Got Clamped by NCPS in My Own Apartment Compound

Seiryuu

Hi,

My car got clamped by the sense-less nuisance from NCPS. Can someone out there give me some advice?

Here is the story:

The parking sapces in our apartment compound are very limited and always full. The parking spaces are always full after 9pm. Some are residents with legal parking permits and some dont.

Myself is a resident in the area with legal parking disc clearly display on my windscreen.

Yesterday, when i came back from the hospital around 10pm and all the spaces are occupied. I have left with no choice but to park my car at one of the reserved parking spaces which is always quite a short distance from my house. Those spaces usually wont be occupied during night time, they are reserved for creche. I went to check each of the vehicles that parked in the compound and found out (surprisingly) 6 of them with no legal parking disc.

When I woke up and ready to go to the hospital, saw my car got clamped. It showed the car got clamped at 8.30am. I got furious and rang NCPS and demand an explanation from them and want them to remove the clamp. Their supervisor refuse to explain anything to me and just ask me to pay for the release fee to get rid of the clamp. As I am hurry to hospital, I have left with no option but to pay the heart-pain €120.00 to NCPS.

Now I want to appeal to NCPS to get my refund back as the illegal parking was not due to my fault and I think the most they should do to me is to put a warning sticker on my window and not clamp my car. I know some of you out there faced this kind of sense-less clamping before or in some way another annoyed by NCPS. Please advise what I can do to get my hard-earned €120.00 back from NCPS.

Thanks in advance.

MugMugs

You can appeal but your appeal goes to them or a sub company of theirs.

It's pointless. I would've spent the 120 on a bolt cutters personally.

mickdw

you gave in and paid them. It is any wonder they continue the bullying tactics? Waste of time appealing.

markpb

Find out who the directors of your management company (not your managing agent) are and send them a letter explaining what happened. There's a chance that they will intervene on your behalf.

freestyla

Happened to me also a couple years ago- is it in Ashtown maybe? It's fecking NCPS terror area there!

If i were still live there, would establish some petition web site and go express my view to other residents and get some signatures for the management. So stupid planning of a living area FFS :mad:

My complain didn't work- there are not human beings working for NCPS, or who ever is looking them complaints.

Jimdagym

Do you have a reason to appeal? I'd imagine your permit allows you to park in the designated spots, not in the reserved crèche spots. What you did was wrong. I understand you were forced over there by the unpermitted parkers, just playing devils advocate here, I don't see a grounds for appeal.

smash

Usually I'd have sympathy but the thread title is a little misleading. You were clamped because you parked in a reserved spot!

You also left the car there during probably the busiest time for a crèche, 8.30am which is when people are dropping kids off on the way to work.

SeanPuddin

People like you keep clampers in business. Thanks a lot.

GavMan

Seiryuu wrote: »

Hi,

My car got clamped by the sense-less nuisance from NCPS. Can someone out there give me some advice?

Here is the story:

The parking sapces in our apartment compound are very limited and always full. The parking spaces are always full after 9pm. Some are residents with legal parking permits and some dont.

Myself is a resident in the area with legal parking disc clearly display on my windscreen.

Yesterday, when i came back from the hospital around 10pm and all the spaces are occupied. I have left with no choice but to park my car at one of the reserved parking spaces which is always quite a short distance from my house. Those spaces usually wont be occupied during night time, they are reserved for creche. I went to check each of the vehicles that parked in the compound and found out (surprisingly) 6 of them with no legal parking disc.

When I woke up and ready to go to the hospital, saw my car got clamped. It showed the car got clamped at 8.30am. I got furious and rang NCPS and demand an explanation from them and want them to remove the clamp. Their supervisor refuse to explain anything to me and just ask me to pay for the release fee to get rid of the clamp. As I am hurry to hospital, I have left with no option but to pay the heart-pain €120.00 to NCPS.

Now I want to appeal to NCPS to get my refund back as the illegal parking was not due to my fault and I think the most they should do to me is to put a warning sticker on my window and not clamp my car. I know some of you out there faced this kind of sense-less clamping before or in some way another annoyed by NCPS. Please advise what I can do to get my hard-earned €120.00 back from NCPS.

Thanks in advance.

