Curious about clampers

Thoie

I parked my car in a pay and display space during the week. The ticket showed that my parking expired at 19 minutes past the hour (I'd paid for the full two hours permitted at that place). At 17 minutes past the hour I returned to my car to discover the clampers pulled in behind me, with one leaning against my passenger window chatting to the other.

Am I paranoid or were they waiting for the second of xx:19:01? Or had they just coincidentally decided to get out of the cab for some fresh air?

L1011

From experience, they were waiting for 19 minutes, one second...

Anan1

The only place i've heard of them doing this is Dun Laoghaire ferry port.

The \/\/anderer

Hope you told him to get his stinkin greasy paws off your window?

Berty

They are all just B&stards. End of!

Thoie

The \/\/anderer wrote: »

Hope you told him to get his stinkin greasy paws off your window?

It wasn't his hands that were touching the window, and I didn't feel qualified to discuss the state of the bit of him that was

Actually I just hit the remote, made him jump, and said "Scuse me there lads".

The \/\/anderer

lol. Still, I think I'd be more pissed off about them leaning on my car than waiting to catch me out.

Steve

Ah yes, clampers. Salt of the earth the lot of them.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wOuVhMz4WFw

Berty

Would have been better if you had an alarm activation button. Hit the button and then two minutes later run around the corner shouting at him. " I saw you, I saw you trying to break into my car". "Dont go anywhere, Im calling the cops, your fingerprints and ass prints are all over it". LOL

They would **** themselves!!!

Rowley Birkin QC

One of my first nights in Dublin as a student I was on Cathal Brugha St. waiting for the bus. There was a battered old Transit parked opposite DIT, clampers had slapped on the horrible yellow boot of misery. Nothing unusual about that.

Anyway about 5 minutes standing there two lads arrived back to find their immobile vehicle. Zero discussion later one of them was out of the back of the van with a con saw hacking the clamp to bits. It was fcuking brilliant, people clapping and cheering as the guys drove off.

ToxicPaddy

Ahh I've seen it all with clampers.. most will try anything to get a car clamped.

Its a regular thing with them to notice a ticket coming close to expiring and them clamping immediately..

Saw them clamp a car on D'olier st that had its front wheels on the white line that was dividing a car park space from the taxi rank. As far as they were concerned it was in a taxi rank so they could clamp it.. The rank was empty and the car has a valid ticket on it with time to spare.. :rolleyes:

Also saw em completely block a street off baggot st while clamping a car and when someone got onto them to move their van as they needed to get through, the guy got an earful of abuse and told to f*ck off and mind his own business by the clampers..

All changed fairly quickly when a garda car arrived on the scene and the driver who got abuse hurled at him complained to the gardai in the car who then ordered the van moved and had a few words with the rather red faced and embarrassed clampers.. twas priceless!!!

-Chris-

I came across this wonderful sight on the quays in Dublin recently. Had to take a picture for posterity.

Pity I didn't get a picture of the clamper's face when he showed up to check on his handiwork...

Sean Quagmire

Legally speaking if you do manage to get the clamp off your car and drive off are there any repurcutions? do they take down your reg number etc?

mik_da_man

Yep - they take photos of the car
You can get in a bit of bother - criminal damage

Berty

Buy a yellow crayon and mark your alloy after the clamp is removed and he is gone to the back of his van.

Challenge him that you want all four wheels replaced. See him laugh then.

Heard of people doing this in Wales and all got their clamp fee instatly refunded.

stek

the wardens are just as bad! in blackrock village, dublin, i came back on the exact minute of my ticket expiration too find a slimey pin headed creep writing out the ticket. God i was delighted to see the disapointed look on his face.

skyhighflyer

mik_da_man wrote: »

Yep - they take photos of the car
You can get in a bit of bother - criminal damage

I'd have no problem getting a consaw and sawing the clamp off it was a private clamper and not a local authority.

The Gardai don't give private clampers access to the registration database, so even if they had a photo including the reg they'd have a hard time tracking you down. Particularly if you just sawed the clamp off and dumped it somewhere.

