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kat_lairHere's the thing: I'm a very patient and understanding person. I am, ask anyone. But, you see, when my patience finally runs out, it tends to do so with some interesting results. And lots and lots of words.
I have filled an official complaint form to the council regarding the situation with my recycling services. Here is the statement I plan on attaching to it.
I moved into my current address on 15th of July. Upon enquiring about the recycling arrangements with my landlord I was told that there were none. I was doubtful and checked the council’s website, where, to my delight, I found out that my address did indeed have recycling bin collection calendar. I rang the council’s environmental services, gave my address and asked for a blue and brown to be delivered. A few days later they were. Amazing.
Except for all the ways it wasn’t. The first week my brown bin wasn’t collected on schedule. I rang the environmental services, reporting this and asking for new collection to be arranged. Two days later it still wasn’t collected. I rang again. And again. Finally the bin was emptied.
The same thing happened a week later with the blue bin. So again I rang about it at least three or four times, every time getting reassurances that it was being sorted. Finally, after my bin had stood on the street for well over a week, I was told that the reason it hadn’t been collected was because I wasn’t supposed to have individual bins, as there was a communal recycling site for my street and should have been since December when the 'street voted to have communal recycling'. Both my landlord and a neighbour from number 69 tell me that there have never been any communal recycling bins. The site where the communal recycling bins should theoretically be (at the end of the back alley, next to number 61) has no recycling bins.
So after convincing the call centre representative that I was not blind and that there really weren’t any communal recycling bins, I was told that the council would arrange for someone to take away my individual bins and deliver communal ones. I was also, for the first time, given a job number.
A few days later there still were no communal bins. I rang and asked what the situation is, now with a job number that at least guaranteed my comments and attempts to sort this were being logged. I did receive a call back from someone who I assumed was a call centre manager on Friday the 27th of August, assuring me that the situation was being looked into and that the person responsible for my area would ring me back the following Tuesday when they were back at work.
No one did. I called again, and was met with a very dismissive comment of ‘it’s being sorted’. Apparently there were no notes about a call-back, and I was told it would take at least five working days to deliver the communal bins. Fine. I waited five working days. Nothing happened. I rang again and was told that someone would ring me back. No one did. I rang again and was told the same. Again, no one rang me back. And again I rang... Perhaps, you can see a pattern starting to emerge?
I still didn’t have communal bins, although, inexplicably my individual blue bin had been emptied (not on a collection day though and despite being told that this was completely impossible to arrange because there was individual bin collection and then there was communal bin collection and never the twain should meet). By now even my considerable patience had ran out and I request for an official complaint form to be sent to me and once more asked for someone to ring me back about the situation.
I noticed a missed a call on Monday the 13th of September from a withheld number. This could have theoretically been the Environmental Services/Waste Management finally ringing me back, but as there was no number or voice message, it was difficult to tell. I have been very busy for the last week (as, shockingly, I do have other things to do than sit in the phone with the Council’s Environmental Services call centre who can do nothing but log yet another call from me anyway) so haven’t rang again. Because by now I just don’t see the point.
So, let’s recap the numerous points of failure here:
1. When I originally ordered my blue and brown bins, the call centre representative should have surely checked my address and informed me about the hypothetical communal recycling site and not sent me individual bins that would never be collected.
2. I rang several times to complain about my individual bins not being collected, until someone did check and told me about this.
3. The fact that there are no communal bins at all. Based on my discussions with landlord and neighbours it seems clear that there have never been any. And if they should have been here since December this means that theoretically communal bin collectors have been driving past my street weekly for nine months now, and upon not seeing bins where they were supposed to be, have just shrugged their shoulders and not reported the situation. That is of course assuming that the communal bin collectors have come by this address at all.
4. I’ve been told several times that someone would ring me back to discuss the situation (because apparently it’s too difficult to just fix it) and on most of those occasions no one has. I am very tired of playing fruitless phone-tag with the council, hence escalating to a written complaint.
My personal observation of recycling in Manchester is that the public’s attitude towards it (or environmental issues in general) is apathetic at best and openly derisive at worst. Although, if this is the response (or lack of) people typically receive from the council when they do try to sort things out, then I’m not surprised.
There are three things I want to receive as a result of this complaint:
1. I want a written explanation of the above points of failure. Why I was not told about the communal recycling originally? Why has it never been in place in practice? Why hasn’t the collection team reported the situation over the past nine months? Why is it that so many of the promised call-backs never actually happened?
2. I want a written apology.
3. More than anything, however, I want the situation with the recycling sorted a.s.a.p. It doesn’t seem like a very complicated thing to deliver the communal recycling bins and to collect them on schedule as promised. However, it’s been two (nine?) months now, so I’m not exactly filled with optimism. But who knows, perhaps the council will prove my cynicism wrong. Wouldn't that be something?
