Hiya, this happened to me today, have been researching ever since and found this site, brilliant!

I am a social carer and was taking a guy I look after to pick up a prescription for his epilepsy in Woodley Town Centre.

I pulled up in The Chequers car park Woodley and was gone for just under 10 minutes. When I returned they had clamped me, with a release charge of £150 to be paid within 3 hours or car would be towed. That worked out at around £15 PER MINUTE for me to park there.
I mean, the guy had watched me park and walk away as he sat in an unmarked white ford transit van, the signs on the walls were completely insignificant white and black signs mounted on obscure corners of this dilapidated, crusty, hovel. WHAT POSSIBLE CHANCE DID I HAVE?
While I was talking to him I managed to deter a few other people from parking in the carpark but It just goes to show how easily it was done. This place is a money trap and the company responsible 'Frontline Parking Management' are evil.

Unfortunately I had no choice but to pay the guy, and I had to pay cash (I gave him 150 pound coins, he really wasn't happy about that- but it's all about the small victories with these people isn't it?) as there was a £5 EXTRA charge for paying by card (adding insult to injury there...)
I feel that I was effectively forced to pay under duress as I had no option but to take the guy home who I was caring for (as he suffers with learning difficulties and was not able to take himself home). When I explained this to the soulless clamper (his name was Ryan Criggs by the way...) and asked him if the 40 minutes it would take me to walk him home and back would be deducted from my 3 hour time limit (effectively freezing it so I could deal with the situation in my own time without having to worry about caring for someone) he basically laughed at me and told me my car would be towed regardless, hence why I kind of had to pay the fine (that and the fact that I rely on it to work hard and earn the money that they raped from me).

This is completely unethical and totally immoral, companies like this should be prosecuted, its seems unfathomable to me that in the vast array of UK law there is no legislation protecting motorists from this kind of flagrantly illegal activity.

I have contacted the local paper who seemed keen to print another story (yes, there have already been stories in the paper, apparently this company have waves of clamping) and I am writing letters to the two local MP's who represent Woodley. I am also starting a facebook campaign to get together as many people as possible and Im going to contact a watchdog group to see if theres anything that can be done there.

I'm wondering if there is any way I can legally get my money back? I noticed that someone said there has been a few cases against these guys won and I would dearly love to know how!

Please, anyone with any help it would be really apprieciated. Please join my facebook group!!!
(sorry about the long link)
http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=1352...f=search_loaded


Thankyou in advance

Don't hijack other threads.

Pyrrhic victory indeed, if you had paid by card you would have had an extra means of reclaiming your money. Now you'll just have to claim from both the clamper and the landowner.

Would the clamper only accept payment in cash or was it your choice to pay him in cash? If it is the former rather than the latter you may suspect that they are trying to evade paying their taxes.

get pics of the signage and layout of the place.

I'm not surprised the local paper's interested - the clamping there's been a cause of aggravation for some time, and some people have been very upset indeed it would appear!