Car Clamping

tinkerbelle

I have had a colleague return to the office where i work really shaken up. We work for a local NHS trust and she had gone to do a home visit.

The area where she parked was covered by permits and the resident who she was visiting gave her their permit to use. She was unable to park in the visitors section because of workmen blocking access. She parked in a space and when she came out she has been given a clamp and £120 to pay.

She has paid the £120 on her card but i wondered if there was anything that could be done. The company are called security international group. Also, when my colleague was on the phone to them she is hard of hearing and the women for the security company was extremely rude and accused her of being hard of hearing when she wanted to be!

Any advice would be greatly appreciated.

lauren_1

I dont know what your friend does at the nhs but does she not have a DOCTOR or MIDWIFE VISITING sign she can put on her dashboard? Or leave a mobile number in veiw.

I have a friend who is a clamper and apparently clamping a doctor, midwife, ambulances, police cars, hearses and fire engines are 'cardinal' sins of the clamping trade.

tinkerbelle

She has a medical permit in the window but the company have stated that this is not valid.

Wig

It all depends what the signs said at the site and if the sgns were clearly visible, i..e. she saw them.

She obviously did see the signs because she put a permit into her car. So it comes down to what the signs said, and the wording of any contract the residents have.

If you ask me, on the basis of what we have, (IANAL) she will not get her money back.

tinkerbelle

I think the point that she made was that she was going to park in the visitors space but workmen were digging up the visitors spaces which is why she parked in a residents space and had the permit from the resident she was visiting.

It was the way in which they spoke to her on the phone accusing her of not being hard of hearing when she wears two hearing aids.

Pew_Pew_Pew_Lasers!

Go back to the site and take photographs of the space. There are only 2 designs of parking bay and they must adhere to either one. They often don't.

Once you have the pictures go and ask on https://www.pepipoo.com - here's the sort of thing you need to find out:

http://web.mac.com/rmbscarb/iWeb/rmbconsulting/Making%20a%20challenge.html

tinkerbelle

Thanks for that. I will go with her on Monday.

anewman

These people are just scum who blackmail you out of money - so don't feel bad about them accusing your friend of not being deaf, they're the one's who are a bit dim and in the wrong.

I think this should happen more often - http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=xZeSzPdilvQ

Also interesting
http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=zGQMq3hNv-g
http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=-wZtB1oGpsU
http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=SDy4Fs4_R74

Wig

Pew_Pew_Pew_Lasers! wrote: »

Go back to the site and take photographs of the space. There are only 2 designs of parking bay and they must adhere to either one. They often don't.

Once you have the pictures go and ask on www.pepipoo.com - here's the sort of thing you need to find out:

http://web.mac.com/rmbscarb/iWeb/rmbconsulting/Making%20a%20challenge.html

It is my understanding that we are talking about a private clamping firm working for the freeholder of a private residential property. Parking bay markings have nothing to do with this. Neither does the customer service rudeness on the phone. The most you will get from the rudeness will be to file a complaint with the BPA (assuming they are registered with the BPA - I think there is one other parking association scheme but I don't know the name)

The visitor spaces being blocked does not allow you to park in a permit bay, What you do is park somewhere else nearby legaly and walk. The most you can hope for on this would be the clampers accept the visitor bay was blocked and they let you off, judging by the sounds of them, they ain't going to be doing that in a hurry. One other avenue of appeal would be to contact the landowner and explain the visitor bays were blocked by workmen and explain the whole medical angle and you might get the landowner to intervene on your behalf.

Pew_Pew_Pew_Lasers!

Well I'm not clear if it is a car park or a private/public road, but the visit to pepipoo is still the best advice.

Gallovidian

anewman wrote: »

These people are just scum who blackmail you out of money

True, and they are thieves, by clamping your car they are
depriving you of your property.

Clamping is illegal in Scotland.:T Contact your M.P. and
get it made illegal where you live too.