ISTM - Change of clamper name but not methods!

In April our estate got a "new" clamping firm, after the many complaints about the infamous ISTM tactics. Old notices with the ISTM logo came down, and new ones went up informing us that Citywatch were now the clamping company. Great. We finally got rid of the uncompromising morons that got pleasure from clamping anything that didn't move including funeral cars, care workers, and officially parked cars who had gone for sixty seconds to return the parking permit to their parents! But have we got rid of them? No! They just start a new company under a different name, paint a van black, and carry on as usual.

There were workmen here today, clearing vegetation from a blocked of alley way that gets overgrown. They are obviously being contracted by THCH to do the job and parked their small lorry in the courtyard close enough to load the cut down bushes.

In come the "ex" ISTM crew and clamp it. The workmen were 10 yards away, but they never attempted to approach them and inform them of their intention, just straight in with the clamp! The workmen never saw or heard a thing. I phoned the THCH housing office to complain on their behalf and was told to put any complaints I have in writing. They also had to agree with me that this was indeed a part of the ISTM "group". The workmen also went over to the office and were told there was nothing they could do! I was obvious they were working there and needed the small lorry to load the rubbish onto.

The position these idiots left the now unmovable vehicle in was also blocking another two vehicles from getting out. One of these had a hospital appointment and had to mount the pavement and do some difficult maneuvers to get out.

So it now seems that the campaign to get rid of "another" clamping firm is set to begin and I would urge anyone who has a complaint about these tactics not to let it drop. It will end up with a situation where workmen and delivery men will refuse to enter the estates, and relatives and friends will not be so eager to visit. They say you get your money back after 28 days if your case is genuine, but it took 86 days for one of my daughters unnecessary clampings in my own parking bay by ISTM!

Bendy busses and bent passengers!

I never use the bendy buses as a rule but as my mother was in hospital for ten days a number 25 was the most convenient way from the City to Whitechapel to visit.

Who pays for these cattle trucks? I know one thing - it's not the majority of passengers! I simply could not believe how many people just boarded the bus without touching their Oyster cards.

I stood and counted them getting on through the door where I stood for the few stops I travelled, and there were more non-payers than payers.

At one stop, out of ten getting on the bus seven ignored the fare. It's a joke! The funny thing is that it seems as if it's a regular thing with most of them, and nobody takes any notice. The other thing that I noticed was that the majority of fare dodgers were not of English descent!

They shouldn't be on the road anyway in my opinion, but while they are, they should have a better system than relying on people's honesty.

Bedding plant?

Haven't had a lot of time for blogging lately with one of the family in hospital but just found this video clip on the forum. I had to put it on here. Hope you laugh as much as I did.
YouTube - Funny Video

You wonder why ISTM is despised by residents!

There were a couple of replies to one of my blogs about the low life's working for ISTM, trying to make me out to be the bad guy for constantly having a go and insulting them on this blog. Well if they ever come back to read this entry they may realise the type of people employed by this bully boy outfit. As I have stated before: The only possible reason I can see for them to keep being awarded the contracts, is that there are no other firms willing to do it. I can see no other excuse for employing them and their despicable tactics.
Here's an article from today's Daily Mail:

A hearse and mourners' limousine were clamped as undertakers prepared to take a coffin to a funeral - and then they were held to ransom for £200. The undertakers had left their cars for a few moments while they went to a nearby chapel to check on the arrangements for the funeral. But when they returned, their cars had been clamped and the company responsible was demanding £200. The hearse was clamped just as it was preparing to leave for a funeral along with the mourners' cars.
This is not the first time staff at ISTM clamping company have landed themselves in trouble. Last year, they won the RAC Foundation's Dick Turpin Award for "highway robbery". The undertakers, from Co-op Funerals, had left the vehicles in a car park in Poplar, East London. "The undertakers couldn't believe their eyes.
They thought it was "absolutely disgusting," an onlooker said. "One minute, they were doing their job helping the deceased's family and checking the flowers - the next, they're dealing with this."
ISTM eventually removed the clamps free of charge. "Fortunately, the undertakers somehow eventually got the coffin to the funeral on time," the onlooker added.
Bosses at Poplar HARCA housing association, which owns the car park and uses ISTM as tow-away contractors, later said they had ordered the removal of the clamps. But Gavin Powell, general manager of ISTM, said the cars were released as "a goodwill gesture", adding that the undertakers had been warned the day before about leaving vehicles in the private car park. "We cannot pick and choose which vehicles are clamped," he said. Sheila Rainger, acting director of the RAC Foundation, said: "If even the dead aren't safe from highway robbery, then it really is time for clampers to be banned."
A Poplar HARCA spokeswoman said ISTM had now been ordered not to clamp undertakers' vehicles.
ISTM is despised by thousands of motorists throughout the East End. In 2006, great-grandmother Theodora Loizou, 81, was dubbed a hero after she smashed up an ISTM van with a claw hammer. Her fury had been roused by staff clamping her K-reg Toyota for displaying a tax disc which was two days out of date in Bethnal Green. Earlier that year, the BBC's Watchdog programme told how ISTM bosses had wound up a previous company owing £200,000 to the taxman before relaunching the same business under a new name.

Get paid for commiting bigamy!

Why does this country suffer the three card trick from our politicians? No wonder we are the laughing stock of the world and everyone comes here looking for a free handout. Now, they can get a double or treble handout. Don't bother getting a job, get another wife instead. The English taxpayers will fund it! Is there nothing this government wont do to secure the muslim vote?

