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B&Q Airside Clamping Their Customers Now

Carfax2

Hi,

Looking for advice on this one. Was shopping for paint in B&Q last week, buying about €250 worth of outdoor paint.

Parked in Airside Retail Park and before I went into the store I popped across the road to the Maldron (Esquires) Cafe for a quick coffee/ business meeting before heading into B&Q with my shopping list.

Long story short my car was clamped. APCOA sign on site says "3 Hour Parking" but in small print below apparently if you are seen to leave the car park you will be clamped. Who dreamt this rule up I don't know :)

Obviously APCOA have refused the appeal (as expected) but to be honest I'm really annoyed with B&Q as they ultimately employ that company to manage the Retail Park's car park and it's ended up being a really expensive trip to Airside because of it.

B&Q are washing their hands of it and the store manager, after giving me his email address on the day, is now ignoring emails.

My concerns are:

Signage is really poor. Far away from where I parked the only noticeable/ legible text is "3 hour parking" which I was well under at about 40 minutes total…..I thought the car park was simply for customers of the retail park, I have often parked in the Power City car park before and hopped between shops like Woodies, Starbucks, Smyths etc.
Am I, as a customer, being recorded and being monitored while shopping in Airside Retail Park? If so, surely they need far better signage to make patrons aware of this rule.
Why on earth, aside from APCOA generating revenue, are B&Q employing such a ridiculous rule in a very large car park which was at about 10% occupancy at the time of me going for shopping (a Tuesday around 1pm)?

I've asked numerous people who regularly shop in Airside Retail Park and nobody so far was aware of this rule.

Any help greatly appreciated.

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odyssey06

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122535507#Comment_122535507

Posters are saying they 'left' the retail park. They didn't.

You said: "Airside itself, as in from Smyths to B&Q, is one retail park and you can park anywhere in it."

These properties are in Airside retail park, so you can't park anywhere in it can you?

Yes, people need to watch out for the signs, to avoid falling foul of it, but it is an absurd situation.

L1011

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122535501#Comment_122535501

There are huge signs explaining the parking rules.

Like the M50 toll, if someone manages to miss huge signs when driving, should they be driving at all?

odyssey06

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122535451#Comment_122535451

Confusion is pretty understandable when the address of Hogs and Heifer & Premier Inn is listed as Airside Retail Park.

It's an absurd situation.

RobertFoster

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122535408#Comment_122535408

OP left the retail park and went to the cafe beside the hotel across the road.

Starbucks or McDonald's within Airside might've been better places to have a coffee/meeting.

L1011

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122535408#Comment_122535408

No, the OP is the confused one.

Airside itself, as in from Smyths to B&Q, is one retail park and you can park anywhere in it.

If you walk out across to Hogs & Heifers, or Premier Inn, or on to the Swords Express, you'll be clamped

Kintarō Hattori

Just saw this and I'm confused. Is it the case that Airside isn't one big retail park and that if you park by say B&Q and walk up to Smyths (or vice versa) to make a purchase there, that you can be clamped?

elperello

OP have you checked that the signage locations and number are to the correct standard?

John_Rambo

This is why I avoid miserable outlets and stick to towns, city centres & try to support local.

Look at the state of the place, built as a lazyman's paradise… acres of parking, terrible walking infrastructure (I know this as my car was stuck in there for a short repair that turned in to a few hours). And then they start monitoring peoples actions to rip them off a little bit more. They've literally banished any form of pedestrian activity by punishing people for walking from shop to shop along with their Nazi "DO NOT WALK ON THE GRASS" signs.

They should delete the "ON THE GRASS" part of the sign. This place is where retail fun went to die from obesity & sly scams.

WishUWereHere

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122485366#Comment_122485366

Totally agree 100% Sleeper.

Carfax2

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122479977#Comment_122479977

Posted here as much to make others aware that this is a policy in Airside as to seek advice/ opinion.

It feels like at best sharp practice and at worst fraudulent behaviour from clampers trying to make their minimums by targeting customers on a weekday afternoon.

LMFAO; "dangerously wrong" 😂

L1011

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122485366#Comment_122485366

And when clamped, the OP wasn't even a customer of theirs!

[Deleted User]

It's a shame that the thread title hasn't been changed by now. B&Q don't own or run this carpark. Their name should be removed from the title of the thread

Del2005

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122480047#Comment_122480047

They weren't a customer when they were clamped, they admitted they were in a meeting in a different location when they were clamped. They should of used that places car park but they chanced their arm and parked illegally in a different companies car park and got caught.

Witcher

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122480083#Comment_122480083

You didn't read the thread.

Squatman

return your paint to pay the fine. never shop there again. support local

csirl

Given that the OP was a customer of B&Q, I'd say an appeal would succeed. I would also complain to B&Q and tell them you'll be warning your friends etc about shopping there. Ultimately B&Q are tenants who are being provided with a parking service. If they lose customers, they'll complain to APCOA etc.

Agree re APCOA modus operandi. My MIL was ticketed by them in apay and display car park they operate for the local council for parking outside the white lines of the individual parking space. Thing is, there were no individual spaces marked out in the car park - just ummarked tarmac. The appeal to NTA was successful (included pics of car park)

Rocket_GD

Let's not get this wrong, Clampers are devils in society and somehow like ninjas in their effectiveness.

