Greyhound Waste 2013 new charges may cost me over €200 more in 2013

BubbleBalls

Hi,

With Greyhound since Jan this year - Two adults and one child household in D.13. Grey and Green X 240L each, and Brown x 140L. Received the new pricing letter that pushes for payment by 30 Nov but decided to do a comparison before availing of their "Offers", which are

1. €59.95pa + €6.50 Black(+ 33c per kilo over 25kgs) + €3.60 Brown(+24c per kilo over 20kgs) - Green free
2. €19 per month for Black and Green or €23 per month for Black, Green and Brown
3. €250 per year
4. €100pa +26c per kilo for Black and +19c per kilo for Brown

Logged onto my account and used my details to create a spreadsheet on current costs vs. future costs, based on this year’s lifts. Most of my lift weights are not on my a/c so I used the avg. of the ones that were - results per option are

1. €206.70 more expensive
2. €92 more expensive
3. €66 more expensive
4. €203.97 more expensive

Interestingly if I removed the Brown bin from option 2 I would pay ONLY €44 extra. We are active in recycling as much as possible but the cheapest option for us in 2013 is to actually recycle less. The above is based on lifts to date in 2012 so the difference will be higher still once this year is finished.

I researched options available to my estate and, though competition is small, Oxigen would work out €14 more expensive, from the same data, based on their per lift flat rate.

I know every household is different but if you have not committed to Greyhound please examine your options. I would be paying over €200 more next year but for the relatively small amount of time to research the prices. If you are unsure opt for a monthly plan with Greyhound as this will not incur the annual service charge so you could use any account balance in Jan/Feb before switching.

The flyer itself is extremely misleading and drags your attention to sign up by 30 Nov using the €10 credit-back + €2.50 paperless credit-back. There are potential legal get-out clauses for "customers" who signed up too quickly due to the heading "Reduction in Annual Charge of up to 50%" and excess weight prices advertised as .33c instead of 33c, and phrases such as

"Great news! At Greyhound we have listened to our valued customers and are delighted to announce that we are reducing......."

"In addition and in line with our commitment to providing valued customers like you with the best possible waste collection service at a great price, we are now offering you............"

"Now for the first time ever with Greyhound, you can choose a plan to best suit your waste requirements. You may choose any of the options available to you. The choice is yours......."

And the best one.........
".....we've analysed the amount of waste that you have generated through your account 1111111 with Greyhound to date, and we have identified the plan for you which, we believe, best suits your requirements."

So Greyhound have analysed my usage and identified the plan, they believe, will best suit my family - My Family is best suited to do without €200+ next year? Thank you, Greyhound, for looking after my interests. If I do nothing I will automatically be assigned plan 1 and €59.95pa charge will be removed from my A/C (automatic top up) and even if I move providers the pa charge will have been collected.

I have done the math and I urge anyone who is with Greyhound, and has yet to agree on a plan, to look closely at their details. I feel contempt for the treatment we are being shown, but once the additional cost was in front of me, I became gob-smacked. I would be charged well over 100% more in 2013 than currently - over €200 more!!!!!

I know there are other threads on this site, and people have taken action on reporting this most sly and underhanded attempt to extort us, but I did not realize the personal effect these new charges would have on my family until now. €200+ is a huge amount to us.

Please examine your details and if your situation is similar to mine let your friends and family know, the Consumer Rights know and colleagues know. We should have clear and concise information on the services we use.

ytpe2r5bxkn0c1

So, you currently can get Black, Green and Brown bins for €184 per annum? Thank yourself lucky you can get it so cheaply. Here in the North East we pay at least €320 for the same thing.

Wile E. Coyote

Mariana Melodic Business wrote: »

So, you currently can get Black, Green and Brown bins for €184 per annum? Thank yourself lucky you can get it so cheaply. Here in the North East we pay at least €320 for the same thing.

People in Dublin don't realise how cheap their waste collections actually are compared to the rest of the country.

BubbleBalls

Mariana Melodic Business wrote: »

So, you currently can get Black, Green and Brown bins for €184 per annum? Thank yourself lucky you can get it so cheaply. Here in the North East we pay at least €320 for the same thing.

I started this to warn of the sly and underhanded tactics Greyhound are now using since they got their foot in the door, and not as a comparison thread. Granted, Dublin prices are cheaper, but is that not the case for most cities?

I will pay for my waste but want the options in black and white. There are many who will accept the advice they were given by Greyhound only realising too late the true cost of the new service.