Here's a few snippets from a Telegraph article:

Husbands with multiple wives have been given the go-ahead to claim extra welfare benefits following a year-long Government review
Even though bigamy is a crime in Britain, the decision by ministers means that polygamous marriages can now be recognised formally by the state, so long as the weddings took place in countries where the arrangement is legal.
The outcome will chiefly benefit Muslim men with more than one wife, as is permitted under Islamic law. Ministers estimate that up to a thousand polygamous partnerships exist in Britain, although they admit there is no exact record.

The amount payable for each additional spouse is presently £33.65."
Income support for all of the wives may be paid directly into the husband's bank account, if the family so choose. Under the deal agreed by ministers, a husband with multiple wives may also be eligible for additional housing benefit and council tax benefit to reflect the larger property needed for his family.

The ruling could cost taxpayers millions of pounds. Ministers launched a review of the benefit rules for polygamous marriages in November 2006, after it emerged that some families had benefited financially.

If you would like to read the full Telegraph article you can find it here.

Livingstone's dictatorship nearing it's end?

I certainly hope so! Looks like the Teflon is wearing off and the shit's beginning to stick!

My word, the real truth about this loathsome little man has certainly been leaking from deep within the bowels of his mayoral chambers, City Hall, this week and I suspect there is a lot more to come.

I used to be a fan of his once, believe it or not, but that opinion changed shortly after he was elected as the first London Mayor. He suddenly seemed to transform into a power mad dictator with a taste for the high life, at the taxpayer's expense. Over recent years he has gradually become worse, not answering questions about his activities and insulting those who dared question his motives.

His paranoia about certain sections of the media running smear campaigns against him, and his methods of dealing with his critics led me to believe that he was a bit of a piss artist. Surely a person in his position would not come out with some of the statements he made, with a sober mind. If recent allegations and film footage shown on the Channel 4 'Dispatches' program are anything to go by I think I may have been right. Not many public figures start drinking scotch at ten o-clock in the morning at a meeting. I don't think I've ever seen him coughing or heard him wheezing, so the 'medicinal purposes for Bronchitis' excuse seems to be a bit desperate!

It was also revealed how much public cash has gone missing after being handed out to certain organisations by his office before they disappeared off the map leaving no accounts behind. Add this to the wage bill for his Trotskyite advisers, and trips to all nations, with him personally running up a £605 room service bill (public money again) on one occasion, as well as taking seventy or eighty hangers on along with him and you're talking about untold millions being thrown away. I haven't included paying a Tube boss a small fortune for sitting on his arse in the above either!

He's been running the whole show himself, taking absolutely no notice of the London Assembly, so he only has himself to blame for the crap that's being dug up. He lied about one of his staff taking a trip to Africa at our expense. She admitted lying about it and resigned. He should be held responsible for the people he employs so why doesn't he do the same? He's had eight years of living a life of luxury while travelling the globe and swigging whisky. Stand down and give an honest man a chance!

I could go on and on about this mans failings, but I begin to bore myself, so God knows what it does to you out there so I'll save some for tomorrow! Mind you, if the shit keeps hitting the fan like it has over the last few days I'll have enough blogging material to last right up to the election! Only joking. Anyway, let's get Boris in there!

I'm backing Boris even though he's a biker!

Anyone who has read my blog on a regular basis will know my feelings about cyclists.

In the main I think they are a menace to society. The fact that I am forgiving Boris Johnson for being a member of this ever growing two wheeled plague can only go to show how much I loathe that little dictator we now have as Mayor of London, Ken Livingstone.

Livingstone's tactics seem to be handing out sweeteners to every different group and organisation he can think of hoping they wont see right through his petty bribery and all unite to re-elect him.

His latest carrot has been dangled in front of the over 60's. He's promised to extend their freedom passes and make them valid for 24 hours a day on public transport. Anything to get a vote, there's no other reason for it, and it's unfair that he has this advantage over the other candidates. Why didn't he do this last year, instead of a few weeks before the election? Because he knows he's failed in his duties and is beginning to realise it's not going to be plain sailing this time.

He has already been sucking up to the Muslim community by entertaining a couple of their top bananas , and at the other end of the scale, the gay community. Considering one of the previous guests reputedly hinted that all gays should be thrown off the top of high buildings (or words to that effect), it seems he doesn't care where his votes come from. He only does things to please certain sections of London's population, the sections he thinks will do him most good in the election.

In some ways he reminds me of that other loathsome pseudo politician, gruesome George Galloway, another one who targets an easily led section of society to secure their votes for his own ends.

I personally think Boris Johnson would treat all Londoners the same, as Londoners, and not as separate groups he thinks he can manipulate separately by tossing them a tit bit, like Livingstone; and before anyone gets the wrong idea, I have never voted Tory before for any reason. This to me is not a political vote but a vote for London. Mr Blair has made sure I would never vote Labour again, but I would take some convincing to go over to the Conservatives in a national election!

I don't really think Boris's party politics will actually sway him in this role if, hopefully, he gets it. I'll admit that I'd feel a bit better if it were simply a two horse race, because it will always be an advantage to Livingstone having opposing votes split between other candidates.

Anyway, all I can do is give a link to the Back Boris website and show my support for him here:

VOTE FOR BORIS AS LONDON'S NEW MAYOR!

I still don't agree with him riding a bike, but we cant have it all ways I suppose. At least it's a reason for you other cyclists to vote for him!

I hope I've convinced a few more of you put your 'X' in his box on the day and we finally get rid of the one we have now!