Bastard Wankstation TFL Fuckers

[SlightlyRegal]

Of all the bastard companies/bodies/departments I have ever had to deal with, they are by far the worst.

I won't bore you with the details but my mum was apparently issued with a ticket for stopping in a loading zone (she swears she was in there for 20 seconds waiting to move forward into an actual parking space and I believe her) and she never got out of the car. So the ticket must be a 'camera' type thing that was allegedly sent in the post. Again she insists she didn't get it, and again I believe her. She is quite the 'upstanding citizen' type and would deal with anything like a parking ticket quickly following the official process for appealing etc.

Three days ago she got a threatening but not very comprehensive message on her answermachine from a bailiff company. She could not (and nor could I or my DH) make out the name of the company and they did not leave a phone number. All she heard was 'TFL'. Cue half a day of phoning/being on hold/being passed from pillar to post between every department in TFL to talk to a relevant person only to be finally told 'it's with the bailiffs now'.

Eventually my mum burst into tears and the fuckers PUT THE PHONE DOWN ON HER. Of course we can't complain as we have no name and not really even sure what department we ended up talking to.

Yesterday another call from Bailiffs warning her that she would be expected to hand over £625 cash to someone who could call at any time in the next week at any time from 4am. This terrified my mum who tried to explain that she is unaware how this has escalated to this point and she doesn't have anything like the money they are after, and they told her she'd better start 'calling in some favours'. THUG CUNTS.

I have now spent an hour and a half listening to hold music talking to TFL and have filed an Out of Time Witness Statement with the court but TFL say the court may refuse it and there is nothing they (TFL) can do about it. They refuse to discuss the fact that the first we knew of this alleged offence was a message from the Bailiffs and when I told them the Bailiff company were being threatening and intimidating, the TFL women said 'Yes, that's why we use them'

So AIBU to think that an organisation like TFL should not be using a thuggish bailif firm and should have a more civilised way of dealing with 'first time offenders' (who don't even think they have offended)?

Haven't read all posts but what bastards! This is bullshit, bailiffs are not allowed to come and collect money or possessions from you without taking it to court first, of which your mother would have been notified well in advance. They simply cannot just turn up on your doorstep and demand money or every company would be doing that instead of using debt collectors etc!

I would definately complain to somebody (ombudsman maybe??) as this is soooo not right! My dp knows more about it than i do as he used to work for a debt collection company but this is bang out of order. I am actually fuming for you

Tell them to get to fuck unless they have concrete evidence, basically. It could be a scam for all you know, lots of people would pay up out of fear. Keep all correspondence and keep a note of everything they say and do.

I am seething at the ridiculous amounts of power bailiffs seem to wield! They have not evidence of wrong doing and they hold such power over people.

I have no advice accept what others have posted. I wish you the best of luck and please keep us updated!!!

Nothing to add over the wise advice that has already been posted but just wanted to sympathise. Your poor mum, what a frightening situation for her.

I would also be calling the papers.

Don't worry! Aaaw at your Mum walking around in the dark with the curtains closed.

Like everyone else said^, bailiffs cant enter your property unless invited - like vampires.

I think you'll find they'll try it on until they know you mean business and then fuck off without an apology.

We got an unexpected 'infringement notice' after lending a car to a friend. They sent a notice with a nice photo of our car, but nothing to indicate what exactly it was doing wrong. I emailed them to tell them that they should be providing clear photographic evidence of a traffic offence being commited to be able to issue a fine - nothing else was heard.

Check what rate number she is calling on and don't call again.

Get her to write to them (sent recorded) asking for copies of all evidence etc. Don't sign the letter as there have been cases of people reproducing signatures on agreements. There will be some threads on here on on various websites advising how to write these letters properly and protect yourself.

They cannot just send baliffs with out court orders so she needs proof of all this.

Tell them in the letter to cease the harrassment or she will go straight to the police/relevant complaint authorities.

Write to TfL explaining the situation and requesting copies of the paperwork.

It sounds rather like a scam to me but the similar scams tried on me have all been private car parks. After a couple scary letters they stopped.

Gosh thanks so much. Have been ferrying children around all day and making my fugitive mum cups of tea, which is why I haven't responded. Am going to read through all the posts in a moment and respond later.

But in haste, TFL are involved because they (apparantly) issue these particiular kinds of fine - loading bay. Not in westminster, no, in Richmond.

