Private clampers

abff

My wife brought my son shopping today and parked on a double yellow line outside his apartment while she helped him bring his groceries up to his apartment. She went back out less than five minutes later to see a clamp on her car and the clamper pressed a button on a hand held device when he saw her coming out of the entrance to the apartment block. When she pointed out that she had only been a couple of minutes, he said it was too late to do anything about it as the clamping had already been registered. She was forced to pay €120 plus €5 credit card fee to have the car unclamped.

Given the timescale involved, the clamper must have seen her park the car and go into the building with our son. Otherwise, there is no way he could have had the car clamped before she got back to it. The whole thing smacks of very sharp practice and while I accept that my wife should not have parked there in the first place, the fact is that there is only one visitor's space outside the apartment block and this was occupied.

I feel very aggrieved about it and will be taking the matter up with the management company. My question is whether we have any potential redress or do we just have to 'suck it up' and put it down to experience.

Truckermal

She parked on a double yellow line.. Clamp deserved imo.


Why didn't she park in a designated parking spot anyway??

mgbgt1978

She paid them.....she's not getting her money back.
You can appeal, but any appeals process is run by the clampers and they are not in the habit of refunding money.


Perhaps it would have worked out cheaper to run down to B&Q (or an equivalent) and pick up the cheapest Grinder and extension lead for about €30 all-in .

@truckermal. Did you read the OP's post. There is only 1 visitor's parking place and it was occupied....therefore there were no 'designated' spaces left for the OP's Wife.

Truckermal

mgbgt1978 wrote: »

@truckermal. Did you read the OP's post. Their is only 1 visitor's parking place and it was occupied....therefore there were no 'designated' spaces left for the OP's Wife.

Nah straight up on the auld high horse.. lts pretty ridiculous any apartment complex has only one parking space. As you said no hope of a refund in fact a waste of time appealing it..

mgbgt1978

They will probably charge an admin fee to cover the cost of the appeal

Grolschevik

How long does it take to apply a clamp and register the clamping, from time of first observation of the parking?

mgbgt1978

Do you mean legally or physically ?

Legally, a grey area as Varadkar's new legislation (which legalises private clamping) is not yet in force.

Physically, as long as it takes to move their scumbag ar*e out of the van and wrap a chain around the wishbone......

corktina

Don't really know what you are complaining of. It's always a risk to park on a double yellow, especially in a private complex managed by pirates

jameshayes

abff wrote: »

I feel very aggrieved about it and will be taking the matter up with the management company. My question is whether we have any potential redress or do we just have to 'suck it up' and put it down to experience.

Without wanting to get on a high horse... Double yellows mean no stopping/parking at all.. Not 'its cool to park here for 5 minutes!'

mgbgt1978

It's private property....double yellows don't mean anything.

dr.fuzzenstein

Isn't it the Irish way though, have hundreds of apartments with one visitor spot, therefore deliberately engineering this situation and then let vermin like the clampers lose on the visitors.
Why does everything here have to be aggro, confrontation and trouble? Would it be too much bother for someone to say "Let's work out how this can be done so everyone can be accommodated?"

corktina

dr.fuzzenstein wrote: »

Isn't it the Irish way though, have hundreds of apartments with one visitor spot, therefore deliberately engineering this situation and then let vermin like the clampers lose on the visitors.
Why does everything here have to be aggro, confrontation and trouble? Would it be too much bother for someone to say "Let's work out how this can be done so everyone can be accommodated?"

Money mate....just that

colm_mcm

mgbgt1978 wrote: »

It's private property....double yellows don't mean anything.

Like a Yield/stop signs?
In this case the meaning is pretty clear.

Eric Cartman

call your credit card company, reverse the payment, fcuk them.

dr.fuzzenstein

colm_mcm wrote: »

Like a Yield/stop signs?
In this case the meaning is pretty clear.

I think what he means is, if the yellow lines are painted within private property they have no legal significance and are nothing but street art.
Which is why a ticket can't be issued because a fine could not be enforced. Hence resorting to blackmail via clamping.

Sh1tbag OToole

All the owners of high horses in Ireland are just sitting there waiting for a thread like this to come up so they finally get the chance to bring them out of the stable

Stheno

dr.fuzzenstein wrote: »

I think what he means is, if the yellow lines are painted within private property they have no legal significance and are nothing but street art.
Which is why a ticket can't be issued because a fine could not be enforced. Hence resorting to blackmail via clamping.

Is it private property if it's a public road the public can readily access?

Did OP need a code or some such to get in?

dr.fuzzenstein

Eric Cartman wrote: »

call your credit card company, reverse the payment, fcuk them.

That. It is possible that the clamping company can do fcuk all about that.

brandnewaward

Eric Cartman wrote: »

call your credit card company, reverse the payment, fcuk them.

can you do this really?i heard of visa doing a chargeback alright

abff

Eric Cartman wrote: »

call your credit card company, reverse the payment, fcuk them.

