Car Towed Away - need some legal advise!!
Discussion
Could do with some advise from BTB please. The story is my son is a building alarm engineer who was called to Blockbuster's in Uxbridge. He parked his firms car at the rear of the shop having had agreement from shop mgr that this is OK providing he put "engineer on call" in the car window. 20 minutes later his car was in the process of being towed away by a private company (not local auth or police)when he returned. The driver would not wait until son went to get £260 to have the car returned and as it was late Friday evening the storage yard that the car was taken to is now closed until Monday. So the net result is son was left in Uxbridge with no car, lives in Maidstone, he must pay £260 to get the car back AND £25/night for storage, 3 nights as the yard is closed until Monday. This seems totally unreasonable!!
My questions:
Can these type of companies legally do this?
Surely this is effectivley theft when they are not available to return the car?
Damage to the car or missing contents whilst in their care, are they liable?
Seems to me this is a BIG scam to make more money out of us!
Mick
My questions:
Can these type of companies legally do this?
Surely this is effectivley theft when they are not available to return the car?
Damage to the car or missing contents whilst in their care, are they liable?
Seems to me this is a BIG scam to make more money out of us!
Mick
This seems to be a civil matter entirely. It would seem that there was a contractual arrangement between Blockbusters and the engineer to allow his car to be left in the car park subject to certain conditions which seem to have been complied with. I would assume that Blockbusters would have a lease with the landlord which would set out conditions for using the car park. If Blockbusters breached the agreement by permitting the service engineer to park his car and the lease itself specified the result of such a breach then the tow company acting as agents of the landlord were presumably within their rights. The service engineer's remedy is with Blockbusters who should be sued for the charges applied by the tow company, any incidental damages, cost of hire car and other transport etc. If Blockbusters did not breach the terms of the lease agreement ie they were entitled to direct the engineer to leave his car where he did, then their remedy in turn is against the landlord.
The tow company have a duty of care to ensure that the engineers car is not damaged during the tow nor at their premises.
This is my understanding from similar experiences but I am not a lawyer and would recommend that the matter is put in the hands of a competent solicitor forthwith.
The tow company have a duty of care to ensure that the engineers car is not damaged during the tow nor at their premises.
This is my understanding from similar experiences but I am not a lawyer and would recommend that the matter is put in the hands of a competent solicitor forthwith.
I got clamped in exactly the same place there. We was only out of the van for ten minutes as me and my mate ran over to WHSmiths to get a card.
As you look at Blockbusters from the front (was a Mazda showroom on the corner) the parking spaces are to the left-hand side behind. Fortunately for me I was a compaction engineer and had a flame-spanner setup on my company van. Unfortunately for me I nearly got done for criminal damage as it is against the law to cut em' off. As it happened my company believed my cock an bull story and paid for a new clamp and I didn't get done.
What makes my blood boil is that the clamper must have watched us park and waited for us to leave as no way could he have put it on without us seeing in the short time we were gone. These twats are a law unto themselves. He was *issed off big time when he found his clamp tho
As you look at Blockbusters from the front (was a Mazda showroom on the corner) the parking spaces are to the left-hand side behind. Fortunately for me I was a compaction engineer and had a flame-spanner setup on my company van. Unfortunately for me I nearly got done for criminal damage as it is against the law to cut em' off. As it happened my company believed my cock an bull story and paid for a new clamp and I didn't get done.
What makes my blood boil is that the clamper must have watched us park and waited for us to leave as no way could he have put it on without us seeing in the short time we were gone. These twats are a law unto themselves. He was *issed off big time when he found his clamp tho
If you remove it from your car and there is no-one around then keep it and write to the tow co requesting that they arrange to collect it from you. Charge them same storage fees as theirs and a realistic sum for handover- despatch to them. Point out that a further 3 days will be added if they pay by cheque awaiting clearance.
You won't hear from them again.
You won't hear from them again.
deltaf said: Actually you can leagally remove the clamp so long as its not damaged.
If you decided to cut the lock off for instance, so long as you replace it, they cant do jack.
Worth carrying a padlock, keys and a set of boltcutters in the car i think.
Sniff, sniff ..... I smell shite !!!
Restitution does not excuse the damage in the first place, and offence still stands.
As to the original post, police tend to cop out of this one. Not so in Scotland, where such behaviour has been treated as extortion for years. Hence very very few places use wheel clamps up north.
In answer to the questions
1. Motoring Organisations are familiar with these types of cases and can advise, if you're a member. I think from memory, but not certain, that a reasonable sum is permissable where adequate signs and warnings are displayed. Thus notionally a contract exists, the landowner agreeing to allow you to park there in return for you agreeing to allow him to rip you off.
2. Theft involves an intention to permanently deprive the owner of his goods. They were always wiling to return the car, for a fee. (Scots Law rather than Theft Act)
3. Need to prove their fault or negligence caused the damage loss.
For future reference get lowered suspension and wider tyres that fill the arches. That way there is no chance of them physically fitting a clamp to the car with major damage.
How do I know this works? Because I bought a wheel clamp for car security and couldn't get the bugger on any wheel due to the lack of clearance. I would have had to jack the car up a inch or two (sorry, 2.54 to 5.08cm) and fit it, then lower it again . . . sod that!
>> Edited by m-five on Sunday 1st December 18:06
How do I know this works? Because I bought a wheel clamp for car security and couldn't get the bugger on any wheel due to the lack of clearance. I would have had to jack the car up a inch or two (sorry, 2.54 to 5.08cm) and fit it, then lower it again . . . sod that!
>> Edited by m-five on Sunday 1st December 18:06
Nice!Surely then they could just get a large padlock and chain and put it through one of the spokes.... (I hate the bastards as much as you do but I've seen this done).
m-five said: For future reference get lowered suspension and wider tyres that fill the arches. That way there is no chance of them physically fitting a clamp to the car with major damage.
How do I know this works? Because I bought a wheel clamp for car security and couldn't get the bugger on any wheel due to the lack of clearance. I would have had to jack the car up a inch or two (sorry, 2.54 to 5.08cm) and fit it, then lower it again . . . sod that!
>> Edited by m-five on Sunday 1st December 18:06
A friend of mine has got a double fronted shop in Brentwood, which are two out of a block of three with a small forecourt for customer parking at the front. The shop next door (mobile phones) aren't doing so well and have sub let their off road parking to a clamping firm which results in numerous incidents with customers in my mates place getting clamped. The way they run the operation is that a little scrawny scroat sits all day in a van opposite the area "watching" or on occasions actually parks his van infront of the clamping signs, as soon as he gets a car the spineless shite run across and quickly throws the clamp over the wheels so that it appears to be fixed, he then runs back to the van and gets on the phone to the "enforcers" this is when another van of two not so small and scrawny night club bouncer types turn up and actually lock the clamp. This is all something to do with clampers being licensed and only the actual licensed individuals can lock the clamps. The idea is that if you see a clamp on a vehicle always give it a good tug and see if you can get it off before the "lockers" turn up, 9/10 times the actual bloke that puts it on is not licensed and as such you can just pull it off throw it to one side a fluck off quickly, it may even appear locked but what actually happens is the chains get pulled tight with the slack left behind the wheel out of sight and the are not secure. This is an ongoing problem in Brentwood and is currently escalating out of control with all sorts of threats to people and property being dished out, but this isn't the right place to go into detail.
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