We've had no end of problems recently and today is bad news. Our bin men have a penchant for slapping stickers on all the bins saying that the lids were open a tiny crack and not flush with the lip. (Not our bin in this case but this is one of the issues). They've only emptied half the bin and then wheeled it back , whilst able to feel the not empty weight, and as they so frequently do, left it in a rather silly place on our road, about 6 - 8 feet away from where we leave them to be collected.
Furthermore, they've left a load of food all over the street, spilled from someone elses bin and ignored it.
So, they won't let us have a second bin because 240 litres of bin space is meant to be enough for up to 6 people in a household and then they only take half the rubbish away and it's happened more than once.
Why do we pay council tax exactly? I thought we paid for public services? I'm only getting half my services so I might just pay half my bill.
Cheeky gits.

Ring veolia and complain. They're always been helpful when I've had problems and nothing will get done unless they know about it :)

Have done that and they said the service has been provided and therefore they won't do anything. I asked what service was provided and the reply was that it was put on the vehicle and tipped up to 90 degrees and that's it.
I haven't crammed the bin too full (as in jumped on the rubbish) but somehow it's become caught and they won't do anything about it.
So, next week, the bin will stink and there will be 2 - 3 black bin liners full of rubbish and twins baby nappies which they won't collect. Because 240 litres is enough for anyone and we aren't entitled to more space. This could get interesting!
I feel rather tense.

The other week the bin men left our bins strewn all over the road, and I was rather miffed that they had seemingly chucked them in the direction of my bike (two were actually touching it) so I took photo's and complained.

Ringing Veolia is useless, as they have the most arrogant waste of space on the telephone, your better emailing or contacting the lady I dealt with in the end:

Margaret Tunningley

Administrative Officer

Waste Management

203 7624 Tel

203 7620 Fax

Margaret.Tunningley@sheffield.gov.uk

As she works for the actual council, not the shoddy company they have hired.

In my case they apologised profusely and said they had some new lads on our round - and they would be sending out a council supervisor to overlook their work - not had a problem since.

We've had no end of problems recently and today is bad news. Our bin men have a penchant for slapping stickers on all the bins saying that the lids were open a tiny crack and not flush with the lip. (Not our bin in this case but this is one of the issues). They've only emptied half the bin and then wheeled it back , whilst able to feel the not empty weight, and as they so frequently do, left it in a rather silly place on our road, about 6 - 8 feet away from where we leave them to be collected.
Furthermore, they've left a load of food all over the street, spilled from someone elses bin and ignored it.
So, they won't let us have a second bin because 240 litres of bin space is meant to be enough for up to 6 people in a household and then they only take half the rubbish away and it's happened more than once.
Why do we pay council tax exactly? I thought we paid for public services? I'm only getting half my services so I might just pay half my bill.
Cheeky gits.
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We have been complaining ever since onyex started,[ the ones before] the bins are thrown in middle of the road in the cul-de-sac, but at the bottom of the street they get theirs put where they take the bin from. There is one person who empties the residue of the bin in the gutter then leave it where it is. We have tried coplaining on many occasions but it just falls on deaf ears. We do half of their routine already, i remember when the binmen used to collect the bins himself and empty it in back of the wagon, but nowadays we have to take the bin to the roadside and collect it, we will be emptying it next minute.i have learned that when you complain ,you do not get your bin emptyed. Even the extra black bags that you can't get in your bin don't get removed anymore. just what do we pay council tax for ?the management drinking coffee or what ?

The other week the bin men left our bins strewn all over the road, and I was rather miffed that they had seemingly chucked them in the direction of my bike (two were actually touching it) so I took photo's and complained.

Ringing Veolia is useless, as they have the most arrogant waste of space on the telephone, your better emailing or contacting the lady I dealt with in the end:

Margaret Tunningley

Administrative Officer

Waste Management

203 7624 Tel

203 7620 Fax

Margaret.Tunningley@sheffield.gov.uk

As she works for the actual council, not the shoddy company they have hired.

In my case they apologised profusely and said they had some new lads on our round - and they would be sending out a council supervisor to overlook their work - not had a problem since.

Does she know've you've put her contact details on a public forum?

Does she know've you've put her contact details on a public forum?

Why not ? she's a public servant !!!

