Dave
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Post by Dave on Aug 19, 2010 19:09:16 GMT
While I have never fell four to any wheel clampers but I think the news they are now all going to be outlawed is very good news for motorists. Mind you as you would expect the wheel clamping companies are not very happy about it and are saying the way forward should have seen the companies themselves licensed instead of the people who put the clamps on so the whole industry could be properly regulated.
On the J. Vine show on Tuesday one boss of a clamping firm was saying if it was regulated then a fixed charge of say £100 could be charged, well if people were not being ripped off for hundreds of pounds to get their cars back and had been charged £100, then maybe the government would have not have felt there was a need to outlaw them in the first place.
People parking on private land illegally is a big problem but many who have been clamped simply made a mistake and after all at the end of the day it is only a parking offence and how could such charges that have been made in the past ever be justified.
It has been reported that one person had to pay £3.000 to get their car back and charges between £300 to over £900 were normal and I have never felt it was right or should be allowed in law, for someone to take your car away and keep hold of it until you paid the large sums demanded, just because you parked on some private land.
One woman on the J. vine show told her story how she had parked in one road for years and then one day came back to find her car missing. Believing it had been stolen she phoned the police and at that time they had no information on the car or what might have happened to it. She saw a lady by her garden gate and asked her if she had seen anything only to be told the road became a private road that very day and her car had been towed away.
She had to pay £695.00 to get it back and went and checked the signs saying it was now a private road and there was only one facing the opposite way to that you came into the road and seven foot up on a post. She contacted the clamping company and demanded her money back and was refused and so filed a complaint in the small claims court.
Two days before the case came to court the company offered her £100 back and she refused their offer, in the end they repaid her £625 and she accepted this offer meaning she only had to pay £70.
Many people parking their cars in a hurry simply have missed seeing any signs and you may remember a while back this happened to me only I just received a parking ticket. I had parked in the Staples car park before when I was unable to park in the hospital on Carol’s chemo treatment days. On the day in question I was already very late due to driving around the hospital trying to find a parking space and headed in the end for the Staples car park and did not notice the new signs that had been put up high on some of the lamp posts Got back to the car after Carol had had her treatment and found a ticket on my car and while I did not know at that time Staples were not responsible for the firm sticking tickets on the cars in the car park, I did complain to them and explain my circumstances and they paid the fine for me.
About nine months ago on the J. Vine show he had that money saving expert on giving advice on how to appeal parking tickets issued on the public highways and those issued on private land. He himself had parked in a street where the signs stated you could park for two hours and received a ticket for being parked in the street for just over an hour. It seems it had been changed to only one hours parking in that street only the signs had not been changed.
He sent in his appeal and it was rejected and he claimed it’s a standard procedure to just reject the first appeals and as people fear they will end up getting charged the full amount of say £100 instead of £50, they just pay up simply because they fear they will end up paying the higher amount. He appealed again and that to was rejected and in the end he went to the ombudsman who got the ticked quashed in the end.
It seems much the same happens if you decide to appeal a ticket issued on private land, I had told Staples after their kind offer I would try to appeal the ticket in the first instance and I had to put in the payment with my appeal or else I would have had to pay the full amount according to the wording on the ticket.
I did get a reply but as in my case there was only a PO box address to send my appeal and money too and no way of being able to phone and speak with anyone, I knew they were simply going to tell me my appeal had been turned down as proved to be the case. One again people fear end up paying more and just pay up but it does seem if you are brave enough to hold out and refuse to pay, you stand a good chance of not having to pay as these firms don’t like going to court. I’m not recommending you do that by the way as I only heard in said on the show and I have no real proof that is the case.
I think the most unbelievable parking story I have ever heard happened very recently. A lady parked her BMW in a street with no yellow lines painted on it, she came back to her car and found it facing the wrong way and now on double yellow lines with a parking ticket stuck on her windscreen.
It seems contractors were due to paint yellow lines that very day and yet no signs had been put up to say that was happening. They got a lorry with a hoist on it and lifted her car up to paint the lines underneath it and ended up putting the car back on the road the opposite way to how it had been parked and then a warden came along and slapped a ticket on the car.
