Man made to pay over $100 to release wheel clamp despite parking at condo's visitor lot

He only realised something was amiss after seeing 18 missed calls from an unknown number on his phone.  

But by then, it was too late — his car had been wheel-clamped and he had to subsequently fork out a painful $107 to get it released. 

In a Facebook post on Sunday (May 14), Glenn Fong shared that the incident happened on Saturday (May 13) at his sister's Choa Chu Kang condominium, Inz Residence.

He said that he was there for a family gathering at the barbecue pit area in the evening, and had registered his vehicle at the guard house before proceeding to park at a visitor's lot. 

Busy with the festivities, he didn't know that a condo security guard had tried to contact him on his phone. 

"As the environment was rather noisy, I was unable to hear or feel my phone vibrate while preparing food for [the] barbecue," he recounted, adding that he only found out just after 9pm. 

After which, he approached the condominium's security guards and was told that his car had been wheel-clamped because he had breached their security protocol by giving the wrong unit number of his sister's place. 

Fong's brother-in-law then explained to the security guards that Fong was not a trespasser, but a guest of his and that he had properly parked at the designated visitor's lot.

However, the security guards didn't release the wheel clamp until Fong forked out $107, he said.

Fong also noted that the security guard refused to call their manager for permission to release the wheel clamp. 

Did security record down the wrong unit number? 

Fong explained in his Facebook post that he had indeed given the correct unit number at the guard post earlier. 

"At the security registration, my wife was on the passenger side, and I clearly heard her report the unit number where my sister lives. It was Inz Residence security personnel who made the wrong report," he claimed. 

Fong confessed that he doesn't usually check the parking slips issued by the condo security guards because he never had any prior issues. 

"It is either this condominium has ridiculous by-laws that are unreasonably strict, or security guards are riding on the strict by-laws to punish whomever they dislike or less prefer," said Fong. 

"There is injustice in our condominium management system and our government should step in with protocols to protect residents and visitors from such dictatorship-style private regulations." 

On Monday (May 15), Fong updated the post and said the managing agent of Inz Residence reached out to him after verifying the evidence with the site team. 

He was told that based on the company's standard operating procedures, the wheel clamp was supposed to be released once the security side verified that Fong was a genuine visitor.

"However, the security team took it into their own hands and enforced the payment for the wheel clamp which is against their company policies," said Fong, adding that he will be issued a refund and the ground security team involved will undergo "corrective actions". 

"I want to thank Inz Residence managing agent for being professional and efficient to resolve this issue and make amends for mistakes committed by their team," concluded Fong.

AsiaOne has reached out to Inz Residence and Fong for more details. 

Condo resident rages at security guard after wheel gets clamped

In a separate incident on April 3, a man raged at a security guard at a condo at Sin Min after his luxury car wheel was clamped. 

The guard had explained that the man's vehicle was parked illegally as he did not have the required decal. 

Unhappy, the man yelled at the guard: "You are only interested in embarrassing people. You people like to embarrass others. You are sick. You are so poor, you’d rather die." 

The affected senior security supervisor shared that the resident confronted her and her colleague on two occasions that day after they made 13 requests for him to move his car. 

She also said that she would forgive the resident if he apologises. 

Responding to the incident, the Union of Security Employees condemned the act of abuse and said it would be in touch with the guard to help him with lodging a police report.

The police said then that they received a call for assistance at about 1.10pm on Apr 3. 

"No injuries were reported. Police investigations are ongoing," they added.

ALSO READ: Delivery rider laments $214 fine for parking bike illegally at Bishan condo

melissateo@asiaone.com

No part of this story or photos can be reproduced without permission from AsiaOne.