Harringay, Haringey - So Good they Spelt it Twice!
How do you complain about the poor service Veolia provide?
anyone know how to complain about Veolia? Looking at their website the only way is to 'contact us' which takes you to report dumping etc. Haringey's website does the same. Or am I missing something?
I really think Veolia is providing a poor service. One of their directors was quoted in the Journal last year saying that dog mess would be cleaned with 6 hours of it being reported: http://bit.ly/p1v3X1
Does anyone have any record of this actually happening? My experience is that after making a report, you need to phone up two or three days later to ask for it to be cleaned up.
Speaking to one of their operators last week (on the third attempt, after holding for 5 mins each time) I was told that there is a problem with Haringey passing on reports to Veolia - which means there is an extra delay in getting dog mess cleaned or dumped rubbish lifted.
Veolia also often leave their purple bags on corners. If the van that collects these bags misses one, they don't get moved until the next clean - which could be 5 or 6 days. And that means more rubbish accumulates. (Can Veolia be reported to Haringey for dumping in this case?)
What is most annoying is the fact that dumping if reported at the weekend (via internet) won't be acted on until Tuesday - assuming that the message gets passed from the Haringey website to Veolia without delay, which it usually isn't. So rubbish dumped on Friday can still be there on Tuesday. I think this is very poor service.
And finally in this rant, the message when holding to speak to one of Veolia's 'agents' [don't they employ people?] is that when one becomes free they will 'endeavour to answer the call'. Without getting too literal, I can't imagine what background or training a Veolia agent has if answering a phone call requires endeavour.
I should add that I'm in N15.
So, as I said at the start of this, how do you complain?
JQ
Tags for Forum Posts: antill Road, dumping, haringey council services, n15, new recycling bins, rubbish, street cleaning, tottenham green, veolia
Replies to This Discussion
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Permalink Reply by Michael Anderson on
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I've always had a fast and efficient response from them when I've reported dumped rubbish. Do they have different teams for different parts of the borough? That could describe the difference in service there seems to be.
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Permalink Reply by 0g2vo7qcr3894 on
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We have had terrible problems with Veolia who wouldn't provide us with recycling bins and left us with over-flowing smelly rubbish bins when they moved to their 2-weekly collection. Every time I phoned I was told that there was no-one senior who I could talk to and that they would be in touch - which they never were. After 6 weeks of repeated phone calls however I spoke to a lady called Jo who went to talk to her boss while I waited on the phone and fixed the problem in one phone call. She then even called me back the next day to check that the bins had arrived. I would strongly recommend making sure that you deal with Jo if you want to get anything done with Veolia.
As a company the lack of communication and lack of responsibility is appalling and refuse collection in our area has definitely gone downhill since Veolia took over. I am also frustrated that I can't even find a way of complaining to Haringey council about how terrible Veolia are.
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Permalink Reply by Hugh on
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The best way to complain is to talk to your councillor.
Nilgun Canver, one of the councillors for St Ann's ward (that's Grand Parade and the area behind it) is also the cabinet member responsible for rubbish collection. So copy her in.
All councillor contacts are here.
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Permalink Reply by Alan Stanton on
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"Grand Parade and the area behind it." Love it.
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Wow, she's got some door knocking to do come election time.
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Permalink Reply by Zena Brabazon on
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Just to say if you live in St. Ann's ward please do contact your ward councillors and we will do our best to chase things up.
Regarding Veolia, they put in place a 'village manager' system across the borough when they took over the contract. There are eight such areas so it's worth asking to speak to the manager for St. Ann's and Harringay if you are calling them directly. They should be the operational managers in charge of the area and are should be the link to communities. My dad's advice when tackling any bureaucracy was always go to the top and get them to work backwards!
Zena Brabazon
Councillor, St. Ann's Ward
Chair, St. Ann's and Harringay Area Forum and Committee.
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Permalink Reply by Salsa on
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Hi there, I cannot resist telling my story while we are on the subject of asking to speak to a manager at Veolia....
I phoned Veolia last weekend when my bins were left in the middle of the road, not emptied, by the bin men. Cars were having to drive around them and they were causing an obstruction. I am 8 months pregnant so did not want to try carrying them back up the curb out of the way of the road as they were heavy. I phoned Veolia and the man I spoke to said that they would "send someone out within 48 hours". When I said that was too long to wait he said that he could not do anything more. I asked to speak to his manager and he said he didn't have one!!! So after me quizzing him for several minutes about whether he really didn't have a manager he conceded and said he had a "supervisor". So I asked to speak to her. She was very helpful and arranged for someone to come to collect the bins and empty them within 2 hours. The silly thing was that the bin men were only on the next road when I called. It would have taken them 2 minutes to come via my road and empty my bins which they had forgotten!
I asked for my call to be logged as a complaint but not sure whether that would have had any effect.
Oh and to finish the story! when the bin men emptied the bins and put them back in my yard they made sure they did so by parking them neatly on top of my newley planted rose shrubs (which are at at the other end of my front yard and usually far from harms way of the bins). They damaged the shrubs and snapped them. They also threw the lid of a bin which they must have broken on to my front door step so it was in the way of anyone going in or out of the house. I don't think they were best pleased about being asked to come back!
Sorry for the rant but when I heard there is a manager system I was surprised when thinking back to my experience of being told by the operator on the phone at Veolia that he did not have a manager!!
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Sally, this sort of behaviour needs looking into urgently by someone senior in Veolia. I have emailed them drawing attention to your post on HoL. (Copying in the Haringey Assistant Director.)
If you could email me your phone number I will pass this on to them.
alan.stanton@virgin.net
P.S. There are people who rant on HoL. They appear angry, are often repetitive, and sometimes irrational.
I don't think anyone would describe what you have written as a "rant". It reads to me like an entirely justified complaint.
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Permalink Reply by Protheroe O'Shea on
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There used to be a representative of Veolia on this site. I can't remember his name but he was very helpful. Can anyone remember is name?
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Thanks for your support and help Alan. I will email you my phone number.
I must admit that the worst of the behaviour involved in this incident was that the bins were forgotten and that I was told I would have to wait 48 hours for someone to move them, despite the bin men being on the next road still! I believe that if I hadn't have pushed to speak to the supervisor then I would have not got the bins moved so quickly and I would have had to move them myself to make the road safe! Not something that is good for a person to do when they are heavily pregnant.
The crushing of the roses and the bin lid being thrown onto the door step or middle of the path has happened more than once unfortunately so is something I have learned to put up with. I have complained about this before but nothing has changed and only this week has the broken bin been replaced after me making a request for a new bin on more than one occasion.
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