Spoke to someone again - explained the whole story, and she responded 'it is the driver's responsibility to appeal as soon as they receive the ticket'. I wanted to bang my head against the wall. There was no ticket you stupid robot fucker!

Anyway, going to read all your lovely responses now - thank you :)

7 yrs ago Bailiffs threatened my dad, for pulling up in a disable bay, displaying his blue badge and going to have a wee in the public toilets.

We were trying to explain to them that he was unable to pay and as much as we would like to put him on the phone to explain the reasons why it was not at all possible.

They warned us they would attend my mums home on 15th January 2004, we welcomed them.....and offered them the chance to talk to ....................................

His coffin before it was driven away to the cremitoriam (sp)

And yes they had been supplied a copy of his death certificate.

The number you rang TFL on - it was a number you got from their website yes? And they confirmed that they had this ticket on their system and knew all about it?

It all sounds really peculiar.

DH has found this on the net which explains about the process. She should have had at least 2 letters by the look of it.

Is her car registered to the right address?

On closer examination she should have had about 4 letters and a leaflet before it gets to bailiff stage.

Hello all and thanks again.

So, yes TFL are aware of the offence and I have an 'official' PCN number but they won't co-operate with me in any way because it's now 'with the bailiffs'.

I have told my mum that she is not to open the door to anyone she doesn't know. If they call round, she will phone me or DH (and that's as far as my plan gets so far ).

Tomorrow, I will contact some of the organisations you have kindly given me, also CAB and if need be, my local MP.

In the meantime, I have to hope that the court accept the out of time witness statement and at least stops the bailiff company. At least then, we are back to dealing with TFL.

The thing that is still making my head spin is the fact that TFL employ such utter bastards to do their dirty work for them and that there is no difference in the treatment of a repeat offender an OAP first time offender. Who also appears to be innocent.

No, she got no mail or correspondence. The car is registered to the house she has lived in for years. It's a complete fuck up.

Thank you again for the advice and support. I mm I could count on MN to be 'outrwged on my behalf'

outraged even

How bizarre. I live in Richmond borough and have never seen the possibility of a tfl ticket unless it was a red route?

If it was taken by camera, I just heard a story on local news saying the cars used to take photos for parking penalty notices in Richmond never had the cameras licensed properly so have been withdrawn from the roads. If it was one of these cars that took the picture, you may be able to get it thrown out anyway.

Not entirely sure of the individual circumstances of your ticket!

Hi Fox was in Sheen but sure same rules pay as in Richmond. They refer to the loading bays on Upper Richmond Road as part of the Red Route . Strictly speaking, there is no clear definition for use of these bays anyway (as told to me by a local traffic warden) as they can't really define 'loading' - it's not soley for commercial use but what counts as 'loading' varies across the system.

God I'm boring myself now, but thanks for the tip about the cameras

Email Zac Goldsmith, Richmond MP: [email protected]

He'll be interested to hear about TFL giving his Borough a bad name. If TFL are using bully-boy bailiffs to harass people visiting Richmond, this will not go down well.

Oooh the naughty fuckers

They are just trying it on. They need a court order to do anything. They are not allowed to collect debts at 4am, the sods. If they do it again threaten to call the police. Or stick a shotgun through the letter box. That last one may be a joke.

Second emailing Zac Goldsmith and Boris Johnson.

Yes I agree re Zac

Incidentally, I had a similar situation with Westminster council. Dh never received the ticket. It was his first parking offence in Westminster and I wrote a letter to them and they waived the ticket, apologised for the inconvenience, and sent me a booklet on Understanding Parking in Westminster .

This 'oh it's with the bailiffs now, nothing we can do' is utter bollocks. Of course they can do something but it is a lot more involved once they have handed it over as they will have some sort of contract with them but still!

That harassment is not on. Your poor mum!

That's awful. If I were you I'd google some journalist names - national papers such as The Sun and The Mail. Find their email addresses (daily mail journos often print their email ads in the paper by their stories) and email them direct.

Contact CAB and the police. Email Boris Johnson - is he not in charge of this shower of shit?

Also find out if baliffs can sieze your mum's car????? I watched some programme once where the person the baliffs were chasing wasn't answering the door so they got a low loader and took his car - didn't need the keys, just picked it up. They said they were taking it to pay the fine with. Your mum may need to park the car in a different street until this is sorted.