Mums car got towed away, car is all scratched - Help

[DeludedGuy]

I will summarise now as it’s a little long, but keep reading for all the details. Mum parked her car, no sign of clamp/tow-away, car was towed within 1 hour of being parked, taken 8 miles to the 4th closest car pound, they didn’t want to accept credit cards, cheques, only cash, car was all scratched, employees refused to give their names.

So in full.

My mother parked in a residential street in Battersea, with no sign saying cars may be clamped or towed-away, she had seen cars parked in this particular spot before however space was a little tight today and approximately half a meter of the car was in front of a lowered curb, but with space for a car to go in and out of their garage.

My mum came back after less than an hour to find her car gone!

After 2 hours she eventually located her car in the 4th closest car pound - over 8 miles away, when 3 other car pounds within 3-4 miles were available.

I called the car pound, asked politely and calmly why the car was taken so far, she gave me attitude, kissing her teeth, and said "come and get your car, I don’t make the decisions where cars are taken", fair enough, so I asked her for her supervisor, who apparently wasn’t there, then I asked for her manager, also not there, I asked for her name, again with the attitude saying she doesn’t need to give me her name, as I don’t need to know her, full of attitude!

I asked for her supervisors name, again she refuses, by this time I say I will call the police and demand the names as I intend to write a complaint letter, she gives up the supervisors name, and the managers name, but not hers.

Eventually my mum gets there and is about to pay when this woman full of attitude says they only accept cash, again we are fuming by this point and demand her name - she refuses.

we eventually get to the car and find the wheel arches scratched, we take photos and ask for the name of the drivers who collected the car, again they refuse, we threaten to call the police, again, they are not bothered, and I am not going to waste police time on them.

Now...

I am not sure, but I've been told they cannot tow a car away before giving it a penalty charge notice or wheel clamp, I don’t understand how all of that could have happened within 1 hour.

So my mum had to pay £60 for the penalty charge notice, £200 for it being towed away, wheel arches all scratched, 2 hours of worrying if her car had been stolen and the hassle of travelling 8 miles to meet the rudest cashier in the world.

We asked for proof, she said we need to fill in a form; I will be waiting for the evidence of the contravention, I don’t think we stand much of a chance about being innocent, but surely they should of just clamped it, and not towed it away.
Any advice guys?

Many thanks.

[Will404]

bad luck m8, but as for the legal side, i am probablly as much use as a potato

[jimbouk]

Does your car insurance include legal? Might be a starting place.

[Jokerdog33]

Our government spends billions fighting other peoples wars to prevent terrorism in far off lands. I say recall the troops and unleash them on the mofos that really f%$£ up our lives.

The thing that pisses me off, is that if you so much as bitch slap a hoodie, before you can say "get some perspective officer" your in the nick, have a criminal record and are marked for life, while the hoodie that you bitch slapped has a string of offences to their name and their punishment for being a C%$^ is to be taken on Safari and given priority on the housing list.

This is a bit tangental but in a lot of ways similar to your situation..... in other words the Law generally protects the fu^%ers in this world and discriminates totally against the people that are generally law abiding.

Im not a religous person, but at times I hope there is a god so those motherf%$£$% burn.

[jim]

Our government spends billions fighting other peoples wars to prevent terrorism in far off lands. I say recall the troops and unleash them on the mofos that really f%$£ up our lives.

The thing that pisses me off, is that if you so much as bitch slap a hoodie, before you can say "get some perspective officer" your in the nick, have a criminal record and are marked for life, while the hoodie that you bitch slapped has a string of offences to their name and their punishment for being a C%$^ is to be taken on Safari and given priority on the housing list.

This is a bit tangental but in a lot of ways similar to your situation..... in other words the Law generally protects the fu^%ers in this world and discriminates totally against the people that are generally law abiding.

Im not a religous person, but at times I hope there is a god so those motherf%$£$% burn.

Right.

Anyway, on topic, that's complete and utter rubbish. I accept that they (probably) have the right to tow the car away if it's in a place where such a rule is enforced, but I can't see how they don't have a duty of care over the vehicle. It's still your car, so they should look after it while it's in their possession. I'd be extremely surprised if they aren't liable for the repair bill - I don't know who you need to contact, but I think you should get on the phone straight away and ring anybody and everybody (don't forget saynoto0870) and try to find out who's responsible and more importantly, liable.

[Lucio]

First of all, contact the SIA to find out if the clamping company is licensed or not. If they're unlicensed, your screwed because basically they're just criminals pretending to run a legitimate opperation, and unless you're going to engaged in vigilantism against them, nothing much will happen to them.

If they are licensed, proceed with a complaint against them, and also find out on whose authority they clamped the car & contact them as well.

[Rave]

Get yourself on PePiPoo pronto.

http://www.pepipoo.com/

[Whiternoise]

From a quick google, the first thing you HAVE to do is DOCUMENT.

Get pictures of the street, the towing company, the damage to the car, etc. Hopefully you've got a picture of before the towing showing the lack of scratches. You'll want to have as much evidence as possible if you go to a lawyer or decide to take them to small claims. Note down everything that was said to you, write them that letter and keep a copy yourself. The more you have, the more likely a case you have.

Check out: http://www.the-sia.org.uk/home/enfor...ting_intro.htm


The whole outfit seems VERY dodgy to me. Only accepting cash, no names, etc.

[directhex]

Surely if they refuse to give you any docs, and there's no sign on the road indicating towing, then it's car theft, plain & simple?

[DeludedGuy]

I have documents from the penalty charge notice, and documents of the damage they did to my mums car, however it states I need to prove the car was not already scratched - how I do that I dont know. We do not randomly take pictures of the car just in case it gets towed and they damage it, I don’t think anyone prepares themselves for that.

I have written a letter requesting proof of the contravention and will mail it on Monday, but my complaint letter doesn’t look very good as I have no names of the people I spoke to, or who picked up my car, as they flat out refused to give me their details.

I think I will do a freedom of information request about how many complaints they have had, and build from there.

So much hassle, it’s no wonder some people just pay and give up, letting these companies get away with it.

[Whiternoise]

Ah, i know.

If they provide proof, then it's going to have to be a picture of your car being in the wrong place. That picture will have been taken before the damage happened - i.e. you'll have nice spangly wheel arches. Simply compare their "proof" picture to the picture of the car after it was in their care and Bobs' your aunt.

Of course if they don't stump up the evidence, haul their asses to court for theft!

[Spud1]

Have you already paid them the fee and got the car back? Should not prevent you getting any money back I don't think but it does make it more difficult if you have, as I think that effectivly means you accept the car was illegally parked and that they had a right to tow it. Not 100% on that though.

Either way it sounds like they are acting illegally - either as an unlicenced operation (their attitute kind of points that way) or in direct contravention with the law/guidelines. It might be worth a word with your local council if they have any involvement (depends on where it was clamed i guess), otherwise I would be straight on to the police.

It's not wasting their time - its what they are there for.

[chinny]

Might be worth swinging by http://www.moneysavingexpert.com/rec...arking-tickets and having a look - there's a section on towing there.
They've also got some sample letters and that - might be useful.

Good luck.

[DeludedGuy]

Thanks for the advice everyone. Will keep it updated.

[Dragonclaw]

Bad luck mate. I probably would have got the police involved and claimed for some tiype of reckless damage! Thats just not on! Hope you get it sorted out.