clamp, plus the location etc.? If not it can be argued as inadequate - it's not just about 'having an SIA number'.

Then there's the fact that the release amount is extortionate and unreasonable for the 'service' it covers. That makes it a penalty - if a claimant can convince a judge of that (easy surely in this case!) then he cannot uphold their fee as private companies cannot issue penalties/fines.

All of those facts can be put together into a Small Claims case, even if they are SIA registered.

There's also Trading Standards; both Wolverhampton TS and Birmingham TS have very recently got some rogue, bullying clampers put in jail:

Wolverhampton case:
http://www.tradingstandards.gov.uk/extra/n....cfm/newsid/443

(Birmingham TS link already given above by daveyjp)

If your local TS isn't willing to look into those cases and find similarities that they can apply to bringing down CityWatch - then ask why on earth not? And ask the Police why on earth this is not a crime bearing in mind the jailings of other rogue bully-boy clampers elsewhere?

Post about this on pepipoo.com as MSE hasn't got much experience in helping people get clamping money back, chargebacks after clamping, finding out who owns land, writing a Notice before Action, etc.

Pepipoo has a wealth of experience and 'legal' posters too. Read some clamping threads on this link first - there are lots of them on pepipoo - and read the FAQs before posting. Don't forget they will want to see pictures of the area but you could pm them to bama or southpaw (trusted posters) if you want to keep some of the info off-forum:

http://forums.pepipoo.com/index.php?showforum=30

HTH

DailyClicker

Got a few positive updates:

1) I've managed to get the companies to take down and stop their contracts with this company, so at least there are no more signs down this private road.
2) Our local MP is looking into this and taking it seriously, so if you live in the Ilford area, message me

Have got a question though:

Under the Section 75 refunds, would this be covered, signs that have been put up with no permission from land owner and clamped on that land, or would it have to be a Visa Chargeback?

Thanks