Non collection of rubbish

[Sue]

I think there have been threads on this subject before, but I can't find one, so apologies for starting a new one.

Has anybody else had problems with their rubbish not being collected?

I live in Ulverscroft Road. My green bin was not emptied last Tuesday (20th, not yesterday).

I reported it to the council on Wednesday (after an extraordinarily long wait for somebody to answer my phone call), who told me it would be emptied within three working days. As unfortunately there was both a weekend and a Bank Holiday, I had to wait till yesterday - when it was still not emptied.

On phoning the council again, I was asked for my reference number - and I hadn't been given one. Consequently, it appears that nothing was done about my call, and I have to wait yet another three working days. I have an overflowing bin, as I have been having a clear out and much of it is not recyclable. I have nowhere to put any further rubbish for another three days.

Ironically, I didn't initially report it online as I thought it would more likely to be dealt with quickly if I phoned.

Just wondering if there is some system failure at the council, or if I was just unlucky both in not getting the bin emptied in the first place, and then not getting it emptied after I reported it.

Whatever, make sure you ask for a reference number if you aren't given one!!!

[Mrs TP]

Do it online via the Southwark Council website. No hanging on and they will put a ref nos in a response email. V dull but they have v useful pages on rubbish collection and probs :)

[Giacomelli]

I have had a problem with Southwark environment dept too. I reported blue bin missing on 20th may, they said should arrive within week. When it didn't I emailed. No reply so called and they said one would come today. Then I got a rather odd email saying that they had been to my property and not delivered blue bin as there was one already there. Went outside to check and there was still no bin!!! They need to get their eyes tested! This is the kind of minor stuff that turns you slowly crazy.

Also when I wanted to add the baby bath (no one wanted it for free) to a recent bulk collection the chap on phone said he would not take it as they do not take bathroom items. I did try telling him it was not like a normal bath but a plastic basin that could be put in any room but he was insistant that it would not be collected. Luckily the chaps who picked it up had more sense

I will say however that usually they are usually very efficient. It's just been recently... maybe they are v. Busy

[James Barber]

Hi sue and Giacomelli,

Please PM or email me with your addresses and I will get this escalated and sorted.

This is no the levee lot service you should expect.

[Sue]

Well, my green bin has now been "emptied" - or at least, three quarter emptied, as there are still two manky bags full of what must now be very old rubbish languishing at the bottom of it :(

I have no idea whether they are somehow stuck there, as I can't reach that far down without risking falling in :)) but I would have hoped the people who emptied the bin would have checked to make sure it was actually empty .... oh well. Not long till the next collection day now.

James, thanks, but I'm sure you've got better things to do with your time, and probably the person who dealt with my call originally was just having an off day, as nobody else seems to have had similar problems.

I think Giacomelli's issues are probably more worth looking into!

[Jacqui5254]

You don't have to fall in....maybe turn your bin on its side to reach the contents at the bottom?

[Sue]

Jacqui5254 Wrote:

-------------------------------------------------------

> You don't have to fall in....maybe turn your bin

> on its side to reach the contents at the bottom?

xxxxxx

Ah, good thinking - then I can crawl in!

[Callie]

Giacomelli Wrote:

-------------------------------------------------------

> I have had a problem with Southwark environment

> dept too. I reported blue bin missing on 20th may,

> they said should arrive within week. When it

> didn't I emailed. No reply so called and they said

> one would come today. Then I got a rather odd

> email saying that they had been to my property and

> not delivered blue bin as there was one already

> there. Went outside to check and there was still

> no bin!!! They need to get their eyes tested! This

> is the kind of minor stuff that turns you slowly

> crazy.

> Also when I wanted to add the baby bath (no one

> wanted it for free) to a recent bulk collection

> the chap on phone said he would not take it as

> they do not take bathroom items. I did try telling

> him it was not like a normal bath but a plastic

> basin that could be put in any room but he was

> insistant that it would not be collected. Luckily

> the chaps who picked it up had more sense

> I will say however that usually they are usually

> very efficient. It's just been recently... maybe

> they are v. Busy

re the baby bath - if it's a largish item that won't fit in your wheelie bin or a black bin bag that you can leave next to your wheelie bin, the regular bin won't usually take it. You have to book a seperate collected for this, info is on southwark website. They give you a day & ref no. They take description of items you need collecting, you leave it in your front garden on day of collection. I've done this few times. It works v well. We are v lucky to have this service free in Southwark as been told they have to pay for it in Lewisham & Wandsworth boroughs.

[Jacqui5254]

Jacqui5254 Wrote:

-------------------------------------------------------

> You don't have to fall in....maybe turn your bin

> on its side to reach the contents at the bottom?

xxxxxx

"Ah, good thinking - then I can crawl in!"

Yay!!

[Callie]

Mrs TP Wrote:

-------------------------------------------------------

> Do it online via the Southwark Council website. No

> hanging on and they will put a ref nos in a

> response email. V dull but they have v useful

> pages on rubbish collection and probs :)

Yes I've done this several times in the past, a great service. I also complained via the website form when my bin wasn't fully emptied because stuck to the bottom etc & they came round again to empty it properly lol.

[Giacomelli]

Callie. I know very well about that service. It was exactly the service I was using and have used many times. You need to tell them exactly what they are to pick up withbulk collection... the chap on the end of the phone didn't want to accept baby bath as part of bulk collection. But the people who came to collect were fine. Thanks james but I will call them again myself today. I also don't want to take your time up with this !

