Clamped By Apcoa

DrumSteve

Hi Guys,

Bit of advice needed.

I moved in to a new apartment block on friday. Ive been trying to get a key fob to get in to the underground car park off the management company however ive been unable to get through to them.

I parked my car on the side of the road last night beside the spaces as there were none left. there were no double yellow lines or anything on the road itself to show that were i was parking was going to get me clamped, however they clamped me for parking in the common area. even the guy who took the clamp off said it was worth my while lodging an appeal. I wasnt blocking anyone in or getting out so i thought it was harsh. plus i had to pay €95 to get it release which was a pain in the hole.

anyone got any experiences dealing with this crowd? I lodged the appeal this morning however from perusing previous threads i doubt ill get my money back. Think i'll just keep an angle grinder in the boot from now on.

markpb

Contact the management company and ask them to repeal the clamping fine - they might not mind if you're ordering a key fob at the same time.

Did you buy or rent the apartment? In either case, you should have been provided with a fob by the previous owner or the landlord.

DrumSteve

markpb wrote: »

Contact the management company and ask them to repeal the clamping fine - they might not mind if you're ordering a key fob at the same time.

Did you buy or rent the apartment? In either case, you should have been provided with a fob by the previous owner or the landlord.

Ive been trying but they will not answer their phone... the letting agent is pretty helpful he said he's gonna get back to me about it.

Im renting it at the moment and the are about ten spaces outside for 100 apartments. I was raging having to pay but i was late for work because of it.

markpb

DrumSteve wrote: »

Im renting it at the moment and the are about ten spaces outside for 100 apartments. I was raging having to pay but i was late for work because of it.

The agents contract is only with the owners of apartments. If you're renting, the management company and/or managing agent probably won't talk to you, much less sell you a keyfob.

In this case, it is entirely your landlords or letting agents fault - they should have provided you with a fob before you moved in.

DrumSteve

markpb wrote: »

The agents contract is only with the owners of apartments. If you're renting, the management company and/or managing agent probably won't talk to you, much less sell you a keyfob.

In this case, it is entirely your landlords or letting agents fault - they should have provided you with a fob before you moved in.

Would the management company not be responsible for all tenants regardless of whether they own or rent?

Ive followed it up with them this morning so im waiting for them to get back to me.

as regards APCOA... you heard anything about their appeals procedure?

markpb

DrumSteve wrote: »

Would the management company not be responsible for all tenants regardless of whether they own or rent?

Technically no - the management company is made up of all the owners. They hire the agent who's job it is to run the place for the owners. Most agents will refuse to speak to tenants and all will refuse to sell a keyfob to someone they don't know (as a security measure).

as regards APCOA... you heard anything about their appeals procedure?

Can't help you there, sorry. Your best bet is probably to tackle your landlord and tell him you were clamped because he (or the letting agent) didn't give you a fob when you moved in.

Genius147

i got clamped in a supermarket carpark on a friday, phoned the company was told there was a €150 charge to release my car and there was no one available until sat morning. I was 40 miles from home with a boot full of shopping, 2 kids and a screaming wife. I had no choice but to go and buy a grinder and power inverter. The grinder and inverter is always in the boot now.

DrumSteve

Genius147 wrote: »

i got clamped in a supermarket carpark on a friday, phoned the company was told there was a €150 charge to release my car and there was no one available until sat morning. I was 40 miles from home with a boot full of shopping, 2 kids and a screaming wife. I had no choice but to go and buy a grinder and power inverter. The grinder and inverter is always in the boot now.

tbh there will be one in my boot from now on too.

DrumSteve

markpb wrote: »

Technically no - the management company is made up of all the owners. They hire the agent who's job it is to run the place for the owners. Most agents will refuse to speak to tenants and all will refuse to sell a keyfob to someone they don't know (as a security measure).



Can't help you there, sorry. Your best bet is probably to tackle your landlord and tell him you were clamped because he (or the letting agent) didn't give you a fob when you moved in.

yeah i said that earlier... im waiting for him to get back to me now.

fullstop

I was clamped by them in the wrong before, paid €90 to get clamp released and got a cheque for €100 in the post. However it was torturous trying to get them to cough up, wrote them several e-mails and for some reason they only ever replied on a saturday. It took about 6 weeks to get my money back.

Anan1

markpb wrote: »

Can't help you there, sorry. Your best bet is probably to tackle your landlord and tell him you were clamped because he (or the letting agent) didn't give you a fob when you moved in.

That'd be my outlook too - although they weren't responsible for your not parking in a designated space. Does your lease incluse a parking space?

DrumSteve

Anan1 wrote: »

That'd be my outlook too - although they weren't responsible for your not parking in a designated space. Does your lease incluse a parking space?

better check when i get home...tbh honest though there really was nowhere else for me to park and i was not blocking anyone or any part of the road. this common area where i was supposed to have parked to get the clamp wasnt even clearly defined.

got an email back off them there saying the complaints manager is only on a friday/saturday so i probably wont hear back from the til monday i'd reckon.

Anan1

DrumSteve wrote: »

better check when i get home...tbh honest though there really was nowhere else for me to park and i was not blocking anyone or any part of the road. this common area where i was supposed to have parked to get the clamp wasnt even clearly defined.

I'm starting to wonder whether the landlord/agent rented you an apartment without an associated parking space on the basis that you could use the guest parking spaces (of which there likely aren't enough)?