The council concerned were a bit embarrassed and rescinded the ticket and the lady look her car to a garage to have it fully checked over to ensure it had not been damaged when it had been lifted up.
With the wheel clampers on their way it will not mean you will get away with parking on private land as they will still be able to issue parking tickets. What I have not heard is if the government are going to insist on there being a fixed charged that is inline with the tickets issued on public highways. I would hope that is what they plan to do or else I can see them demanding large amounts again in way of parking fines and the end result for the person caught could end up much the same.
So have you ever been clamped and had to pay a large amount of hard earned cash just to get your own car back?
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Post by lambethgull on Aug 19, 2010 19:26:14 GMT
Never been clamped myself, but know plenty who have. It's a bit of a nightmare in London tbh - with some boroughs being worse than others, Lambeth has a particuarly fearsome (and deserved) reputation for the rapaciousness of its parking wardens. Fortunately it's not an issue for me. A bicycle is my mode of transport; cheaper than a car and preferable to being crammed like a sardine into a sweaty tube or bus....(oh and yes, London's many law-flouting cyclists piss me off as much as anyone else. Their light jumping and pavement using invariably means less respect for me from motorists and other road users  ) |
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merse
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Post by merse on Aug 19, 2010 20:10:31 GMT
 I told the tale on here of how Bijou's Belgian cousin got clamped round here the very first (and only, not surprisingly in the circumstances!) day he turned up unannounced and parked his car within 50 yards of our front door and came looking for us. Only two days ago I got into a load of abuse being thrown my way by another of these legalised muggers when I alerted a BT engineer that they were about to clamp his van whilst he was working next door to us and I am only too pleased to see that a good deal of this highway robbery is soon to be outlawed. Two years ago my car was removed from my rented parking space on the pretext of it not displaying the permit (as decreed) in the top left corner of the windscreen.......................it had fallen off the screen and was laying in the quarter light. I knew this had been done as retribution for an earlier confrontation with the clamping crew that regularly patrol our estate on behalf of the council but the main problem I had was that my car had been removed for two days before I went to drive it on a Monday morning at 5am. Assuming it had been stolen, I went to the police station which is within 100 yards of the space but because the bastards had yet not put my car on their data base as required by law, the police too assumed it stolen. Losing my first job of the week was bad enough, the rest of the day too as I tried to sort out a replacement vehicle plus necessary equipment became a right chore; and then just as I was completing the task I got a call on my mobile from the police saying my car had now appeared on the removals data base and they told me which pound it was in. When you go to these places you cannot negotiate, so I had to pay over £200 to release it and add that to the day's earnings I lost. My pursual for a refund and lost earnings went through all the correct channels but forever met with refusal, and I was actually refused compensation on the grounds that the permit was not in that precise part of the windscreen it was supposed to be. To this day I have never recovered the over £400 I reckoned it cost me and it leaves you feeling very bitter and exploited. I can't wait to see the back of these bastards around here!
