Clamp appeal

bullvine

Hi,

I wonder can anyone help, my wife parked in Supervalu Bray Carpark last week and when she went to pay for a ticket, none of the machines were working. So she left the car for about an hour and when she came back, she was clamped and had to pay 120 euro.

Her friend went to the car park next day and the machines were still not working.

My wife has since appealed against it as she couldnt get a ticket to put in the car. Their response was "that she needed to ensure that there was a ticket in the car" now if the machines aren't working its surely up to them to ensure that they are working.

Is she wasting her time? Anyone any joy with this? Or was she at fault?

Thanks,

Blazedup

Send off your appeal to the NTA. It's free.

Aint Eazy Being Cheezy

Did they just pick her car randomly out of the bunch? Wouldn’t nobody have had tickets and they’d need to clamp everyone?

bullvine

Aint Eazy Being Cheezy wrote: »

Did they just pick her car randomly out of the bunch? Wouldn’t nobody have had tickets and they’d need to clamp everyone?

I have no idea!

That would make sense though but unfortunately I wasnt there.

Isambard

sounds like at least one machine was working. If it's Super Valu car park, and she feels she's been wronged, she should ask for the manager and tell him she'll be shopping in Tesco form now on.

Is it maybe the case that she was shopping elsewhere?

kingtut

Unfortunately I don't think her appeal would be successful in this case

dudara

There’s usually another means of payment available, e.g. through phone or app. The machines usually have instructions for the alternate payment methods on them. I don’t know if this was the case where your wife was parked, but if so, it’s hard to see a successful appeal.

Del2005

bullvine wrote: »

Hi,

I wonder can anyone help, my wife parked in Supervalu Bray Carpark last week and when she went to pay for a ticket, none of the machines were working. So she left the car for about an hour and when she came back, she was clamped and had to pay 120 euro.

Her friend went to the car park next day and the machines were still not working.

My wife has since appealed against it as she couldnt get a ticket to put in the car. Their response was "that she needed to ensure that there was a ticket in the car" now if the machines aren't working its surely up to them to ensure that they are working.

Is she wasting her time? Anyone any joy with this? Or was she at fault?

Thanks,

There's usually a number on the machine to call if it's faulty. If you don't contact the number then you can get clamped, a machine not working is not a valid excuse for not paying to park.

PrettyBoy

Del2005 wrote: »

There's usually a number on the machine to call if it's faulty. If you don't contact the number then you can get clamped, a machine not working is not a valid excuse for not paying to park.

If a machine isn't working then I usually leave a note on the windshield saying so. If their machine is faulty they will notice it themselves fairly quickly and it's up to them to get it back up and running IMO, not for me to jump through hoops downloading apps or whatever the alternative is.

The fine though, €120 - was there not legislation on private clamping introduced in recent years that limits the fines to €100 IIRC?

Del2005

PrettyBoy wrote: »

If a machine isn't working then I usually leave a note on the windshield saying so. If their machine is faulty they will notice it themselves fairly quickly and it's up to them to get it back up and running IMO, not for me to jump through hoops downloading apps or whatever the alternative is.

The fine though, €120 - was there not legislation on private clamping introduced in recent years that limits the fines to €100 IIRC?

Eh no, that's not how it work. If you can't pay for it you can't use it until you get their approval.

If you go to the supermarket and there's no tills open do you walk out with your shopping and leave a note at the exit?

bucketybuck

PrettyBoy wrote: »

not for me to jump through hoops downloading apps or whatever the alternative is.

It is up to you to ensure you have a valid parking ticket though.

If a machine isn't working and you don't want to search for another one or jump through any hoops, then jump back in the car and park somewhere else.

fxotoole

Sorry OP, but your missus has no case here. She could have paid by text or using an app. IF there was no working machines, no park by text facility, and no facility to pay with an app, she shouldn’t have parked there

also maybe take a photo or quick WhatsApp video in theses instances.
it was on the news yesterday that clamp cases are being honoured left right and centre and they may need extra staff to keep up. I think it's mainly from private companies getting caught ****ty!

It happened to me before and I called them and gave them 15mins to take it off!
They never showed so I used my angle grinder and wished them well! this was outside my apartment. Never heard a peep despite all their "it's unlawful to touch our property crap"..

Council and supermarket ones are different though, you cant do that as they're generally in the right.

Del2005

rusty cole wrote: »

also maybe take a photo or quick WhatsApp video in theses instances.
it was on the news yesterday that clamp cases are being honoured left right and centre and they may need extra staff to keep up. I think it's mainly from private companies getting caught ****ty!

It happened to me before and I called them and gave them 15mins to take it off!
They never showed so I used my angle grinder and wished them well! this was outside my apartment. Never heard a peep despite all their "it's unlawful to touch our property crap"..

Council and supermarket ones are different though, you cant do that as they're generally in the right.

Law was changed recently so you can no longer cut private clamps off, it's no longer a gray area they are now regulated.

cpoh1

Del2005 wrote: »

Law was changed recently so you can no longer cut private clamps off, it's no longer a gray area they are now regulated.

Would be interested to see where it says that Del? Why is it unlawful to remove something on your property especially without damaging it?

Isambard

if it were illegal to interfere with others property, then they couldn't apply the clamp in the first place.

Del2005

cpoh1 wrote: »

Would be interested to see where it says that Del? Why is it unlawful to remove something on your property especially without damaging it?

Here

cpoh1

Del2005 wrote: »

Here

Im familiar with the Act and have read it before, thanks for sharing.

To go back to the original request though, where in the act does it specifically state what you have said, that its an offense to remove a clamp from your car.

Im open to correction on this but this act was created to regulate the private clamping sector rather than tackle the issue of people removing clamps themselves.

bullvine

Thanks yeah, I figured as much, she has appealed it again, I don't think she will be successful.

I will post again if she is but I somehow doubt it. Cheers

it's an offence to interfere with a parked vehicle too and all that 1880's road traffic act stuff but the reason these clampers never take anyone to court is that if they lost just once, this sets the legal precedent, better to lose a clamp every so often.

Seannew1

Hi All,
Hope it's okay to post here. I appealed my car getting clamped and won. Anyone know how and when the clamping company re-issue me with my money I had to pay to get it taken off??
Thanks,