Zebra - while not having your bin emptied properly is shoddy service, have you looked at ways to cut down the amount of rubbish your household is generating?

I'm no hippy but when it's dead easy to compost food waste and use your blue bin for paper and cardboard there's a lot less stuff to go in the wheelie bin.

Does she know've you've put her contact details on a public forum?

There is no personal details published, only the council details.

having known someone who works in the waste industry i don't think council tax goes towards paying for the bin services, or if it does its very little. If the rubbish is stuck in the bin, they are not going to put their hands in and try and pull it out either.

With all this Doom and Glood about bin men etc I just want to offer a small yet worthy of a mention ray of light.

The bin ben on our round are always curtious, friendly, emtpy the bins and even take some things which are left at the side of a too full bin sometimes (like an extra bag or something).

Can't praise em enough!

Sorry to hear you lot are having issues though.

Well, let's see:

Dear Margaret Tunningley,
I was given your contact information after running into a problem this morning and after contacting Veolia about it but with no result.
The refuse vehicle reached our house around 7.15 this mornig and I was on the telephone immediately at 8am as the Veolia offices opened.
Our bin this morning has not been properly emptied but because it might have been on the emptying unit no one will return to do it again as we 'have received the service'. As you might imagine I felt quite upset about this and explained that I can only imagine this problem getting worse as half a bin is entirely insufficient for our needs, even the 240 litre bin we have in insufficient at the moment as we have 8 month old twins getting through approximately 86 nappies a week.
The conversation with Dale on the telephone at Veolia yielded no results as I was given information about restrictions on bins, health and safety and various other issues, none of which will help with our bin problem. As the current policy is not to remove bags at the side of the bin our position will be even more difficult next week.
Dale asked me if I recycle and use the tip and her advice was to go to the tip myself, again you might appreciate that this would be very difficult and in the current heat I would need to go every day once our bill is full again in order to keep the stench down.

Furthermore, someone elses bin had loose food in it which was spilt by the bin handlers this morning and they cleared up part of it and left the rest. It's mostly food by the look of it but there are other less speedily degradable items.
Finally, an issue which has been going on some time and which I intended to enquire about, we leave our bins on the very end of our cul-de-sac, out of the way of all buildings and vehicles and the public footpath.
After collection they are left against vehicles (my partners in one recent case), blocking the path, blocking parked cars and consistently blocking my garage. This causes enormous inconvenience for all involved as we all have to shuffle each others uncollected bins around in order to go about our day. Although I appreciate we all must collect our bins, this situation becomes ridiculous.
Whilst typing this letter I have had a telephone call from one of the managers at the refuse centre who very kindly has suggested that he 'will try' to call by our house personally to remove any bagged rubbish. Although this is very kind, he also pointed out that this may not be possible.
Overall, I am sure you understand why I am contacting you about this problem and can only leave it with you in the hope that you are able to help.
I hope to hear from you very soon.
Kind regards

OK, I like this woman!

Dear Ms **********

I am sorry to hear of your problems with the bin collection this morning. I
have spoken to the manager who phoned you and he should be visiting your
street this morning.

He states that as the waste did not completely tip out on presentation to
the vehicle the waste may be jammed inside the bin and therefore would need
to be released by yourself. However, if when he arrives the waste is safely
bagged then he will take this waste with him and safely dispose of it.

With regard to the spillage the manager is also going to check this out as
well the issue of the bins blocking access after being emptied.

I do hope that this problem can be resolved, but if you do have any further
problems or issues please do not hesitate to contact me.

Regards

Margaret Tunningley
Administrative Officer
Waste Management
203 7624 Tel
203 7620 Fax

If there is half a chance that the remaining waste is not fully "jammed", wait until Mr Viola turns up before inverting the bin.
When it all falls out, let him bag it up!!! :)

What happened to the old "double-shake/jiggle" technique to make sure that all bins got emptied on the lorry?

thanks for the contact number
I phoned her to get a bigger bin and she said id have to put it in writing to some bloke , so I said cant I just email him as Im the type of bloke who want to cut down on waiste.

she gave me this email addy if it helps anyone, this is to get me a bigger bin but im betting he is not just employed as the bigger bin bloke.

david.bird@sheffield.gov.uk

There is also an online contact form HERE (http://www.onyxsheffield.co.uk/contactus.asp).