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Post by chrish on Aug 19, 2010 20:31:41 GMT
Never been clamped myself, but know plenty who have. It's a bit of a nightmare in London tbh - with some boroughs being worse than others, Lambeth has a particuarly fearsome (and deserved) reputation for the rapaciousness of its parking wardens. Fortunately it's not an issue for me. A bicycle is my mode of transport; cheaper than a car and preferable to being crammed like a sardine into a sweaty tube or bus....(oh and yes, London's many law-flouting cyclists piss me off as much as anyone else. Their light jumping and pavement using invariably means less respect for me from motorists and other road users ) Well I've had a car in London for five years now and I've had 5 parking tickets, which on the face of it isn't bad. Once I was in a hurry and parked on the wrong side of the road that accepted my residential parking permit, once for parking in a loading zone to drop off books for the Oxfam Charity book shop, once for parking in a stop and shop zone to have breakfast in a local shop, once for parking outside an Estate Agents to let them know I was there and the piece de resistance was getting my car towed from Brentford train station after I parked slightly out of the parking bay and on a yellow line which was obscured by mud. £190 the last one cost me. How I swore at the flatbed truck driver at White City carpound as he was coming in with some other poor sod's car on the back of his lorry. Ah yes, London cyclists. Don't I love them as well. Even if they do stop at traffic lights they have this annoyingly smug habit of balancing and trying not to put their foot down. Walking towards them in a slightly agressive way seems to stop that nonsense. Put yer foot down and wait patiently yer bastards. I almost collected one idiot cyclist earlier this week who went through a red light at a T junction and almost went over my bonnet. I gave him an almighty blast of my teutonic horn and a torrent of french. They still think that they're 100% in the right for jumping red lights as being "green" must equate to one being able to ignore traffic signs that both Motorists and Pedestrians have to obey. Motor cyclists are just as bad. Think bike? I would do if the tw@ts decided to stick to one lane rather than zigzag between 3 lanes of traffic, otherwise one day some pillock having a midlife crisis will misjudge the gap in front of my car and I'll clip him towards the next lane of traffic. |
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Post by stefano on Aug 19, 2010 20:58:36 GMT
Parking no great problem around Plainmoor! Have we got a game this weekend or not? Whilst I have got no time for the thugs and bullying attitude often displayed by these people the answer is not to park where you should not be parked. In my present job which is on an appointment basis I always allow extra time if I am going to an area of one of our cities or towns where I know it will probably be resident permit holders only. I may have an appointment with one of those 'residents', but no permit so I park legally somewhere else and walk. Certainly what I have heard about some clamping companies is nothing short of extortion and I am pleased something is being done about it. However whilst I certainly wouldn't want this to come over as a 'holier than thou' attitude as I am certainly not like that, I have never had so much as a parking ticket during my driving experience. Why not? I don't park where I shouldn't be parked. Simples ....
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Rags
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Post by Rags on Aug 19, 2010 21:10:45 GMT
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merse
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Post by merse on Aug 19, 2010 21:17:37 GMT
With respect Stefano, that's easier said than done in London where to earn a living as a professional driver in many trades one is forced to run up regular fines via either the pernicious PCN system utilising cameras or the clamping/removal cowboys. Many professional drivers I know have just become resigned to the fines and regard them as yet another tax on our earnings, but when they can average £60 a week in some jobs you have to realise that is another £3,000 that you have already been taxed on that you are paying out. Now you can do an awful lot with £3,000 ~ the bloody memorable holiday I have never had for instance or actually going away with my young family three years ago instead of having to stay at home and wave them off to Eurodisney as I had to. At the end of the day it just grinds you down and makes your quality of life shit when compared with people I know who live in other countries where the individual is just not treated this way. It's not a "London" thing either, it's just the same in Birmingham, Manchester and I know Torbay has deteriorated terribly in this aspect of life over the past few years. What with having to fork out a ruddy mortgage just to park at a hospital and every other damned tourist being pissed off big time so that they don't return can't you see that the over powered local authorities and their tedious employees and councillors are killing enterprise, freedom and quality of life in this country? It won't bother me if I never drive again to be honest and what does that do for the motor industry as a whole when people feel like that? It won't bother me if my all round state of life at the moment means that I never pay another cent in council tax or other pernicious indirect tax to the robbing bastards of the authorities again...............and that negativity from someone who has worked hard all their life just to be screwed by these small minded bigots in town halls and fecking clamping firms.
