A few words

Back to the scene of the non-crime. Guess what, Latif's carpark was full:

so I parked in the carpark my car was towed away from on Monday. I don't think Midway Parks have been operating it as a carpark for long. Against a fence I found this old sign that the police/council had put there when it was closed to the public:

I think the message is still valid! I went to ask Latif's to have a word with their neighbour about the way the carpark is being operated, but I was told that even though Latif's is in contact with A & S and/or People's Choice, Latif's wouldn't speak to them about this issue. I'm sorry, but until Latif's takes this problem seriously I couldn't recommend anyone to shop there.

Next I went along to Midland Street, where I found Marcin and his rather shy colleague waiting for their next job:

The shy guy greeted me with a merry cry of "What are ya taking photos for, ya stupid f**king tw*t." Why would anyone who's doing such upright, moral work not want to be identified?

Here's another police/council sign on a lamppost near Latif's:

Okay, if you park on someone's private property, most of the time the landowner has got to have the right to remove your car. BUT if they run that property as a carpark, I don't think they should have that right until a reasonable period of time has elapsed -- say seven days. And there should be strict limits on what can be charged for unpaid parking, for removing clamps, for towing away and for storage in carpounds.

The support that we deserve?

Following up on Monday's shenanigans, I found this on the Staffordshire police website:

Cannock woman found guilty
(29 April 2008)
A Cannock woman was yesterday (April 28) found guilty of blackmail charges at Stafford Crown Court.
Following a two-week trial, Rebecca Meakin of Rowancroft Immobilisers, was found guilty of Conspiracy to blackmail.
Twenty-seven year old Meakin, of Millers Vale in Heath Hayes, was released on conditional bail and is due to be sentenced in the next month.
Sergeant John McCreedy, of Stafford Neighbourhood Policing Unit (NPU), said: “During 2006, Rowencroft Immobilizers used sharp practices to extort large sums of money from motorists who, in some cases, had parked on private land without the owner’s permission.
“The company owner, Rebecca Meakin, fronted the operation and took this opportunity to clamp and remove vehicles to undisclosed locations - making thousands of pounds and causing misery to her victims.
“Amongst these was a doctor delivering blood for an elderly patient and a grandmother who witnessed Rowencroft trying to tow her vehicle with her young grandson still inside. Victims were told their vehicles would be taken to secure compounds which did not exist.
“There is no doubt that it was the courage of motorists to support a police enquiry which resulted in a guilty verdict at Stafford Crown Court. Our communities have sent a message to other rogue traders that this sort of behaviour will not be tolerated.
“On behalf of Staffordshire Police, I would like to take this opportunity to extend my thanks to the victims and the witnesses. I hope that the verdict will give them reassure that others who may find themselves in similar difficulties can place their trust in us and be confidence that we will give them the support that they deserve.”

So I rang Steelhouse Lane Police Station to ask whether Mr Wilkins might've committed the crime of blackmail. The impatient response I got was that he is perfectly within his rights!

I also rang Mr Wilkins and he helpfully pointed out that if I went to court to get my £350 back and won the case he wouldn't give it back anyway. He says that such judgements aren't enforceable.

Midway Parks

Went to Latif's today with my daughter. I like browsing there. The worst thing about the place is the car park: it's too small, forcing people to queue or to drive around looking for somewhere else legal to park. I've had a ticket before for parking in New Canal Street on a single yellow line, so i didn't risk it. I opted for a small private carpark which charges just 50p for an hour. (You know what's coming next, don't you...)



As we queued up at the checkout it dawned on me that I hadn't checked the time, and as we left the store I was shocked, but not surprised, to see my car on the back of a towtruck. I picked up Catherine and ran to challenge the driver, a Mr Marcin Jaroszewicz, who told me, of course, that he couldn't take my car off. (Translation: not allowed to by his boss.) After a few minutes I had to give up, and phone the number on the sign.



The number is wrong, but I got the correct number (0121 333 6007) and the nice lady told me to pop along to Midland Street with £350 if I wanted to see my car again. I took Catherine home on the bus, took my two debit cards to a cashpoint, and got a bus back into town. Midland Street is in the twilight zone about a mile from the centre.




You ring the bell and a guy comes to the gate with a piece of paper and you sign the paper and hand over your £350 before you're allowed in. The pound is behind a second gate, so that you can't actually see whether your car is there or not.


My car was there and seemingly none the worse for wear, but I'm determined to make as many waves as I can about this diabolical ripoff. There were about 40 other cars in the pound, each about to earn the proprietor, Mathew Nathan Wilkins, of 352 Stonehouse Lane, Quinton, an additional £40 for a night in his care.

(It's just occurred to me that the A&S on the ticket and A/S on the receipt refer to the landowner, which means it's probably A&S Textiles. The grid reference of the carpark is SP076868.)

Links:
Car clamping woman sent to jail
Rid this city of car clampers
Dodgy clampers won't pay up
Market trader takes on clampers and wins
Ban wheel clamping!
Too mean to pay to park?
I took on the car clampers and won
Crackdown on cowboy clampers
MCOL
The SIA
Midway's VOSA application

How does that work exactly?