Has anyone ever - after reporting a missed collection - had their bin emptied before the next scheduled collection?.
(Update 17th June) Garden waste missed last week, and looks like this week too unless they’re just very late (time now 9:45).
The garden waste is always much later AFAIK, so hopefully they’ll be round shortly. I assume you’ve paid for the service this year?
The local brown bins were also still full about 20 minutes ago when I passed
I’ve paid, but still waiting for a new sticker.
Hmm mine arrived ages ago. That could be the issue (if you have the old one on there). Might be worth chasing them up if you paid a while ago
I spoke to them (had to use AI to find their phone number). The message is - don’t expect your bin to be emptied unless it has an up-to-date sticker on it. Never mind that you’ve paid for the service. If your payment was late because they didn’t send you a reminder, expect no help. For the weeks they don’t provide service, expect no refund. If you pay late don’t expect a pro rata price reduction for weeks not covered. If the label is late arriving. …. bad luck, your garden waste can just back up.
Yeah, this department has always been a bit useless in that regard. Maybe one for our @FHCllrs could take this on. We do want to encourage more composting and recycling, so there’s no need to make it harder. I do appreciate that they need to charge for the label, but they really need to make sure that this is better administered. I too did not get a reminder, but thankfully there was a topic here that reminded me on time
2 Likes
If I had a sticker on my bin giving a reason why it hasn’t been emptied, then I’d know the reason. But last week and this week, I’m having to guess. When I told the person I spoke to that some of my neighbours’ bins were also uncollected, the response ‘perhaps they haven’t paid’. Perhaps, maybe, it could be this or that.
They used to leave labels on bins that were not emptied e.g. ‘contaminated’ when a recycling bin had non-recycling rubbish in it.
2 Likes
Rob - thanks for tagging us here. Just wanted to say that I understand the concern and fully agree with you both about some of the communication and customer service issues here: it’s needlessly difficult for residents to find out why their bins haven’t been collected, there’s no clear system for issuing renewal reminders for garden waste subscriptions, and residents often end up losing out due to delays on the council’s end in issuing stickers.
Councillor Ade Adewunmi, our newly appointed Cabinet Member for Strategy, Performance, and Digital Transformation, has just launched a new programme reviewing the council’s customer service processes and identifying areas for improvement. I have already spoken to her about similar issues in other contexts, but I will pass this on to her as another example to consider in developing that strategy.
In the short-term, if you’re having issues getting a response from the council on a particular topic, please feel free to forward to me (fergus.navaratnam-blair@lewisham.gov.uk) or Annabelle (annabelle.roberts@lewisham.gov.uk) and we’ll do what we can to expedite things.
4 Likes
We paid and just got our sticker… over 2 months later. Thankfully garden waste was still collected.
1 Like
Would maybe be a good idea for each sticker to have a unique QR code on it, identifying the resident. Then if there is a reason to not collect, instead of a sticker, all they do is scan and select the appropriate message - then this is emailed directly to the resident.
Fast for the employee, clear for the resident. No need to print and distribute stickers, or keep stock in the trucks.
3 Likes
My original question - no-one ever answered - I guess that means it never happens. Almost certainly no point in leaving my bin out for another week. The email sent to me when I reported the missed collection, does not say that my bin will be collected, neither does it say that it won’t be. Rather like the uncertainty about why it wasn’t emptied in the first place.
Yes. I have had it collected.
You had a missed collection, reported that, and they returned to empty your bin? If you can be bothered I would be interested in the details: which bin they missed, how long you waited to report that it was missed, and when they returned to empty it.