Our second blue bin finally arrived this morning. Wahoo! Which is good because the other one is full, and surprise, surprise they haven't emptied it ontime... yet again!

However, I just thought I'd point out how different the bin men who collect our blue bin are. When they do turn up (not always on the date written on the bin!) if the bin isn't on the pavement they'll empty it anyway. They grab it from the back yard. Our big bin men would never do this... so why is it so different with the recycling chaps?

There is also an online contact form HERE (http://www.onyxsheffield.co.uk/contactus.asp).

Thank you, the point is there may be 50 people doing the same job as her, did it ever occur to those that replied to me that she may not be able to tackle every person's bin problem's personally?

So today, she arrives at work and instead of helping the people she had on her list to help she has to wade through a couple of hundred emails and phone calls

If any of you work in customer service - imagine every call for your entire company going to you today!

Maybe she will get promoted for helping so many people out ;)

or as would happen in real life, theyll get someone in to share the work load or like she did to me refere me to the next man.

its not hard is it :(

She e-mailed me an app for a larger bin too. V helpful woman!

Maybe she will get promoted for helping so many people out ;)

or as would happen in real life, theyll get someone in to share the work load or like she did to me refere me to the next man.

its not hard is it :(

In real life are you kidding me?
Have you any idea how long it would take just to forward 100 emails? or how so many calls might impact on someone's working day (especially if she was not for warned - as I asked!)

I challenge you lot to put your place of work and your direct number onto the forum

In real life are you kidding me?
Have you any idea how long it would take just to forward 100 emails? or how so many calls might impact on someone's working day (especially if she was not for warned - as I asked!)

I challenge you lot to put your place of work and your direct number onto the forum

Doesn't take all that time - I used to do support for an online company, and there were 3 of us dealing with around 600 support requests a day. You get quite deft at dealing with them ^_^

In real life are you kidding me?
Have you any idea how long it would take just to forward 100 emails? or how so many calls might impact on someone's working day (especially if she was not for warned - as I asked!)

I challenge you lot to put your place of work and your direct number onto the forum




blooming ech, it was a usefull number, what do you think we were going to do ? ignore it and keep the problems we are all having ?

its not our fault that they are not getting it right is it? she is there to help and im sure getting paid to do so. if she gets a bigger work load then someone should take note that people obviously are not happy and hopefully resolve it before we start saying why pay council tax.

we didnt just let her get the full brunt, a few of us have added further contacts to try, so get off your high horse will you or goto the town hall and give her an hand.

how hard can it be to copy and paiste some details to email off anyhow? wish that was my job.

just as a point - I can kind of understand why they won't go rummaging around in bins to remove 'stuck' bags. there could be anything in there e.g. needles, glass etc that could still penetrate protective gloves. personally, if I have a 'big' week and not all of our rubbish will fit in the bin, I take it to the recycling centre myself. I appreciate that may not be an option for everyone.
one thing that really reduced my rubbish volume was to separate out all plastic and glass containers and take them to the supermarket when I go shopping.

on a slightly different, but still bin related issue, does anyone use the green sacks for garden waste (if you dont have a green bin)? I looked on the council website and they are £1.50 for 3 sacks, and once you have more than 3 ready to go, you ring veiola and arrange a collection.
I ask because the same scheme exists where my parents live, and the bin men will only take garden waste in these green sacks...if you try and sneak it into your normal bin (which are still the ones the bin men have to pick up themselves btw and they dont have any problems ensuring they are completely empty).
My dad uses maybe 15 in a go with all the grass and hedge clippings so it gets quite pricey to buy the sacks. He was off work recently and noticed that his carefully paid for and filled green recycling bags were slung onto the back on the normal compacting bin lorry destined for landfill and not composting as he was led to believe.
has anyone witnessed a seperate collection in sheffield for green waste or are we being conned into buying bags that just go to landfill?!

Thank you, the point is there may be 50 people doing the same job as her, did it ever occur to those that replied to me that she may not be able to tackle every person's bin problem's personally?