Wouldn't it have been cheaper to get a taxi to the hospital if you felt that strongly about it

Crann na Beatha

This post has been deleted.

Jimdagym

Aquila wrote: »

Hey may have parked in the wrong but the NCPS enforcement guys weren't doing their job if there were people parked in his bay with no permit etc

It's hard to say. Maybe the op can clarify? Does ncps look after the crèche and not the apartment parking, or all of it?

DaveD

What time did you notice the clamp at?

If it wasnt long after 8.30, send in an appeal saying you were dropping your nephew off at creche

Ps. Ive appealed with NCPS and received a full refund!

Marlow

Wouldn't it have been a better idea just to block some of those people without parking permit in by parking behind them ?

/M

questionquick

Shudda moved the car before the creche opened.

Bastid people parking with no permit shoulda been clamped too

jimmycrackcorm

Seiryuu wrote: »

I went to check each of the vehicles that parked in the compound and found out (surprisingly) 6 of them with no legal parking disc.

Invest in a set of clamps and a half hour trawl every night for discless cars and you'll be able to retire before you're 35.

Weylin

a friend of mine was clamped in a similar fashion,clampers adapted a total **** you attitude.he waited about 6 months,spotted one of their vans, got in front of it and jammed on the brakes full force.:D
they rear ended him,he sued for damages and got 15,000 grand :pac::pac::pac:
as the saying goes,"dont get mad,just get even."

omb0wyn5ehpij9

Weylin wrote: »

a friend of mine was clamped in a similar fashion,clampers adapted a total **** you attitude.he waited about 6 months,spotted one of their vans, got in front of it and jammed on the brakes full force.:D
they rear ended him,he sued for damages and got 15,000 grand :pac::pac::pac:
as the saying goes,"dont get mad,just get even."

And with people like that on the road, it's no surprise that everybodies premiums are so expensive :rolleyes:

Eoin

Weylin wrote: »

a friend of mine was clamped in a similar fashion,clampers adapted a total **** you attitude.he waited about 6 months,spotted one of their vans, got in front of it and jammed on the brakes full force.:D
they rear ended him,he sued for damages and got 15,000 grand :pac::pac::pac:
as the saying goes,"dont get mad,just get even."

Not only is that a scummy thing to do, it's incredibly stupid too. Did he think they'd have to have a whip around to cover the 15K themselves or something?

Getting even by getting crashed into... seriously. I sense a Darwin award in his near future.

gbee

MugMugs wrote: »

It's pointless. I would've spent the 120 on a bolt cutters personally.

There are handy angle grinder out now too, one could make the extra cash back by offering a removal service part time. ?

gbee

Eoin wrote: »

Getting even by getting crashed into... seriously. I sense a Darwin award in his near future.

In Cork it was a pastime, about five vans turned over, they even had a garda escort for a time, their contract ended in January and it was not renewed.

In Scotland it is illegal to clamp.

Whilst they died out, sometimes the Neanderthal won. Darwin gives them a prize too. Clamping is nothing short of criminal in it's execution.

Pawwed Rig

There is another thread with a link to an article that refers to an appeals process
http://www.thejournal.ie/clampers-make-no-money-from-clamping-349194-Feb2012/

http://www.boards.ie/vbulletin/showthread.php?threadid=2056543015

TBH it sounds like you need to take up the issue with the mgt company of your apartment regarding available spaces. I am not sure on what grounds you are going to appeal if you admit to parking in a reserved spot.

Another reason I am glad I rented a room in a house rather than an apartment

Veloce

What are the repercussions of using a bolt cutters to remove the clamp? Has anyone actually done this?

beatman91

I have three of these clamps at home, I rang them and they told me they don't negotiate, so I cut them off. Unless there is proof of you doing it, then your good to go...

beatman91

Oh yeah and I forgot to say I never heard anything from them.

Pawwed Rig

beatman91 wrote: »

Oh yeah and I forgot to say I never heard anything from them.

It came up in other threads that the companies would be reluctant to try for a prosecution as the legality of private clampers has not be tested in Irish courts. This is backed up by the article I posted in my previous post. They have been found to have no legal basis in Scotland and I am guessing given a motivated solicitor that there would be very thin legal tolerance of them here either. Someone just needs to pay for the challenge.

btw someone here recommended an angle grinder to take a clamp off. You are guaranteed to destroy the paintwork on your car doing this

SeanPuddin

Cut two off and brought them to the Garda station for lost and found. In my experience it brightens up their day, and the clampers never retrieve the clamp.

