License To Print Money
June 10, 2009 at 12:21 pm
I’ve just finished reading Naomi Klein’s eye-opening book “Shock Doctrine: The Rise of Disaster Capitalism”. A must-read, it has made me alter how I will consume news about wars and the economy. It made me re-think four years of economics at Trinity where we were thought that Friedman was good and Keynes was bad. Klein takes us through a guided tour of the shocking imposition of Friedmanism on countries such as Chile, Argentina, Bolivia, Poland, Russia, South Africa, Iraq… and, when there were no wars to profit from – United States of America. She outlines how, under Bush, the American Government turned on itself – devouring itself from within through outsourcing of lucrative contracts for its own operation. Everything is outsourced to large corporations: “big business and big government combining their formidable powers to regulate and control the citizenry.”
It seems like there’s a little bit of the same thing going on here in Ireland.
My recent experience at Deans Grange Business Park highlighted just how easy it is to make money in this country if you’re in with the right people in Government.
Take NCPS (National Car Park Services) for example. A licence to print money if ever there was one. A privately owned and operated car clamping company. They have no regulator. They can simply send in their vans to clamp you. Charge you any fee they like. And they don’t have a functioning customer service department.
- I was giving training to a client located at Deans Grange Business Park. Normally you don’t expect to pay for parking at a business park. I arrived in the morning, parked my car, and by afternoon I’d been clamped. I had to pay a fee of €125 to get free. Dublin City Council charge €80 to get unclamped. Seemingly NCPS the guys who got me can charge any fee they like – because they are privately owned.
- The problem was that there was totally inadequate signage in Deans Grange Business Park to alert drivers to the fact that they had to pay for parking. There was one small sign, located near a railing half way down the car park on the left. The parking meter was located there also, but on the morning in question both the single sign and the meter were obscured by white vans parked in the car park.
- Main Sign on Entry – no mention of paid parking here
- Look to the left, this is what you see (no signs)
Looking left again, nothing at the entry gate
See over there past the white van....you can't actually see it because the van is in the way. But that's where the sign is and the parking meter.
So what did I do?
- I wrote a letter to the Company Secretary bringing the lack of signage to their attention. I was ignored.
- I telephoned the office, got on to his secretary and was referred on to the Complaints Officer, who sent me a standard PFO letter in which he states “there is a large notice at the entrance informing you that pay & display is in operation and there are two more at the car park spaces.”. That is simply not true. I wrote back to tell him that and he has since ignored me.
- I have telephoned the office but have never been successful in getting past their receptionist. They are always ‘busy’. (Busy counting their mountains of cash more like).
What did I do next?
- I got on to Dublin City Council to find out about who regulates NCPS and was told they are privately owned and therefore not subject to regulation from the Council Traffic Department.
- The Office of Corporate Enforcement could do nothing, they suggested the Consumer Affairs Association.
- And so on. I don’t have the energy in me to try and get the Consumer Affairs people on my side.
What can you do?
- Link to this blog. Use the words “illegal clamping dublin” or “deans grange business park” so at least future visitors to the park might be alerted.
- Let me know if you have any other bright ideas on how to get heard.
UPDATE – due to the steady stream of comments from people who are all continually being shat on by NCPS, I consulted a legal friend who said the following:
It is open to those clamped by clampers working on behalf of local authorities to contest the matter before the court. Of course, in doing so they risk incurring a higher penalty (and possibly legal costs if represented) if they are unsuccessful.
And, if you believe that you have been wrongly clamped, you may refuse to pay a fine and call the police. It is up to the individual to consider whether that is the right thing to do.
Though I would point out that in the case of a private clampers operating on private property, it is arguable that they are the agent of those who have hired them to police the private property. It might be worth writing directly to the landlord/ occupier with any complaint as it is likely to be of more practical use than complaining to the clampers.
Hope this helps.
Tags: car clamping dublin, deans grange business park, illegal clamping, ncps, parking dublin