Not that I would advocate this kind of possibly illegal action.:cool:

macroman

Mate of my Dads used to park up around Christchurch, but as he was constantly getting clamped he came up with an ingenious solution - park car as close to kerb as possible, go around to roadside, remove hubcaps and remove wheel nuts then replace hubcaps.

When he got clamped, just jacked up car removed wheel with clamp in situe, and put on spare wheel, did up all missing wheel nuts put removed wheel in the boot and when he got home he removed clamp using an angle grinder and left it on the kerbside the following morning.

Would have been hilarious if they'd lifted his car and the wheels fall off

Berty

Sound like a lot of work macroman.

People will be horified to learn that there are no clamping companies in Limerick enlisted by the county council. There are private clamping companies working garages, private housing etc but none on public streets.

Thereby after 6pm and especially on Sundays in Limerick City there are cars strewn all over the place. On footpaths, in loading bays, bus lanes - everywhere. Patrick St in Limerick is always two lanes(one way) but on a Sunday you cannot use the left lane even though its double yellow lined because its full of cars half on the footpath.

Why??? Multistory car parks in the City do NOT open on a Sunday. Madness!!

FearDark

I have a collection of consawed off clamps at home, sawed off about 3 years ago in Cork city and I have yet to hear anything from anyone about it. I wouldnt give em the satisfaction.

preilly79

out of curiosity, does the law say that it is illegal to remove the clamp or to damage the clamp?

Steve

preilly79 wrote: »

out of curiosity, does the law say that it is illegal to remove the clamp or to damage the clamp?

I think so - as long as it's the council or a contractor authorised by the council working in "public places".

AFAIK, private clampers have no legal right to clamp you and you can happily cut them up into little bits.

Anan1

macroman wrote: »

Mate of my Dads used to park up around Christchurch, but as he was constantly getting clamped he came up with an ingenious solution - park car as close to kerb as possible, go around to roadside, remove hubcaps and remove wheel nuts then replace hubcaps.

When he got clamped, just jacked up car removed wheel with clamp in situe, and put on spare wheel, did up all missing wheel nuts put removed wheel in the boot and when he got home he removed clamp using an angle grinder and left it on the kerbside the following morning.

Would have been hilarious if they'd lifted his car and the wheels fall off

Or if he'd come back and forgotten!

BoardsRanger

SteveC wrote: »

I think so - as long as it's the council or a contractor authorised by the council working in "public places".

AFAIK, private clampers have no legal right to clamp you and you can happily cut them up into little bits.

Also heard this to be true - saw away fellas!!:D:D

daveharnett

Am I the only person in the universe who thinks that they serve an important purpose, and are probably decent people for the most part?

Thought so.

I sometimes sympathise with referees too. It's a problem.

Thoie

daveharnett wrote: »

Am I the only person in the universe who thinks that they serve an important purpose, and are probably decent people for the most part?

Thought so.

I sometimes sympathise with referees too. It's a problem.

I understand they have a job to do, and I understand that it's mostly a good job. But I think that lying in wait for someone is a bit devious. If they'd happened to pass my car at 20 minutes past and notice that the ticket had expired, then fair enough, clamp away. But they looked well settled in at 17 minutes past. Maybe they'd just arrived, but from the state of comfiness of your man I'd say he'd been there a good 5 minutes at least (no, I didn't touch his ass-print on the window to see how warm it was :P ).

It was also a bloody cold day, so if it was me I'd have waited in the van until the proper time, but maybe they were afraid that I'd come back in the 15 seconds it took them to get to my car and they might miss out.

These were guys working for the council (I presume - it was a public road). Do they get commission or something?

cabrwab

@daveharnett, clamping a policy is a scum policy, giving a ticket for parking illegally is fine, you get annoyed you pay up, but you can drive away, the problem is immobilising a persons property until they pay up, and even when you do pay up you can be waiting anything from 30mins to 3hours for them to take it off.

Hence the clampers are bas*ards scum etc!

Ref's i can forgive you for! Horrid job that one!

deegs

Wish I got clamped.... last week they just towed my car!
I was 50% over a white line into a taxi overflow (accross from cork bus station at parnell place). It was 10pm on a sat night, and yes the overflow was empty both times I came to it.

Taxies could help themselves from being all smug when i asked what happened.

Is this normal? I would have though ticket was appropriate (if even!) and they would be mean to clamp but towing?