As long as it's a private company on private land you can do what you want. Councils/cities have bye laws in place so you shouldn't mess with those.

**** clampers they are lower than petty theives in my opinion, and so I use every opportunity to piss them off.

gbee

Pawwed Rig wrote: »

btw someone here recommended an angle grinder to take a clamp off. You are guaranteed to destroy the paintwork on your car doing this

Good tip, worth noting.

Bye the bye, Cork City Council have not renewed their clamping contracts.

Jimdagym

SeanPuddin wrote: »

**** clampers they are lower than petty theives in my opinion, and so I use every opportunity to piss them off.

Clampers are just lads doing a job. It's the system that's wrong.
Notwithstanding the inevitable bad eggs.

gbee

Jimdagym wrote: »

Notwithstanding the inevitable bad eggs.

More like an army of bad eggs TBH.

Our man in Havana

gbee wrote: »

More like an army of bad eggs TBH.

The chicken definitely had some infection for sure.

SeanPuddin

Pawwed Rig wrote: »

btw someone here recommended an angle grinder to take a clamp off. You are guaranteed to destroy the paintwork on your car doing this

Easily solved with a towel

Jimdagym wrote: »

Clampers are just lads doing a job. It's the system that's wrong.
Notwithstanding the inevitable bad eggs.

That's true, but you'll find without exception they're all c**ts. It's a pre-requiste for the job.

GetOffMyPatch

Seiryuu wrote: »

Hi,

My car got clamped by the sense-less nuisance from NCPS. Can someone out there give me some advice?

Here is the story:

The parking sapces in our apartment compound are very limited and always full. The parking spaces are always full after 9pm. Some are residents with legal parking permits and some dont.

Myself is a resident in the area with legal parking disc clearly display on my windscreen.

Yesterday, when i came back from the hospital around 10pm and all the spaces are occupied. I have left with no choice but to park my car at one of the reserved parking spaces which is always quite a short distance from my house. Those spaces usually wont be occupied during night time, they are reserved for creche. I went to check each of the vehicles that parked in the compound and found out (surprisingly) 6 of them with no legal parking disc.

When I woke up and ready to go to the hospital, saw my car got clamped. It showed the car got clamped at 8.30am. I got furious and rang NCPS and demand an explanation from them and want them to remove the clamp. Their supervisor refuse to explain anything to me and just ask me to pay for the release fee to get rid of the clamp. As I am hurry to hospital, I have left with no option but to pay the heart-pain €120.00 to NCPS.

Now I want to appeal to NCPS to get my refund back as the illegal parking was not due to my fault and I think the most they should do to me is to put a warning sticker on my window and not clamp my car. I know some of you out there faced this kind of sense-less clamping before or in some way another annoyed by NCPS. Please advise what I can do to get my hard-earned €120.00 back from NCPS.

Thanks in advance.

The first appeal goes to NCPS themselves and will, 99% of the time, get rejected. The 2nd goes to an independent body who will assess it fairly on its merrits.

I guess the questions is if someone was illegally parked in your spot, were they clamped too?

Theyre some shower altogether. They clamped me in a dart station when the ticket had blown onto the floor of the car on the driver side and was clearly visible. I also had to pay even though the guys was still there.

Please appeal again.

Tks,
GOMP

MugMugs

The independent body is overseen by them, is it not?

Our man in Havana

It is 100% owned and controlled by them.

heate

I just don't understand why people have such problems with clamping.

If you are properly notified you will be clamped then don't park where you shouldn't.

Why is it that people cannot accept that they've taken a risk and gotten caught?

conzy

darragh_haven

heate wrote: »

I just don't understand why people have such problems with clamping.

If you are properly notified you will be clamped then don't park where you shouldn't.

Why is it that people cannot accept that they've taken a risk and gotten caught?

