Private land clamping

Hagrid2012

2 weeks ago my son parked his car at 10.00am in an area restricted for parking only if visiting specific shops. My son left the area for approximately 5 mins, then returned and duly went into one of the shops the land was used by. He spent a few minutes getting advice about his laptop. When he returned to his car he'd been clamped. He called me immediately and I arrived at about 11am. I have been charged £498.75 by Securak to have the clamped removed; £125 clamping charge, £100 PCN charge and a whopping £250 tow truck charge, + 5% admin fee. I tried to plead with the guys that my son had indeed been into one of the shops but they said he'd left the area, which strictly speaking is true, but he did visit one of the shops. I also disputed the need for the tow truck charge since there was no tow truck in the vicinity, they said it was on it's way. My credit card company tell me that as I entered my pin number there is nothing they can do to help me. I have sent a letter of appeal to the company (within their very strict appeals procedure), together with a letter from the retailer confirming my son had visited his shop, but to date I have received no reply.

So basically I am wondering if anyone has any ideas about how I can take this further. I imagine the company will ignore all further correspondence. My son was clamped at 10.48am and the clamp removed at 11.11am and it has cost almost £500 for 23 minutes legitimate parking!

Any ideas?

fivetide

You've been done up by cowboys I'm afraid.

Very little you can do I think. You need to report the practise to the shops in question though.

5t.

EDIT - Have a read of this, consult a legal beagle and go after them through the courts http://www.adviceguide.org.uk/t_wheel-clamping_on_private_land.pdf

Double edit - seems someone doing the same thing has been jailed in the past. Might be worth doing some digging after all and speaking to TS http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-birmingham-11851471

daveyjp

There is plenty of scope to get your money back, but it will take time and persistence. Pepipoo is a great resource for info.

Trebor16

The banks will always come out with the "you entered your pin so there is nothing we can do" as a first response. Be persistent and take it up the food chain. Do as davey suggested and post this in the private parking section at www.pepipoo.com. I would also ask a moderator if this can be moved to the parking section where it will receive more attention from the MSE parking experts.

The one thing to remember is that if you do end up making a claim in the small claims court you have to claim against the management company/land owner as well as the clamping company. These cowboys have a habit of disappearing but the land owner/managing agent will still be there. As they hired the cowboys they are equally liable for the actions of the clampers.

You don't have to lie back and take it as suggested above.

fivetide

daveyjp wrote: »

There is plenty of scope to get your money back, but it will take time and persistence. Pepipoo is a great resource for info.

This. Peppipoo should help, just sort the wheat from the chaff (similar to here).

Reading the CAB link posted though you should have some course to complain, for example I read that as they can't call a tow truck unless you are deemed to be parked dangerously. The fact that this has already been called 'criminal behaviour' in court might help.

As I said though, speak to the stores, find out who employs these cowboys and let them know you'll be taking it further and referencing them all the way.

They might decide to take notice then.

Not sure how easy it will be to actually get any cash back though. An operation being run like this only has a limited time to survive before it gets wound up and they start up again.

5t.

Trebor16

fivetide wrote: »

Not sure how easy it will be to actually get any cash back though. An operation being run like this only has a limited time to survive before it gets wound up and they start up again.

5t.

Which is why you go for the management agents/landowners as well as the clampers, as pointed out above. While the clampers might phoenix the agents/landowners will still be around, and as they instructed the clampers they are every bit as liable for the actions of the clampers as the clampers themselves.

red_eye

have a look
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0QkM-dWAXOs

atrixblue.-MFR-.

that officers full o carp. its a civil matter if he doesnt damage the clamp, and he didnt enter into a contract a contract is where both parties sign on dotted line!

Jamie_Carter

Am I missing something here?

I thought it was now illegal to clamp cars on private land. And that only the council, traffic wardens or the police could clamp or tow away without a warrant??

Stephen_Leak

The law won't come into force until sometime in October. So we are now seeing a "feeding frenzy" by the clampers.

atrixblue.-MFR-.

what i would do is buy a clamp, and when the clamper van turns up for the extortion money just clamp them and tell them that they will be towed away if they dont pay you 1million release fee.