It cost me 160 to get the car and a 10 for a taxi out! (Yes the irony!)

In fairness the girl at the pound was very apologetic as I had only come in for the Jazz festival and was classed as a "tourist". I still had to pay but she gave me an appeals form!

Jonnykitedude

Got done in a dart carpark 125 Euro to get the fecker off!!
I bought my weekly ticket along with my weekly dart ticket and when i came back to the car i found a big dirty clamp on it............bunch of F@*kers.
Your man said eh i dont know why they clamped you if you had your ticket!
Still waiting to hear back.

Blitzkrieger

While we're on the subject, does anyone have links to the relevant legislation handy? I've heard that only the council or private contractors working on behalf of the council can legally clamp you, but it'd be nice to know for sure. Never been clamped myself but one of the lads was clamped in a near-empty private car park and was waiting over four hours for the guy to remove it.

vibe666

knew a guy in the UK who had a big chevy blazer with massive wheels on it. clampers seemed to have gone out of their way to find a clamp big enough but they got it on there in the end before he came out to it.

he let them go, then managed to get his fingers in to let the tyre down a good bit then just drove forward and it came clean off. not sure exactly how, but it came off cleanly without damaging his wheel at all. mind you this was in London about 15 years ago when clampers were a reasonably new phenomenon so clamping 'technology' may well have moved on since then.

I also believe that old citreons and old US yellowcabs aren't clampable on the back wheels due to them being covered over, so full lock when you park and you'd get away with that too I reckon. mind you if that was the case they'd probably lift it anyway.

pred racer

Ive heard that if I let the suspension on my c5 all the way down they cant clamp it. anyone know?

anotherlostie

When you arrive at a parking spot, are you expected to have change on you? I ask because a few weeks ago I was parked on a cul de sac near the Luas track near the new building on Mary's Abbey where Rhodes D7 is and I had no change. I had to find a Spar and buy something to get change. The process including the walk to and from my car was about 10 minutes and I was bricking it when walking back to the car. Fortunately there was no clamp. Looking at some of the stories here, I can't see them being too altruistic. Do they clamp on first sighting?

Steve

anotherlostie wrote: »

When you arrive at a parking spot, are you expected to have change on you? I ask because a few weeks ago I was parked on a cul de sac near the Luas track near the new building on Mary's Abbey where Rhodes D7 is and I had no change. I had to find a Spar and buy something to get change. The process including the walk to and from my car was about 10 minutes and I was bricking it when walking back to the car. Fortunately there was no clamp. Looking at some of the stories here, I can't see them being too altruistic. Do they clamp on first sighting?

Afaik, they give 15 minutes to allow you buy a ticket. That's just hearsay though, nothing to back it up with.

manmachine

i was clamped last thursday at coolmine train station and suffered the increased agravation of actually having a valid ticket on the car at the time. part of it slipped down under the windscreen rubber and the clampers claimed not to be able to see the date.

Was REALLY annoyed because been operating the system in good faith since its been introduced.

The guy said I can make a claim for a refund but i'm not optimistic. Any advice?

Anan1

manmachine wrote: »

The guy said I can make a claim for a refund but i'm not optimistic. Any advice?

Yeah, make a claim.;)

manmachine

Suppose i expected no more but the tone of the response was galling. You expect these people to have a handle on customer service/passification. Going to look into the small claims court. Any advice welcome.

Fighting Irish

Sean Quagmire wrote: »

Legally speaking if you do manage to get the clamp off your car and drive off are there any repurcutions? do they take down your reg number etc?

you seriously think they just clamp and don't take regs and sh1t?

irishthump

stek wrote: »

the wardens are just as bad! in blackrock village, dublin, i came back on the exact minute of my ticket expiration too find a slimey pin headed creep writing out the ticket. God i was delighted to see the disapointed look on his face.

I would look into that if I were you.
In Dun Laoghaire, they have to give you 15mins grace AFTER from the time your ticket expires before they ticket you.
I was told this by a parking warden, and it's written on the Pay and Display machine.

-Chris-

Hi Irishthump,

Please don't bump old threads, check out the Charter for more guidance.

Start a new thread if you want.

Thanks,

Chris