However you admit yourself that you left the car park to another premises (no Airside retail park) for a business meeting. They were well within their rights to clamp you as you did not follow the T&C's of parking in the retail park. It makes no difference how big the sign is, do you read every word of the the 50 pages of T&C's when you download an app on your phone, no course not, no one does. Is it a moral practice? No, but they have provided their conditions for parking in the car park which you broke so they are entitled to punish you for it.

As other's have said absolutely nothing to do with B&Q, they don't own the car park, your grievance is with the owners of the retail park.

Red Silurian

From what I read of the signs posted here they are clear that you will be clamped by leaving the car park or stay longer than 3hrs. I think your only real means of appeal is that you didn't see the sign. That is to say the signs are not sufficiently visible for you to have been aware of the rules of the car park

L1011

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122479954#Comment_122479954

So basic as to be dangerously wrong, in convincing you it had any relevance here.

Your "expert" is also laughably wrong - suggesting that you take a supposed GDPR breach to Small Claims shows they know worse than nothing. Please don't consult them again, for your own sake.

You came here asking for help; and the multitudinous reasons you had no case for appeal were pointed out to you - its your problem if you don't like that.

Carfax2

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122425727#Comment_122425727

You're right I have a basic understanding of GDPR, that's why I asked an expert who said it's highly suss and is something I could pursue in small claims court if …..I bow to your superior GDPR knowledge though, thanks for your amazingly constructive contribution on this matter.

L1011

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122479944#Comment_122479944

Its not even B&Qs carpark. They have no control over it whatsoever.

The shopping centre clamped you as you were not their customer, for a considerable period of time.

I would be astounded if you get anywhere with the appeal, as you don't even have your own basic facts right.

Carfax2

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122425966#Comment_122425966

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122447611#Comment_122447611

Yeah have to say I'm confident of the appeal which has now progressed to NTA. It's fraudulent to my mind and yes I spent €250 on paint in B&Q and yes it is all used up now.

I do fundamentally disagree that B&Q aren't responsible, I'm their customer, parking in their car park and was totally unaware of that rule, which is in very small print on a sign a good distance away from where I parked….Ultimately all the retailers employ APCOA to manage their communal car park and so must decide on the parking rules. I'm not appealing to Smyths, Woodies etc because on this occasion I was a customer of B&Q.

I started this thread more to make others aware as I've parked dozens of times in the past in Power City's car park and walked to Smyths or Harvey Norman and vice versa.

The Davestator

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122445907#Comment_122445907

Nonsense. Its a sharp practice for which Apcoa are well known. Their business model is almost built around people not fighting them and I have a lot of experience dealing with them in a previous job. I'd be shocked if the OP lost any proper appeal.

Del2005

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122444186#Comment_122444186

They weren't a paying customer of the business when they got clamped, they were paying customers in another business having a meeting.

The Davestator

Thats shocking. I accept that cars using the car park to go to city centre or airport should be clamped, but if you have a receipt showing you were a paying customer, I would fight it all the way. Even if it is just to inconvenience apcoa

artanevilla

Not sure the businesses around there would take too kindly to APCOA clamping their customers unreasonably. I'm sure they look after the coffee shop carpark as well.

antfin

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122425801#Comment_122425801

I never said the clamp would be justified without a purchase but what I meant was that they have a receipt from a purchase to prove that they parked for the purposes of making a purchase. The fact that the purchase was significant also would help to avoid any suggestion that they returned to the car, found it clamped so popped in and spent €5 on a small item to claim a legitimate purpose for parking there. Freely admitting to leaving to get a coffee is perhaps giving the car park operator an easy way to legitimise strict application of the T&Cs though.

thebiglad

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122425753#Comment_122425753

The amount of the purchase is not relevant to the clamping T&Cs - OP could have spent the time in B&Q browsing with no purchase, by your logic then the clamp would be justified?

The only leverage of the purchase is to get B&Q to intervene and clearly they are not prepared to do so.

You could return the paints to B&Q (if unopened), get a refund and shop elsewhere but I doubt an operation the size of B&Q would care too much.

The problem is caused by the people who will take the piss and therefore black and white, no compromise rules are brought in for all.

Will happen very shortly in the car parks around Liffey Valley as people are parking in them and walking to the main shopping centre to avoid its parking charges.

Op has admitted to going off the site and signs warn of it, if there is not a sign near to where you are parked then you need to find one and read it. Apart from goodwill of B&Q or the clampers (good luck with that) the vehicle was correctly clamped and no appeal whether to courts or whomever will be successful.

Smee_Again

You can appeal to Apcoa and when they deny your appeal escalate to the NTA.

Not sure you'll have much luck given that you've admitted to leaving the car park.

antfin

If you have a receipt showing a sigmificant purchase and you were clamped during a narrow 40 minute timeframe I would be escalating this to the National Transport Authority. The fact that you grabbed a coffee while parked there doesn't take away from the fact that you only parked for a reasonable amount of time with the primary purpose of making purchase in B&Q and quite frankly I wouldn't have even mentioned it in the appeal but just showed the receipt and said that I was parked for less than 45 minutes, made a significant purchase and was clamped during this time.