Sometimes small victories mean a lot, even the arrival of a new green wheelie bin counts. This, with a couple of resignations and the news of a general election, it brought a smile to my face.
Six weeks ago the blummin Council managed to trash our green wheelie bin. Idiots.
I ordered a new one and was told we would have to wait up to two weeks for a replacement, even though they broke it and we have paid separately for them to empty our green bin (breach of contract?). The Council’s instructions were to leave the broken bin in the normal collection place, where it would be exchanged and this could be on any day, not just the normal bin emptying day.
After two weeks it was still there, so I called the blummin Council. When I say “called” I mean wading through lots of “press 1 for x, press 2 for y, did you know you can use our website for many things?”. Eventually I got to speak to a member of staff who told me the order had been fulfilled by noting there was no bin to exchange.
It turns out they had looked at the front of the house (even took the trouble to photograph it!), didn’t see the old wheelie bin and simply driven off. They hadn’t knocked on our door to ask, or even looked around the corner, where the bin was in plain sight. Idiots.
Again a new bin was ordered, with instructions left as to where they could find the new bin. Meanwhile our green waste was accumulating.
Once more they arrived at the front of the house, couldn’t see it, didn’t bother to look for it or even knock on our door. Again, they took a photo and just drove away. Idiots.
Third attempt. This time the day was agreed and purely by chance, I was in the garden when a Council lorry pulled up. They exchanged the bin and I thanked them. I said how pleased I was they had finally got it right and suggested they poked the other operatives in the eye, metaphorically speaking.
He went slightly red in the face (I figured it was him who had failed twice before). He lit a cigarette and asked “meta… what?”
I could see his driver’s mate grinning in the background as he listened to our exchange. He understood and knew the situation alright.
I thanked them again and they drove off, leaving us with a nice new green wheelie bin for our garden waste. In absolutely no time at all, Rachel had filled it up. Just as well it’s being emptied on Tuesday, my neighbours feared I was going to be borrowing theirs.
So small victories can sometimes mean a lot (at least for our neighbours).
And resignations? Next post.
I have reported a broken, by the council, orange recycling bin x3 times now since Jan, online and by direct email to the head of environmental waste and still not got a new one!
I have left mine where all the bins are emptied, in my part of the road, clearly labelled with my house number, on my car parking space.
Mine is a broken kid, that blows off in the wind, storms etc…it’s a Hunt the lid game at times.
I even currently have a tidy tip Air bnb guest staying but he’s in a different department and unable to help unfortunately. Although he has usefully said that I can take my green bin there, to stop my unhelpful neighbours filling it repeatedly with bio hazardous waste for which the department head as of above have given them a final warning! And sanitised our part of the road last year, with two workers in full PPE for hours in the pouring rain! Myself and another neighbour offered them tea, which was respectfully declined.
Sorry to hear that Jo, you are definitely getting bad service from the council, just like we have been let down.
Persistence is the key with this. Make a note of the Council officer’s name when you call, also the reference number.
They seemed to hide behind the fact they had contractors to do the work and couldn’t instruct them in any meaningful way, for example knocking on the door etc. Perhaps you could involve your local Councillor?