And I am sure you would be irked if your total was going from €320pa to over €650pa.

uck51js9zml2yt

we are being offered the standard pay per lift, a monthly payment for 2 bins which we never use or a pay by weight.

I'm not being offered an annual plan and when I asked why I was being offered 2 black bins when Ive only ever used 1 in the last 26 years at my address I was recommended to use the pay per lift option.
I emailed back to say my question wasn't answered and have heard nothing

My pay per lift work out at over 400€ and the monthly works out at 348.
Oxygen do an annual plan for 220.

As I'm in credit with GH and they wont refund it (T&C's) I'm stuck till February.

Del2005

Wile E. Coyote wrote: »

People in Dublin don't realise how cheap their waste collections actually are compared to the rest of the country.

Economies of scale, trucks travel less to get filled up and have shorted distances to the tip. You can't have no neighbours and expect to pay the same prices as a high density area.

ytpe2r5bxkn0c1

BubbleBalls wrote: »

I started this to warn of the sly and underhanded tactics Greyhound are now using since they got their foot in the door, and not as a comparison thread. Granted, Dublin prices are cheaper, but is that not the case for most cities?

I will pay for my waste but want the options in black and white. There are many who will accept the advice they were given by Greyhound only realising too late the true cost of the new service.

And I am sure you would be irked if your total was going from €320pa to over €650pa.

Perhaps you are finally being asked to pay the true cost of a bin service.

ytpe2r5bxkn0c1

Del2005 wrote: »

Economies of scale, trucks travel less to get filled up and have shorted distances to the tip. You can't have no neighbours and expect to pay the same prices as a high density area.

Hang on a minute! Who said we were in the sticks? Large Urban areas which are probably closer to the sorting depot and landfill hardly account for a more expensive rate outside Dublin. A truck holds a truckful whether in Dublin or any other city. We do have large population areas sufficient to fill a bin lorry elsewhere you know! :mad:

BubbleBalls

Mariana Melodic Business wrote: »

Perhaps you are finally being asked to pay the true cost of a bin service.

I don't believe that. Oxigen can meet this year's lift totals and it would cost me €14 more than i am presently paying to GH. I reckon total cost next year with Oxigen would be €200, €210 max. Another has said he was quoted €220 yearly! These prices include a profit for the operator, otherwise they wouldn't be selling the service.

What I am being asked to pay is pure profit for the two owners of GH, not the true cost of a bin service.

These guys are chancing their arm that unsuspecting "customers" will fall into their profiteering scheme with intentionally misleading information. This has nothing to do with location, like it has nothing to do with true costs.

wmpdd3

My bins are €20 per month for 2 Green / Brown lifts and 2 Black lifts.

http://web.greyhound.ie/dcc/dcc-customer-support/?p=binandbagcharges

The charges aren't that clear fair play for you managing to do a comparable spread sheet.

Could you pay no annual charge for the black bin, survive on Green and brown bin and use the 'Big Bin' type things for your refuse?

http://www.bigbin.ie/

The current annual service charge is as follows:
240 litre Black Bin - €100
140 litre Black Bin - €80

BubbleBalls

wmpdd3 wrote: »

My bins are €20 per month for 2 Green / Brown lifts and 2 Black lifts.

http://web.greyhound.ie/dcc/dcc-customer-support/?p=binandbagcharges

The charges aren't that clear fair play for you managing to do a comparable spread sheet.

Could you pay no annual charge for the black bin, survive on Green and brown bin and use the 'Big Bin' type things for your refuse?

http://www.bigbin.ie/

If I dont pay a service charge there are only two options left. Yearly rate or monthly rate, and both are inclusive of black lifts so it would work out dearer again. Thanks for the suggestion though and it is good to see alternatives showing up other than kerb side collections. We do have bring centres in our area so it is possible to get the recyclables there freely. TBH what I am currently paying to Greyhound and what Oxigen are offering for 2013 seem reasonable. I know I have to pay, but not €200+ more.

Your quote from the Greyhound website highlights the issue. The website displays current charges - annual service charges for 240L and 140L, lift price per bin and collection timetables. This is simple and straight forward information.

