The only thing I can think of that I get*, or should get, for paying >£200 pcm Council Tax is routine rubbish collection. But for the last 3 weeks even that has stopped. It seems that every time there is a change of Chief Rubbish Office in the council (sorry, I meant "Recycling Officer", no make that "Rubbish Officer" after all) he has to change the pattern of rubbish collection just to make a mark. As a result the entire system goes to the pictures. BTW, I live in the sticks, in Wales.
Phoned them up (I tried a 3rd time this morning) and after getting a lengthy recorded speech in English and Welsh about data privacy etc, it then tells you (again in English and Welsh) to sod off and look at their web site. It only then asks if you want to speak in English or Welsh. Then after listening to canned music for a couple of minutes a voice cuts in to say that, by the way, there is a 40 minute wait to speak to anyone. Why the heck didn't they say that in the first place? There is no way I am going to hang on a phone for "40 minutes", which probably means > an hour.
OK, I have already been to their web site. They say that this will allow them to "understand your problem better". I wonder what part of "You haven't collected my rubbish" they would find hard to understand ? Anyway, after 10-15 minutes of palaver registering and navigating past the boasts about how green they are, I enter my complaint. I think it has gone into a black hole. Every time I check the status of my complaint on line (they gave it a number) it says "Scheduled". Just that, "Scheduled". What the heck does that mean? My idea of something scheduled is having a time and date for action, or at least a date. I suspect it just means that they are scheduled to read my complaint. Who knows?
I wonder what to do. Perhaps I should let the rubbish continue to pile out into the road with traffic cones around it until the police get involved. Solicitor's letter to the council? What is the legal requirement on councils anyway? I hear that in North Wales they are now down to 4-weekly collections, mine is two. Where would it stop - yearly collections? I am already burning everything that is burnable. Perhaps ultimately we will have to eat the stuff.
Don't get me wrong, I'm all in favour of communal services, and don't mind paying more than my share as I can afford it (eg for schools). After all, if it were not for such services we would see things like rubbish piling up in the streets ..... Oh wait a minute .....!
* My usage of council facilities :-
Schools - No
Social service - No
Leisure facilites - I amuse myself
Street lighting - Dont have, dont want
Library - I do use it, but have donated about 200 books to them to date, probably paid for myself
Police - Never see them
Road maintenance - I don't damage the road, lorries do. I'd be happier if the road were a dirt track TBH - there would be less passing traffic.
Roadside hedge cutting - Cut it myself
Phoned them up (I tried a 3rd time this morning) and after getting a lengthy recorded speech in English and Welsh about data privacy etc, it then tells you (again in English and Welsh) to sod off and look at their web site. It only then asks if you want to speak in English or Welsh. Then after listening to canned music for a couple of minutes a voice cuts in to say that, by the way, there is a 40 minute wait to speak to anyone. Why the heck didn't they say that in the first place? There is no way I am going to hang on a phone for "40 minutes", which probably means > an hour.
OK, I have already been to their web site. They say that this will allow them to "understand your problem better". I wonder what part of "You haven't collected my rubbish" they would find hard to understand ? Anyway, after 10-15 minutes of palaver registering and navigating past the boasts about how green they are, I enter my complaint. I think it has gone into a black hole. Every time I check the status of my complaint on line (they gave it a number) it says "Scheduled". Just that, "Scheduled". What the heck does that mean? My idea of something scheduled is having a time and date for action, or at least a date. I suspect it just means that they are scheduled to read my complaint. Who knows?
I wonder what to do. Perhaps I should let the rubbish continue to pile out into the road with traffic cones around it until the police get involved. Solicitor's letter to the council? What is the legal requirement on councils anyway? I hear that in North Wales they are now down to 4-weekly collections, mine is two. Where would it stop - yearly collections? I am already burning everything that is burnable. Perhaps ultimately we will have to eat the stuff.
Don't get me wrong, I'm all in favour of communal services, and don't mind paying more than my share as I can afford it (eg for schools). After all, if it were not for such services we would see things like rubbish piling up in the streets ..... Oh wait a minute .....!
* My usage of council facilities :-
Schools - No
Social service - No
Leisure facilites - I amuse myself
Street lighting - Dont have, dont want
Library - I do use it, but have donated about 200 books to them to date, probably paid for myself
Police - Never see them
Road maintenance - I don't damage the road, lorries do. I'd be happier if the road were a dirt track TBH - there would be less passing traffic.
Roadside hedge cutting - Cut it myself