Thanks for the suggestion, but I think you can only do it if you can prove that it was an incorrect duplicate charge or if the service paid for was not provided. Given the fact that private clamping seems to have no legal backing (as far as I can determine), I might try calling the credit card company tomorrow and see how I get on.

Mech1

abff wrote: »

Thanks for the suggestion, but I think you can only do it if you can prove that it was an incorrect duplicate charge or if the service paid for was not provided. Given the fact that private clamping seems to have no legal backing (as far as I can determine), I might try calling the credit card company tomorrow and see how I get on.

Report back please!

Eric Cartman

abff wrote: »

Thanks for the suggestion, but I think you can only do it if you can prove that it was an incorrect duplicate charge or if the service paid for was not provided. Given the fact that private clamping seems to have no legal backing (as far as I can determine), I might try calling the credit card company tomorrow and see how I get on.

Your car was (grey legal area, section 113 road traffic act ) immobilised without your consent , you were put under duress and money was extorted from your credit card to the tune of 125 quid so you could continue your day, sounds like a very good reason for a credit card company to reverse charges.

corktina

Sh1tbag OToole wrote: »

All the owners of high horses in Ireland are just sitting there waiting for a thread like this to come up so they finally get the chance to bring them out of the stable

yawn

abff

corktina wrote: »

Don't really know what you are complaining of. It's always a risk to park on a double yellow, especially in a private complex managed by pirates

I acknowledged in my OP that my wife shouldn't have parked on the double yellow line. My 'complaint' was about the very heavy handed approach taken by the clamper, who must have seen her entering the apartment with our son if he was able to clamp the car in the couple of minutes she was gone. He was quite rude and threatening with her when she got back to the car and, as I said in my original post, he actually registered the clamping as he saw her coming out the door.

The time stamp on the clamping was 5:18 and the time stamp on the credit card payment was 5:22. I guess in a way, my wife was fortunate that he hadn't driven off as she might have faced a lengthy wait to get the car de-clamped. But that doesn't make the €125 hit any easier to bear.

djimi

abff wrote: »

Given the timescale involved, the clamper must have seen her park the car and go into the building with our son. Otherwise, there is no way he could have had the car clamped before she got back to it. The whole thing smacks of very sharp practice and while I accept that my wife should not have parked there in the first place, the fact is that there is only one visitor's space outside the apartment block and this was occupied.

Most complexes dont have a clamper on premises 24/7. Most likely she was just unlucky and happened to double park when NCPS (or whoever it was) were actually in the complex. It might differ from area to area, but in my sisters place for example they are usually around once an hour or so.

I dont want to sound high horse about it, but at this stage everyone must know that if you take the piss parking in a complex that is policed by NCPS and the likes then you run the risk of finding yourself clamped. Whether its legal/right or whatever, it happens, and if you dont want the potential headache of having to deal with it then you dont double park or park in a way that will attract their attention.

keithclancy

Eric Cartman wrote: »

call your credit card company, reverse the payment, fcuk them.

Not possible, you can only reverse a charge if you did not agree to it or it was done without your consent or knowledge.

You can't just agree to a charge and then change your mind later.

abff

keithclancy wrote: »

Not possible, you can only reverse a charge if you did not agree to it or it was done without your consent or knowledge.

You can't just agree to a charge and then change your mind later.

I figured that was probably the case, but I called them anyway and they confirmed what you're saying above.

I think the key here is that the fee was paid in order to have the clamp removed and this 'service' was provided. The fact that they may have had no legal right to apply the clamp in the first place does not alter this fact.

Going back to the last line of my OP, I guess we just have to 'suck it up' and put it down to experience.

Cleveland Hot Pocket

keithclancy wrote: »

Not possible, you can only reverse a charge if you did not agree to it or it was done without your consent or knowledge.

You can't just agree to a charge and then change your mind later.

And also if your service/purchased item was not received, or was not as described, or not delivered in full.

Caliden

keithclancy wrote: »

Not possible, you can only reverse a charge if you did not agree to it or it was done without your consent or knowledge.

You can't just agree to a charge and then change your mind later.

Did Kanye West do this recently after his stay in a fancy hotel somewhere?

keithclancy

Cleveland Hot Pocket wrote: »

And also if your service/purchased item was not received, or was not as described, or not delivered in full.

For that also, actually theres a whole bunch of reason codes that they specify:

http://cardnotpresent.com/library/default.aspx?id=197&__taxonomyid=116

Cleveland Hot Pocket

keithclancy wrote: »

For that also, actually theres a whole bunch of reason codes that they specify:

http://cardnotpresent.com/library/default.aspx?id=197&__taxonomyid=116

Didnt know that information was publicly available if I'm honest!
(I work - in part - in that area)