I am open to correction but I cannot find any pricing info for 2013 on the site even though leaflets were sent to customers up to 6 weeks ago (that I know of). My Friend, my sister, my colleague and numerous others (who have posted on boards.ie) have been issued with different pay options under the guise that it is personalised. I have found that the Indo had an article on GH, and when pricing info was requested, they declined
http://www.independent.ie/national-news/bin-firm-doubles-prices-for-some-customers-in-city-3266788.html

All in all there seems to be alot of people complaining about them.

goz83

note to mods: i have a related thread and poll in the dublin city forum, but this is a new thread, linking to the two other threads, as this is also a consumer issue, which i think is very valid here and is not a duplicate thread.

To my fellow boardsies. I've put some of my time and effort into the scandal, which is Greyhound Recycling. I have discovered in my research that Greyhound are charging no less than 3 different price plans to their customers across Dublin and likely elsewhere too. I am not pointing to the fact that each customer can choose a different Plan, I am talking about the fact that customers across Dublin are being charged different prices for the same plan. Take the monthly Plan 2. I would be paying €29 per month, but someone on the next road, about 50 metres away is only paying €19 per month. This is in Dublin 13. A customer in Dublin 4 is only being asked to pay €15 per month for the same service and Greyhound have not given any explanation to this when asked by phone/email. Infact, they have denied this when I asked and have failed two promised calls from supervisors.

I want to make people aware of the fact that they could be paying multiples of what their current charges are now, to next year. My 2012 domestic waste bill tallies at under €300 to December. On the plan Greyhound recommended for me, my bill would shoot to at least €800 per year. Of course, I could choose an annual plan for €330, or monthly plan at €29pm, but this is still more expensive than my current bll, when the letter Greyhound sent positively advertises reductions and promotions. The opening line in LARGE, BOLD FONT was Reduction in Annual Charge of up to 50%.

The thread I started up is http://www.boards.ie/vbulletin/showthread.php?t=2056782345

Please vote on my poll, so more information can be gathered and perhaps vulnerable people will not be burend in the tens of thousands. Poll thread below.
http://www.boards.ie/vbulletin/showthread.php?t=2056805298



I wish to note that I benefit in no way from GH price reductions, as I switched to Oxigen yesterday for €60 each 3 months. I opted for the brown bin at €12 per lift, which increases the bill, but I see recycling as very important.

MOH

In fairness, the Annual Charge has reduced by 50% (if you pay by Nov 30), or 40% otherwise, so that's accurate.
The black bin per lift charge has come down too, so I'm assuming it's the brown bin lift charge and the weight excess charges that are pushing your bill up.

goz83

The Annual charge dropping by up to €50 is good. But the 50cent decrease to €6.50 in a black bin lift is not what it seems. It only covers the first 25 kilos and if you're only 2kg over, then you've just exceeded the old rate by 16cent.

I can only speak for my own household, but our domestic waste for 2012, paid up to december is under €300. We will be leaving Greyhound with credit on the account, which i'm sure they will not refund, from what I have heard. If we remained on plan 1, then based on the average bin lift (using figures GH gave me), our domestic waste charges would be almost €800 (on a conservative avergae weight).

You should be able to get the weights of your previous bin lifts from GH. Armed with those weights, you can visit my Poll (linked in OP) to use a simple method of calculating the estimated costs of your domestic waste if you are with GH on plan 1. The only was of ensuring that you can accurately budget your charges, is by selecting the pay monthly, or the pay annually plans. This for me is still more expensive than this years charges, despite the drop in service charge.

littlejp

goz83 wrote: »

We will be leaving Greyhound with credit on the account, which i'm sure they will not refund, from what I have heard.

They keep all money in the account when you close. It's in their terms and conditions. I'm sure it wouldn't hold up in court but I only had €2 left in my account when I closed it last month.
I'm convinced they ran the €49 top up promotion before the new price plans were announced to lock people in or else give up the credit in their accounts.

Sponge Bob

littlejp wrote: »

They keep all money in the account when you close. It's in their terms and conditions. I'm sure it wouldn't hold up in court but I only had €2 left in my account when I closed it

They need all the money they can get.

goz83

Sponge Bob wrote: »

They need steal all the money they can get away with.

Fixed it for you

Cabaal

goz83 wrote: »

I have two threads on this issue already started in another forum and now I'm cross posting to another forum,

I like to moan about things and expect a private company to do what I want them to do and will lobby a TD about something that the TD cannot change

Let me fix that for you,
:rolleyes:

goz83

Cabaal wrote: »

Let me fix that for you,
:rolleyes:

My "cross posting" was explained. I have switched companies. If you think it's ok for people to get ripped off and mislead and lied to, then you're entitled to that opinion. I for one do not think it's ok, so I will do what I can to make people aware of it.

keane2097

Cabaal wrote: »

Let me fix that for you,
:rolleyes:

Don't think that was much of a fix. I'm personally pretty happy someone is attempting to highlight Greyhound's odious behaviour.

kaimera

I don't think I have any other option other than greyhound in D5

The online site doesn't show the weight, just the date/time/bin/cost of lift.