I have filled an official complaint form to the council regarding the situation with my recycling services. Here is the statement I plan on attaching to it.
I moved into my current address on 15th of July. Upon enquiring about the recycling arrangements with my landlord I was told that there were none. I was doubtful and checked the council’s website, where, to my delight, I found out that my address did indeed have recycling bin collection calendar. I rang the council’s environmental services, gave my address and asked for a blue and brown to be delivered. A few days later they were. Amazing.
Except for all the ways it wasn’t. The first week my brown bin wasn’t collected on schedule. I rang the environmental services, reporting this and asking for new collection to be arranged. Two days later it still wasn’t collected. I rang again. And again. Finally the bin was emptied.
The same thing happened a week later with the blue bin. So again I rang about it at least three or four times, every time getting reassurances that it was being sorted. Finally, after my bin had stood on the street for well over a week, I was told that the reason it hadn’t been collected was because I wasn’t supposed to have individual bins, as there was a communal recycling site for my street and should have been since December when the 'street voted to have communal recycling'. Both my landlord and a neighbour from number 69 tell me that there have never been any communal recycling bins. The site where the communal recycling bins should theoretically be (at the end of the back alley, next to number 61) has no recycling bins.
So after convincing the call centre representative that I was not blind and that there really weren’t any communal recycling bins, I was told that the council would arrange for someone to take away my individual bins and deliver communal ones. I was also, for the first time, given a job number.
A few days later there still were no communal bins. I rang and asked what the situation is, now with a job number that at least guaranteed my comments and attempts to sort this were being logged. I did receive a call back from someone who I assumed was a call centre manager on Friday the 27th of August, assuring me that the situation was being looked into and that the person responsible for my area would ring me back the following Tuesday when they were back at work.
No one did. I called again, and was met with a very dismissive comment of ‘it’s being sorted’. Apparently there were no notes about a call-back, and I was told it would take at least five working days to deliver the communal bins. Fine. I waited five working days. Nothing happened. I rang again and was told that someone would ring me back. No one did. I rang again and was told the same. Again, no one rang me back. And again I rang... Perhaps, you can see a pattern starting to emerge?
I still didn’t have communal bins, although, inexplicably my individual blue bin had been emptied (not on a collection day though and despite being told that this was completely impossible to arrange because there was individual bin collection and then there was communal bin collection and never the twain should meet). By now even my considerable patience had ran out and I request for an official complaint form to be sent to me and once more asked for someone to ring me back about the situation.
I noticed a missed a call on Monday the 13th of September from a withheld number. This could have theoretically been the Environmental Services/Waste Management finally ringing me back, but as there was no number or voice message, it was difficult to tell. I have been very busy for the last week (as, shockingly, I do have other things to do than sit in the phone with the Council’s Environmental Services call centre who can do nothing but log yet another call from me anyway) so haven’t rang again. Because by now I just don’t see the point.
So, let’s recap the numerous points of failure here:
1. When I originally ordered my blue and brown bins, the call centre representative should have surely checked my address and informed me about the hypothetical communal recycling site and not sent me individual bins that would never be collected.
2. I rang several times to complain about my individual bins not being collected, until someone did check and told me about this.
3. The fact that there are no communal bins at all. Based on my discussions with landlord and neighbours it seems clear that there have never been any. And if they should have been here since December this means that theoretically communal bin collectors have been driving past my street weekly for nine months now, and upon not seeing bins where they were supposed to be, have just shrugged their shoulders and not reported the situation. That is of course assuming that the communal bin collectors have come by this address at all.
4. I’ve been told several times that someone would ring me back to discuss the situation (because apparently it’s too difficult to just fix it) and on most of those occasions no one has. I am very tired of playing fruitless phone-tag with the council, hence escalating to a written complaint.
My personal observation of recycling in Manchester is that the public’s attitude towards it (or environmental issues in general) is apathetic at best and openly derisive at worst. Although, if this is the response (or lack of) people typically receive from the council when they do try to sort things out, then I’m not surprised.
There are three things I want to receive as a result of this complaint:
1. I want a written explanation of the above points of failure. Why I was not told about the communal recycling originally? Why has it never been in place in practice? Why hasn’t the collection team reported the situation over the past nine months? Why is it that so many of the promised call-backs never actually happened?
2. I want a written apology.
3. More than anything, however, I want the situation with the recycling sorted a.s.a.p. It doesn’t seem like a very complicated thing to deliver the communal recycling bins and to collect them on schedule as promised. However, it’s been two (nine?) months now, so I’m not exactly filled with optimism. But who knows, perhaps the council will prove my cynicism wrong. Wouldn't that be something?