And how long have you been employed by clamored R us?
My issue with them is that they are a private company doing it for financial gain. Where as if it was a council lad doing it, with no personal gain linked to how many he clamped, they'd be a lot less cars clamped.

zenno

I will start this by saying...if it is a county council clamp do not touch it as you will get a fine and a possible court appearance But if it is a private company then buy a good lock pic set and you can unlock the bolt lock in a few seconds if done right. don't waste your time with bolt cutters or a con-saw just pick the lock and then you will leave the clamp with lock undamaged.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=238rg_hFlgM

heate

darragh_haven wrote: »

heate wrote: »

I just don't understand why people have such problems with clamping.

If you are properly notified you will be clamped then don't park where you shouldn't.

Why is it that people cannot accept that they've taken a risk and gotten caught?

And how long have you been employed by clamored R us?
My issue with them is that they are a private company doing it for financial gain. Where as if it was a council lad doing it, with no personal gain linked to how many he clamped, they'd be a lot less cars clamped.

I can assure you I'm not a clamper!

Why are they clamping cars? Because you've parked where you shouldn't have or you haven't paid for the amenity.

I do think there should be strict rules to be abided by and the companies operating the service should be audited to adhere to this.

If someone is genuinely clamped for no reason then yes the clampers are in the wrong.
However this whole there was nothing there at the time or I only left the car there for 10 minutes is total bullcrap that people go on with. Its just typical of someone not wanting to take responsibility for their actions and not being able to read a simple sign or follow an instruction.
The op parked and left his car outside a crèche. I live in Zurich an if you park in a businesses visitor space and your not visiting them - tough titty; you get towed.
Park in a private space at someone's apartment? Towed
The release fee is enough to make people wince so you learn your lesson early on!

Firebran

You can lease a portable angle grinder fairly cheap and just cut the clamp off. Wake up our rights are being taken away from us everyday by offical looking people in uniforms - people think - I must pay - go on Tir na Saor (freemen of Ireland) and empower yourself

Jimdagym

Firebran wrote: »

You can lease a portable angle grinder fairly cheap and just cut the clamp off. Wake up our rights are being taken away from us everyday by offical looking people in uniforms - people think - I must pay - go on Tir na Saor (freemen of Ireland) and empower yourself

That's a great way of destroying your paintwork and possibly setting your car on fire.

Our man in Havana

Freemen are dangerous. Avoid.

Firebran

Its a simple as this

Providing you do not cause harm, loss or injury to another human being and you keep to the terms of any lawful contract that you sign up to. No Act or Statute applies to you unless you consent to it.

So, what you should do is ask (in writing) whoever is looking for money from you for a copy of the contract that you signed up to and give them 5 working days to send it to you, after 5 days take your car back lawfully. I would expect there isn't one. For more info post on the Tir na Saor website about your situation. I and others will help out. This works providing you understand who you really are. I have used these and beaten eflow, banks etc
Start doing your reseach rather posting off the first thing that comes into you head.
http://freemanireland.ning.com/
You can of course pay the fine if you'd rather, some people dont like controversy.

fasttalkerchat

You had to park in another space because a car was in your space. Its their job to ensure that no one but you parks in your space. They can't fine you for something that came about because they failed to do your jobs.
I would keep pushing it if i was you.

Mycroft H

Firebran wrote: »

Its a simple as this

Providing you do not cause harm, loss or injury to another human being and you keep to the terms of any lawful contract that you sign up to. No Act or Statute applies to you unless you consent to it.

So, what you should do is ask (in writing) whoever is looking for money from you for a copy of the contract that you signed up to and give them 5 working days to send it to you, after 5 days take your car back lawfully. I would expect there isn't one. For more info post on the Tir na Saor website about your situation. I and others will help out. This works providing you understand who you really are. I have used these and beaten eflow, banks etc
Start doing your reseach rather posting off the first thing that comes into you head.
http://freemanireland.ning.com/
You can of course pay the fine if you'd rather, some people dont like controversy.

The only point I'm going to agree with you is not paying the clampers - I'd sooner cut it off.

But the rest of the freemen idea is complete nonsense, much like the idea that yous spread that a Garda has no powers once his hat is missing :rolleyes:

fasttalkerchat

BX 19 wrote: »

the idea that yous spread that a Garda has no powers once his hat is missing :rolleyes:

Things like that make no logical sense but the law does not work on common sense. If that clause exists in law then it is a defense in court. When you're up against organisations like clampers etc. you have to look for clauses in contracts and legal loopholes.