Readers were quick to discuss the best clamp outlets, inspired by the clamping plight of their fellow Kiwis.
Clampers are lying in wait to pounce on motorists parking in the wrong spot within seconds, demanding disproportionate fees to free driver's wheels, some readers claim.
Some clampers are not signed up to a voluntary code of conduct drawn up by the Automobile Association which allows a 10-minute grace period for drivers before their cars are targeted.
In a Herald investigation, a parking enforcer for Amalgamated Car Parking Services was seen sitting for hours in an unmarked car on Auckland's Dominion Rd on three evenings during two weeks waiting for unsuspecting motorists to park where they shouldn't.
Steven Hunter and a friend were popping in to pick up some takeaways on Valley Rd in Mt Eden last Wednesday, parking for less than five minutes in a bay he assumed was okay to use.
Upon returning they saw a sticker on Hunter's car door, a clamp on his wheel and a man waving an eftpos machine in his face.
The entrance to the car park does have a sign warning the parks are for customers only, but Hunter said there needed to be bigger signs and more of them.
The Herald checked the signs, which did include one notice on the front saying cars may be clamped or towed but it was too small to read from inside a car.
There was a clearer notice on the inside of the hoarding which couldn't be seen while entering the car park.
In a similar tale, Glen Yare told how a quick trip to pick up takeaways ended up costing him dearly.
After leaving his car for a few minutes, he returned to find his wheel clamped and a man demanding $150 payment or his car would be towed.
"It was unbelievable," he said.
There should be laws against clamping in New Zealand, Yare said.