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Post by lambethgull on Aug 19, 2010 21:21:32 GMT
Firstly, there is NEVER a valid excuse for cyclists jumping lights. You'll hear cyclists say after jumping a pedestrian crossing (us law-abiding cyclists pull them up for it as well believe it or not!) "But there was nobody waiting" - as if such a ridiculous argument could not be made by a motorist who did the same. Having said that, not all motorists realise how crucial it is for a cyclist to make his intentions clear at red lights and junctions, and that doing this effectively almost always involves getting away first. The risk to a cyclist failing to communicate his intention to go straight (as opposed to turning left) at a junction is massive compared to a motorist. This fear, for that is what it often is - particuarly in novice cyclists - goes some way to explaining some of the law-breaking from at lights. That said, i survive without jumping lights, so there's no reason why everyone else can't imo. Road markings have improved massively i recent years. But there remain some junctions that are impossible for cyclists. I have to take a different route home than i do when leaving South London for this reason, even though it means an extra 1.5 miles to my journey |
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Dave
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Post by Dave on Aug 19, 2010 21:40:14 GMT
Parking no great problem around Plainmoor! How can you say that? some areas around the ground that are fine to park on during a normal Saturday have now all of a sudden become no parking zones on match days. The wardens turn up in vans around 2pm and stay in the area and stick a good number of tickets on cars. I watched two being put on as I got near the ground at our last home game. |
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Post by stefano on Aug 20, 2010 8:09:35 GMT
Parking no great problem around Plainmoor! How can you say that? some areas around the ground that are fine to park on during a normal Saturday have now all of a sudden become no parking zones on match days. The wardens turn up in vans around 2pm and stay in the area and stick a good number of tickets on cars. I watched two being put on as I got near the ground at our last home game. It's easy for me to say really Dave as I have been going for 48 seasons normally driving my own car as soon as I was old enough and have never had a problem parking, even when we got regular decent crowds. It's always been the case that the police (now the Council as responsibilities have changed) would put out No Waiting Cones on a Saturday morning to ensure safety and traffic flow during the afternoon of the game. I would bet that the cars you saw Wardens issuing tickets to were parked where they should not have been. If that were not the case and they just randomly pounced on cars parked in the vicinity of the ground after 48 years I would surely have received a ticket by now. |
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Post by stefano on Aug 20, 2010 8:17:10 GMT
With respect Stefano, that's easier said than done in London where to earn a living as a professional driver in many trades one is forced to run up regular fines via either the pernicious PCN system utilising cameras or the clamping/removal cowboys. I take your point Merse and I deliberately worded my comments to get some feedback. I think professional drivers particularly in busy urban areas should be given some leeway, although unfortunately there are some, and I emphasise some, professional drivers who let them all down by showing no consideration at all for other road users. I am not for the clampers. It is blatant robbery. I have always thought it ironic that when the objective is to keep an area free of vehicles the method used is to immobilise that vehicle so that it can not be moved! If I were doing my present job in London I would travel by public transport, although I appreciate that option is not open to everybody. |
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merse
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Post by merse on Aug 20, 2010 10:12:23 GMT
If I were doing my present job in London I would travel by public transport, although I appreciate that option is not open to everybody. London has such excellent public transport (apart from the regular weekend dismantling of much of the Underground/Overground system for upgrades) that I do not miss being able to drive a car one bit. The only time I would miss using a car now is for out of town journies and in particular long distance ones. This life choice is not an option in many parts of the country however, and in the rural South West in particular. I can see no will nor clamour for a return to the days when, even in Devon; people could hop on a train to visit outlying areas and the bus network is run almost purely for profit and without recourse to the needs of those who rely on it. Witness the recent comments by the management of Stagecoach regards the clamour for a fully enshrined pedestrianisation of Fleet Street in Torquay which everyone knows is a fatality waiting to happen with the buses traversing the present "partly pedestrianised" area. All Stagecoach can see is an increase to their fuel bills and the necessity to re-align their network, and they will try to bully their will to ride roughshod over a sensible and socially responsible policy being instigated; mark my words. London has made driving for the private and leisure motorist both a chore and a very expensive option by policy, but at the same time has made it less of an endurance for the wealthy who can more easily afford congestion charging, PCN fines and parking charges than the working classes.................the wealthy don't use public transport ~ they use their own, or pay for private services such as that which I used to work in. Local authorities have latched onto the cash cow that is the punitive method of relieving motorists of their money to such an extent that they now cannot envisage life without this very considerable cash flow. It is not progress, it is not quality of life enhancement; it is bloody misery and it is (once again) another example of Jimmy Reid's Rat Race. |
