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Pleasing all the people all the time is physically impossible! This is never more true than on the subject of clampers and private car parks.
The AA has launched a campaign to get clamping banned. Now this seems the wrong solution to me, surely it would be better to give a scale of acceptable charges which will then allow car parks to be controlled.
I have lost count how many times we have had people phoning up and bleating about being unfairly clamped. There have been people who haven’t seen signs, claim to have only left the car for two minutes, and all manner of wild excuses.
On one occasion I happened to have seen the car parked at a site; when the inevitable complaint came and the “victim” claimed to have been in the car with her baby while her husband ran back into the flat, she was truly shocked when I said I happened to have seen her car parked on double yellow lines and no-one in it or coming and going. This prompted a change of tack to the clampers being rude and charging too much!
Unfortunately people will abuse situations and park without regard to others or in areas they shouldn’t. When they are caught out then defensive barriers go up and their version of events becomes the only reality.
Believe me, clamping is a necessary evil and by all means cap the charges, regulate the industry, have arbitration; but if it’s banned the ignorant who think they can park anywhere will win at a huge social cost to us all.
21 Aug 2009 09:38:30