Stevieg if your referring to the Gardiner mark 1 smart clamp I couldn't agree more, but he has replaced them with
a newer version that has solved this problem, I haven't tried them yet just going by what Iv heard.
Might be worth fitting a few of these new types just to see if it solves your problem, I actually like the old Gardiner clamps
which I still have on my everyday pole I'm dreading the day when I have to change it so it must be the best looked after pole
on the planet.
My longer poles have the mark 1 smart clamps which I will let stay as they are as I don't use them that much but they are a terrible
clamp.