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Post by chrish on Aug 20, 2010 15:59:10 GMT
If I were doing my present job in London I would travel by public transport, although I appreciate that option is not open to everybody. London has such excellent public transport (apart from the regular weekend dismantling of much of the Underground/Overground system for upgrades) that I do not miss being able to drive a car one bit. The only time I would miss using a car now is for out of town journies and in particular long distance ones. This life choice is not an option in many parts of the country however, and in the rural South West in particular. I can see no will nor clamour for a return to the days when, even in Devon; people could hop on a train to visit outlying areas and the bus network is run almost purely for profit and without recourse to the needs of those who rely on it. Witness the recent comments by the management of Stagecoach regards the clamour for a fully enshrined pedestrianisation of Fleet Street in Torquay which everyone knows is a fatality waiting to happen with the buses traversing the present "partly pedestrianised" area. All Stagecoach can see is an increase to their fuel bills and the necessity to re-align their network, and they will try to bully their will to ride roughshod over a sensible and socially responsible policy being instigated; mark my words. London has made driving for the private and leisure motorist both a chore and a very expensive option by policy, but at the same time has made it less of an endurance for the wealthy who can more easily afford congestion charging, PCN fines and parking charges than the working classes.................the wealthy don't use public transport ~ they use their own, or pay for private services such as that which I used to work in. Local authorities have latched onto the cash cow that is the punitive method of relieving motorists of their money to such an extent that they now cannot envisage life without this very considerable cash flow. It is not progress, it is not quality of life enhancement; it is bloody misery and it is (once again) another example of Jimmy Reid's Rat Race. We've had this debate before about London's over hyped public transport system. It's nowhere near excellent. Nowhere remotely near. My daily trip is a 10 minute walk to South Ealing, then it's 35-40 minutes with the Picadilly line. In between South Ealing and Acton Town there are 5 sets of signals (the train can stop at each one for a minute or so!) and Acton Town acts as a bottle neck as the other branch of the Picadilly line joins at Acton. My daily experience is that as long as you travel off peak (at 7am and go back at 4pm) the journey is fine and pretty comfortable. But if you leave it any later and it's a horrible experience. Throw in daily signalling issues and adverse weather (hot or cold, wet or windy) and believe me the journey is disgusting. I can think of only one decent interchange on the whole network between The tube and the Bus network and that's Hammersmith which is the only station on the whole network where some brains have been used. Plus there's the price you pay. I feel lucky with my 75% discount on the Oyster Card because I would have a heart attack paying full rates. You even pay more to experience the joy of being pressed up against tube door at peak times. |
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Post by chrish on Aug 20, 2010 19:33:29 GMT
Firstly, there is NEVER a valid excuse for cyclists jumping lights. You'll hear cyclists say after jumping a pedestrian crossing (us law-abiding cyclists pull them up for it as well believe it or not!) "But there was nobody waiting" - as if such a ridiculous argument could not be made by a motorist who did the same. Having said that, not all motorists realise how crucial it is for a cyclist to make his intentions clear at red lights and junctions, and that doing this effectively almost always involves getting away first. The risk to a cyclist failing to communicate his intention to go straight (as opposed to turning left) at a junction is massive compared to a motorist. This fear, for that is what it often is - particuarly in novice cyclists - goes some way to explaining some of the law-breaking from at lights. That said, i survive without jumping lights, so there's no reason why everyone else can't imo. Road markings have improved massively i recent years. But there remain some junctions that are impossible for cyclists. I have to take a different route home than i do when leaving South London for this reason, even though it means an extra 1.5 miles to my journey I encountered a new one today. The latest craze seems to be to text from a mobile phone and ride your bike at the same time while moving all over the road. I suggest that all all redundant wheel clampers turn their sights on cyclists! |
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merse
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Post by merse on Aug 20, 2010 19:43:53 GMT
I encountered a new one today. The latest craze seems to be to text from a mobile phone and ride your bike at the same time while moving all over the road. I harangued a stupid cow for doing just that the other week.................the kids and I had waited for the signal to use a Pelican Crossing and this daft bat came sailing through, straight towards us; so I stood still forcing her stop. She yelled at me for doing that and said I should have kept moving, I told her to feck off and get off her bloody phone and she told me she was using it as a SatNav!  |
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