Clamping charge help required

[mazza's mum]

Can anyone help regarding a clamping charge imposed by a private company - they are SIA registered - have checked. The 18 year old daughter of a friend parked in a huge carpark belonging to a fitness/gym organisation. She was away for only a few minutes but had been clamped. She was on her own and it was 8.00 pm approx in evening so had to ring her mother to pay the release fee. Her mother rang the phone number, paid the fee - £140 - by credit card. She had no documentation as this was with her daughter who at the time was stranded and anxious. To her surprise she found that she had been charged £7 for using credit card but this had not been mentioned to her before she paid. I believe this fee is totally disproportionate - approx 5% - the company also charges the same amount for debit card payments. can these companies charge these extortionate fees for payments by credit/debit cards?

[GaryH]

Hi mazza's mum, welcome to CAG.

 

I've moved your post to a thread of your own, so as not to hi-jack someone elses and also becouse you are likely to get much more help on your own thread.

 

Is the title ok? If not, let me know and I will change it.

[Howard0181]

Lots of advice on the Private Parking Thread.

 

Also, if it was me I would start with the credit card company and tell them that you had to pay this amount under duress. Tell them that they charged you £7 for use of the card.

 

Try and demand that they put this money back into your account immediatly. You might have to put this in writing. There is a chance that under the circumstances they might do this.

 

If this fails take some photos of the signs in the car park. Were the clear and visable.

 

If not the only way to get your money back would be to issue a County Court Summons because its unlikely that the clamping company or landlowner will refund your money.

 

Good Luck.

[Guest express]

I would be extremely surprised if the credit card company got involved in this, as it really has nothing whatsoever to do with them.

[mazza's mum]

Thank you both for your replies - I found the pivate parking thread very useful and will perob try to recover the fee as they did not mention it at the time of payment

[jampot]

I would be extremely surprised if the credit card company got involved in this, as it really has nothing whatsoever to do with them.

 

It has EVERYTHING to do with them. They are jointly liable for transactions made using their cards. If the transaction proved to be fraudulent, deceitful or made under duress, they are just as responsible as the clamping company.

 

The main benefit of getting them involved - they KNOW they are jointly liable, and instead of trying to wriggle out of their responsibilities, they normally HELP you fight the rogue company.

 

I have nothing but praise for the chargebacks dept of 2 of the credit cards I hold.

[Guest express]

Jampot, I think you will find that unless it was a fraudulent transaction or it comes under Section 75, then they will not want anything to do with it. And in this case, it has absolutely nowt to do with them.