So today, she arrives at work and instead of helping the people she had on her list to help she has to wade through a couple of hundred emails and phone calls


The officer in question works for The Council.
The first line of action for customer service with regard to the bins is straight to the Contractor, Veolia, on 273 4567 (and press option 1).

It is when you do not get satisfaction, or you get a repeated lack of service, that it is critical that the Council Officer is informed.

It is very important that the Council is aware of the failings of a contractor.

I've got to say, absolute credit to the guy I spoke to at Veolia who personally came to my house in his car and removed the excess (bagged) rubbish. I haven't checked myself but Margaret e-mailed to tell me that's what he's done.
I'll go and fetch the bin back shortly and have a look.
I must say - I'm impressed with the response :)

Nice service, but I do hope the guy was insured for business use of his car.... :D
With reference to the green sacks - I didn't know such a scheme existed. May well make use of it. I've never seen a green-waste only collection vehicle so I guess it probably does just go to landfill :(

blooming ech, it was a usefull number, what do you think we were going to do ? ignore it and keep the problems we are all having ?

its not our fault that they are not getting it right is it? she is there to help and im sure getting paid to do so. if she gets a bigger work load then someone should take note that people obviously are not happy and hopefully resolve it before we start saying why pay council tax.

we didnt just let her get the full brunt, a few of us have added further contacts to try, so get off your high horse will you or goto the town hall and give her an hand.

how hard can it be to copy and paiste some details to email off anyhow? wish that was my job.

High horse? I asked whether this poor woman was told/asked that her details be publicised. I can see that people are not happy - I have had my share of fun with the bin men and their funny ways - all I was saying was that inundating one individual may not be the best sollution. I very much doubt that her additional work load is going to have any impact what so ever on the decision makers - it'll just make her and her colleagues think twice about giving out their details next time.

on a slightly different, but still bin related issue, does anyone use the green sacks for garden waste (if you dont have a green bin)? I looked on the council website and they are £1.50 for 3 sacks, and once you have more than 3 ready to go, you ring veiola and arrange a collection.
I ask because the same scheme exists where my parents live, and the bin men will only take garden waste in these green sacks...if you try and sneak it into your normal bin (which are still the ones the bin men have to pick up themselves btw and they dont have any problems ensuring they are completely empty).
My dad uses maybe 15 in a go with all the grass and hedge clippings so it gets quite pricey to buy the sacks. He was off work recently and noticed that his carefully paid for and filled green recycling bags were slung onto the back on the normal compacting bin lorry destined for landfill and not composting as he was led to believe.
has anyone witnessed a seperate collection in sheffield for green waste or are we being conned into buying bags that just go to landfill?!

Would your dad benefit from getting a composter or two? You can't fill them with grass but you can put some in and he can put it back on the grass when it's done.

I haven't seen them taken away so can't help, sorry

Flipping bin men strike again.

I thought this was a thread saying that the binmen had actually gone on strike :o

Would your dad benefit from getting a composter or two? You can't fill them with grass but you can put some in and he can put it back on the grass when it's done.

I haven't seen them taken away so can't help, sorry


possibly, but unless they can hold the waste for the whole garden then it is a bit pointless as the bulk still needs to be bagged and binned. He doesnt mind paying for the service to have the waste removed, what has him incensed is that he is paying for a service that isnt being performed. The point of the green sacks is that they get taken away seperatley and composted by the council, who then sell on the compost (so they make money out of the waste twice over anyway). He is peed off because they are taking this waste and landfilling it, which is a service already paid for by his council tax as it is going with all the normal household waste. He has complained to the council and from now on will be bagging the waste in cheap non descipt black bags and taking it to the tip himself rather than paying the council to do a job badly!

Nice service, but I do hope the guy was insured for business use of his car.... :D
With reference to the green sacks - I didn't know such a scheme existed. May well make use of it. I've never seen a green-waste only collection vehicle so I guess it probably does just go to landfill :(

Theres a composting site at Woodside lane. Don't know where the raw material comes from or goes to, but its there.

Nice service, but I do hope the guy was insured for business use of his car.... :D
With reference to the green sacks - I didn't know such a scheme existed. May well make use of it. I've never seen a green-waste only collection vehicle so I guess it probably does just go to landfill :(
Feel free to chuck stuff in our compost bin as you go past - it'll take us years to fill it up at the current rate :)