Wile E. Coyote

Del2005 wrote: »

Economies of scale, trucks travel less to get filled up and have shorted distances to the tip. You can't have no neighbours and expect to pay the same prices as a high density area.

You would think that but using Greenstar as an example (because I know the areas they service), there's a 5 minute difference between Bray in Co Wicklow and Shankill in South Co Dublin.

Shankill -
€65 annual charge + €3.20 per lift + €0.247 per kg for General Waste
Recycling is free.

If both get a collection every two weeks with an average weight of 20kg in the general waste bin it works out at €276.64 a year. If your bin isn't full then you obviously don't have to put it out and you save yourself the €3.20 per lift charge so you can potentially keep your bill down by recycling more.

Bray -
€290.76 flat rate for the year for general and recycling waste
Automatically €15 more expensive and no way of keeping the bill down.

Or

Pre-pay
€20 (Initial Payment) + €1.14 per month charge + €12 per lift general + €5 per lift recycling.
Now if you use this and have both bins collected every two weeks it'll cost you €475.68. No ones obviously going to pay that so even reducing it to one collection of each per month is €237.60.

Now compare the Dublin price to the other areas where Greenstar service and have depots and your 'Economics of Scale' arguement doesn't really hold water.

Wexford - €389 flat rate
Waterford - €378 flat rate
Kilkenny - €378 flat rate
Cork - €335 flat rate

goz83

kaimera wrote: »

I don't think I have any other option other than greyhound in D5

The online site doesn't show the weight, just the date/time/bin/cost of lift.

If you're in Dublin 5, you should be able to switch to Oxigen. That's who i've changed to. www.oxigen.ie and a quick call to them will let you know. If they don'y do Dublin 5, they may be able to tell you who does, but they do Dublin 13, so Dublin 5 is not asking much. I tried Ozo, but they only do Fingal, which is a stones throw away.

By the way, their (oxigen) website stinks, but you will get the idea.

MOH

Just saw this crowd collectig in D5, if anyone's looking for an alternative. Looks like it's a flat €99 fee for the year.

goz83

Thanks MOH. Unfortunately, they don't cover my estate in D13, but maybe they will soon. Im paid up for 3 months with Oxigen anyway, so hopefully that goes well.

uck51js9zml2yt

MOH wrote: »

Just saw this crowd collectig in D5, if anyone's looking for an alternative. Looks like it's a flat €99 fee for the year.

First 5000 customers only:rolleyes:

MOH

Yara Prehistoric Butler wrote: »

First 5000 customers only:rolleyes:

Well there's still 4949 left, so they're not exactly selling out fast!

BubbleBalls

Just signed up to City Bin co, thank you MOH, but still have credit with GH. I have waited as long as I could (Jan 1st renewal date) and had planned on Oxigen at €14 per lift, but €99 is brilliant so really hope their service is reliable.

Offer of €99 seems to target people with credit on their current providers account so someone like me, with €15+, can transfer knowing a big saving is available. I am delighted City Bin have weighed in here to shake things up - €99 for one year, 3 240L bins, twice monthly collections, followed by a €15 per month charge in year two (you can switch before year 2 kicks in) Even in 2014 at €15 per month it is cheaper than what I am paying in 2012. Just a shame they didn't get set up for Dublin two/three months ago when Greyhound started issuing their "personalised" letters.

I am still irked that GH will keep my balance, but I live and learn. What are the odds of GH price reductions in 2014?

uck51js9zml2yt

Check t&c. Refund after 1year with GH.

quaalude

BubbleBalls wrote: »

Just signed up to City Bin co ...
...Just a shame they didn't get set up for Dublin two/three months ago when Greyhound started issuing their "personalised" letters.

It sure is a shame - I signed up with another provide (Oxigen) at over twice the cost of City Bin, just over a week ago, as it was the cheapest alternative to Greyhound I could find at the time. I'm sure I'm not the only one!

Tom.D.BJJ

I signed up for Citybin last Friday. On Saturday i received my new bins and a welcome pack which included a cancelation letter for Greyhound. My first bin was collected today.

very happy with the service. Dublin 9.