[James Barber]

OK.

But if a service fails escalating it to a councillor who then asks what the systemic failure was can improve the service and reduce costs - as well as get a resident the service they should have experienced to begin with.

[edanna]

Sue, my guess is that they are not stuck, but that the bin men didn't actually wheel out your bin and tip it upside down into the truck (which I always thought was the whole point of wheelie bins). I've watched the bin men and what they often do is just lean into the bin still in your garden and pull out bags. We always have bits of blue bin contents in particular dropped all round our garden after a collection and if they were wheeling the bin out, tipping it in the truck and then wheeling it back empty there is no way this would happen.

Sue Wrote:

-------------------------------------------------------

> Well, my green bin has now been "emptied" - or at

> least, three quarter emptied, as there are still

> two manky bags full of what must now be very old

> rubbish languishing at the bottom of it :(

>

> I have no idea whether they are somehow stuck

> there, as I can't reach that far down without

> risking falling in :)) but I would have hoped the

> people who emptied the bin would have checked to

> make sure it was actually empty .... oh well. Not

> long till the next collection day now.

>

> James, thanks, but I'm sure you've got better

> things to do with your time, and probably the

> person who dealt with my call originally was just

> having an off day, as nobody else seems to have

> had similar problems.

>

> I think Giacomelli's issues are probably more

> worth looking into!

[tash b]

Edanna your so right I have watched the bin men do that plenty of times and I also have to go round my front garden picking it all up, James barber maybe this could be mentioned to council by yourself I have on the phone and they don't seem to care.

[Callie]

A couple of days ago I reported online a missed collection of my green wheelie. My bin is now choca, just about managed to squash the lid down. Anyway, on returning from work today, someone has been rummaging in my bin. They'd ripped open some bags & left dumped on top of the other bins! Left a right mess. They must have been very quite as no one noticed or heard them on the gravel outside. I rang the council to see if they'd received my email & to find out when they are coming but told they have been inundated with emails & now have a huge backlog. They gave me a reference no & said best they could do was within the next 3 days. I've also reported 2 unclaimed bins to be collected which have been knocking about on the pavement outside for over a month.

[Sue]

Callie Wrote:

-------------------------------------------------------

I rang the council to see if they'd received my

> email & to find out when they are coming but told

> they have been inundated with emails & now have a

> huge backlog.

xxxxxxxx

Hmmmm.

Maybe does need you to investigate, James?

Either things are going wrong at the rubbish collection end of things and therefore they are getting large numbers of emails about it, or else the emails are not being dealt with efficiently (or they are short staffed at the office for some reason).

OR worst case scenario, it's both :(

[Sue]

Someone else who's been having similar problems:

http://www.eastdulwichforum.co.uk/forum/read.php?20,1334556

[73jem]

Thanks Sue, for some unknown reason my thread was swiftly moved to the lounge, so it was clever of you to pick it up.

I missed a Monday brown bin collection and I have made two phone calls and one report on line, [ as well as an unacknowledged email to the relevant department ] I have pretty well given up and hope not to be missed next Monday. Meanwhile I am leaving my bin on the pavement just in case they do turn up tomorrow ---- I do have a few brown bags but the local foxes are prone to dismantle them in the night, which is even more antisocial than having my bin on the pavement all the time.

Very annoying as I had planned to clear the garden a bit at the weekend.

[Callie]

I was very happy to find my bin had been emptied yesterday, the day after I rang the council, which was faster than expected. Excess bins are still there on the pavement. Will wait a bit longer to see if they get collected before I ring again.

[Renata Hamvas]

Hi Callie, and others, I'm happy to take up your refuse problems and see if I can get them sorted (unfortunately I'll be away from the computer most of today, so it may be Monday). Please pm or email me your details.

Renata

[James Barber]

Hi Sue,

Just spotted your request for help. I've just asked.

[Sue]

Thanks James, there does seem to be a problem somewhere if they have a backlog of emails about this kind of issue.

[Pugwash]

Barry Road refuse collection seems to be going ok but for the past 2 weeks hubby has been clearing up food waste by our side gate. At first we thought someone was coming into the garden and dumping bags ( one dump was a clear plastic bag with bread in it) but has the days have gone on with think it now must be foxes as paper, bits of food and dirty nappies are appearing. If you live at the top end of Barry Road and have a small child - please put your rubbish in a wheelie bin as the foxes are obviously going through black /rubbish sacks which have been left out in a garden etc.

Hubby states that if he finds an letter with an address in the next pile of rubbish left in the garden - he will dump the collected rubbish onto their doorstep.

[Strawbs]

Our blue bin collection was missed which meant we were overflowing, it has now been emptied but all the recycling that I kept inside until they were emptied is now in there so we are starting out with one bin full already (we have 2 bins for 3 flats ). Let's hop the Next collection isn't missed ! I don't really understand how they can just miss so many collections in one area as what were they doing on those days When they were meant to be in ed!

[James Barber]

I've now found out why the missed bin collection reporting hasnt been easy or successful.

Amazingly in this day and age the council IT systems have been in meltdown. They use system called Citrix for all employees to access all systems and email.

So emails have been delayed as everything is taking much much longer than usual. The call centre is even more gummed up as calls are taking much longer due to the snail paced IT.

This weekend just gone lots of extra staff working to try and clear the backlog.

But it doesnt really explain why collections are being missed in the first place.