Harringay, Haringey - So Good they Spelt it Twice!
Veolia and next doors' rubbish
This saga really is beginning to wear me down.
For some reason, (probably the wrong bin was in front of the right bin) Veolia have not been emptying the bins next door. Now they definitely won't as they're overflowing and they STINK! I made the mistake of opening my window today but quickly closed it again due to the stench of rotting rubbish. But not only that, they next door (non English speaking Japanese) have nowhere else to put their rubbish.
Until now.
I spotted one of them on my CCTV putting their rubbish in my bin. So when they've filled my bin, where am I supposed to put my rubbish?
Replies to This Discussion
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Permalink Reply by Alan Stanton on
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Thanks for trying, Madeline. It's very disappointing when residents follow the steps the Council asks them to, but get the response you describe.
I've emailed the link to this thread to a senior member of staff in the Environment Department.
(Tottenham Hale ward councillor)
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Permalink Reply by Madeline on
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Fair play to Veolia. A few minutes ago one of their 'inspectors' came and looked into the bins next door, then made notes and filled in forms, knocked at the doors but got no response and put leaflets through the door. So they'll just go into the bins, if and when they're emptied. (the Japanese especially as they won't be able to read it)
I'm afraid I can't phone Environmental Services at the moment as my phone line is down and I'm not willing to use up my mobile credit to listen to the options only to be cut off each time.
As for following instructions, I sometimes wonder if they make it deliberately difficult to get a response in the hope that you'll give up and forget it. That way they can honestly say they've had no complaints and so get 5 stars for performance.
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Permalink Reply by Salsa on
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Sorry to hear about the issues that you are having with your neighbours, I hope there is some kind of resolution.
Re. your last point. I have tried on two occasions to log a complaint with Veolia over the phone. The furtherest I have got is for my comments to be "logged with the crew". As far as I can tell, it's not possible to make a complaint over the phone which (as your rightly point out) means that Veolia can award themselves 5 stars because they have no history of complaints. What an absolute joke.
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Oh, I don't have a problem getting through to Veolia, getting them motivated is the problem.
What is supposed to happen if, for whatever reason. they don't empty the bin? It's left to fill and overflow giving them more reason not to empty it. So what is the householder supposed to do about that? Are Veolia allowed to 'wash their hands' of the problem if it gets into that state. It now becomes a health issue, doesn't it. Haven't they got a 'duty of care' to their customers, us, in that they are hired to remove the rubbish. Surely they can't just leave it there to fester and grow.
It's the council I have a real issue with. They really work in a peculiar way. One hand doesn't know what the other hand is doing, (I'm thinking repairs here. I've been waiting over 6 months for them to get these jobs done) Didn't the council employ Veolia in the first place? Shouldn't they be held equally accountable for errors in the system? And I wonder how much money is being wasted by having to have a lorry and crew sent to a road for one collection that's been missed? A crew have just been to a house a few doors down, (Hurrah! Some else who's able to report it themselves), how much did that cost. And will a separate crew be sent to empty the bins next door here after their inspector has submitted his findings? More money wasted.
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Thanks, Kotoko. both for your offer to translate and advice about nuances and politeness .
Back in the 1970s some friends of mine were involved with some fascinating work in West London, trying to understand and avoid miscommunication between different linguistic communities - especially in work and business contexts. This included for example, how people could misinterpret, say, body language, and voice pitch and tone, as "rudeness". (As I recall the project staff were working with a linguist named Gumperz.)
Recently, I haven't heard about this type of approach. Although it seems that the more mixed our London ethnic "salad" becomes, the more fruitful it might be.
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Permalink Reply by Kotoko OS on
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Alan, your friend's work sounds very interesting. Japanese certainly have a fair share of cultural particulars in communication with strangers. Clearly, if one is living in another culture, he/she should be more compliant, but I guess literacy and integration come hand in hand. We all have to start from somewhere to get better at it.
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Permalink Reply by Anette on
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I'd take his rubbish out of my bin and put it quietly back on his doorstep... that should solve your problem until Veolia gets their s**t together. Good luck!
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I wanted to do that but those bins are quite deep and I couldn't reach it.
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Madeline, can I please suggest the following if you haven't already taken these steps.
1. Take up Kotoko's kind offer to translate a polite note into Japanese explaining the problem to your neighbour and asking for their help.
2. Contact Cllr Karen Alexander and accept her offer to help; authorising her to take it up on your behalf. When I get a reply from my brief contact with Council staff of course I'll pass this on to Karen.
(Tottenham Hale ward councillor. "A harsh critic"—Cllr Joe Goldberg)
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Obviously Veolias leaflet yesterday has had no effect, (as predicted) another bag of rubbish just went into my bin.
Yes Alan, something a bit stronger will have to be done. I would have thought though that even Japanese people would still know right from wrong and that to trespass on some one else's property to dispose of your rubbish, is not what you should be doing.
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Madeline, It's just possible that they can't read the leaflet from Veolia.
You have an offer from Kotoko. Why not at least give it a try? It can't do any harm.
And in any case Karen Alexander has offered you her help. I worked with Karen on the Scrutiny Review and have no doubt she will help if possible. (You're fortunate. There are wards where some councillors are mainly interested in climbing political greasy poles. Or who give an excellent impression of being mummified.)
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Alan, I don't think that I can ask Karen for help as she's not my local councillor and unfortunately my local man is away for a few weeks. At the moment I'm hanging on the phone (queue position 5. At least this time they didn't hang up) to report it to Environmental Services. It's going beyond a joke now, we've discovered that he's now filling my upstairs neighbours bin as well. Mine is almost full now and Hubby has got so mad that he's dragged it down into the basement area. Not a good solution though as it also means that I can't get to it and neither can the dustmen so it will have to be dragged upstairs each week.
I think I've gone beyond being helpful and polite, I'm sure he knows it's wrong. I will wait for Haringey to resolve it in their best bungled manner. I feel like taking Veolia to court as it's their fault that this is happening at all.
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