John_Mc

Genius147 wrote: »

i got clamped in a supermarket carpark on a friday, phoned the company was told there was a €150 charge to release my car and there was no one available until sat morning. I was 40 miles from home with a boot full of shopping, 2 kids and a screaming wife. I had no choice but to go and buy a grinder and power inverter. The grinder and inverter is always in the boot now.

No need to buy all of that, an industrial bolt cutters will do the job just as well, and without any sparks

DrumSteve

Anan1 wrote: »

I'm starting to wonder whether the landlord/agent rented you an apartment without an associated parking space on the basis that you could use the guest parking spaces (of which there likely aren't enough)?

there are about ten...

i rang him this morning and he was going to get on to the management company about getting my money back and getting a fob. it'll need to be sorted today because there is a solid chance there wont be spaces again later either.

Anan1

John_Mc wrote: »

No need to buy all of that, an industrial bolt cutters will do the job just as well, and without any sparks

No need to do either if you park as the car park owner intended.;)

thebullkf

any word OP about a refund?

KamiKazi

On my to buy list:

DrumSteve

thebullkf wrote: »

any word OP about a refund?

got an email back this morning.

basically it was a generic reply saying i wasnt getting my money back as i had parked in a common area.

they then asked me if i wished to appeal this then i had to go the the Independent Parking Appeals Service. Are they truly independent? afaik clamping is unregulated so i dont know how truly independent this body can be?

I am going to reply now and ask for some further information. Tbh i dont expect to get my money back (mainly cos those leeches would rather choke than give it back) but i would like to find out a bit more about this service.

Voodoomelon

Seems bizarre to me that people go to the effort of actually keeping a grinder in the boot in case they get clamped. Do you all happen to find yourself in clampable situations all the time?

Shane732

Voodoomelon wrote: »

Seems bizarre to me that people go to the effort of actually keeping a grinder in the boot in case they get clamped. Do you all happen to find yourself in clampable situations all the time?

Handy to have although the industrial bolt cutters should normally do the job!!


OP take the €90 off your next months rent and tell the landlord that he can keep the €90 refund once he gets it back of the clamping company. That way he'll get off his arse and do something. Mind you he'll be pretty pissed off but it is a tenants market at the moment!

DrumSteve

Shane732 wrote: »

Handy to have although the industrial bolt cutters should normally do the job!!


OP take the €90 off your next months rent and tell the landlord that he can keep the €90 refund once he gets it back of the clamping company. That way he'll get off his arse and do something. Mind you he'll be pretty pissed off but it is a tenants market at the moment!

The temptation is there to do that however you know that somehow €90 will go missing from my deposit should i do that.

I would ask though... is it not about time a regulator was set up for clamping in Ireland?

Victor_M

Voodoomelon wrote: »

Seems bizarre to me that people go to the effort of actually keeping a grinder in the boot in case they get clamped. Do you all happen to find yourself in clampable situations all the time?

Depends where you live, with the stranglehold that developers have been allowed retain over residents and management companies in Celtic tiger developments (hence the need for the MUD bill) it is an all to frequent occurrence, just because some people on here don't experience it first hand, doesn't mean it isn't happening to others.

I have a grinder on standby at home for anyone I see clamped in my estate.

DrumSteve

Victor_M wrote: »

Depends where you live, with the stranglehold that developers have been allowed retain over residents and management companies in Celtic tiger developments (hence the need for the MUD bill) it is an all to frequent occurrence, just because some people on here don't experience it first hand, doesn't mean it isn't happening to others.

I have a grinder on standby at home for anyone I see clamped in my estate.

where were you last week?

eviltimeban

I got clamped by them at the weekend, same thing, parking in a "common area" in an apartment complex. I appealed on the grounds that the common areas were not marked, and there were about 20 - 30 other cars parked in the same fashion that weren't clamped.

So I'm going to take it to the Independent Appeals - 20 quid well spent if it goes my way. My argument will be based on:

1. there was no difference in markings or signs where I was parked compared to the other cars.

2. a "witness statement" from the resident I was visiting who will claim that cars park there and there was no reason why I should be clamped.

There was no way I was to know where I was parking was a common area. My mate knows for a fact it was a woman in the complex who rang them up to get me clamped. Not that that'll make a difference but still!

Has anyone heard of anyone being successful by going down this route?

Absurdum

eviltimeban wrote: »

Independent Appeals

LOL

an angle grinder would be money well spent

eviltimeban

Absurdum wrote: »

LOL

an angle grinder would be money well spent

Yeah well its too late for that now. I just want my 120 quid back!

Anan1

eviltimeban wrote: »

I got clamped by them at the weekend, same thing, parking in a "common area" in an apartment complex. I appealed on the grounds that the common areas were not marked, and there were about 20 - 30 other cars parked in the same fashion that weren't clamped.

So I'm going to take it to the Independent Appeals - 20 quid well spent if it goes my way. My argument will be based on:

1. there was no difference in markings or signs where I was parked compared to the other cars.

2. a "witness statement" from the resident I was visiting who will claim that cars park there and there was no reason why I should be clamped.

There was no way I was to know where I was parking was a common area. My mate knows for a fact it was a woman in the complex who rang them up to get me clamped. Not that that'll make a difference but still!

Has anyone heard of anyone being successful by going down this route?

Please read the charter and don't resurrect old threads. Start a new one if you like.