Dublin City Council - Bin Collection Privatised/Greyhound Megathread

eboarde · 25-01-2012 6:24pm

supergunner wrote: »

Does anyone know if you switch to another provider do you have to inform Greyhound? If so how do i go about this there is nothing on their FAQ`s and the phones are so busy.I havent signed up to them(greyhound) and will be using a different company.

I've signed up with Thorntons and they sent me a letter that I have to sign and send on to Greyhound informing them I won't be using their service and asking them to remove my bins. They even included a stamped addressed envelope.

podgeandrodge · 25-01-2012 8:31pm

eboarde wrote: »

I've signed up with Thorntons and they sent me a letter that I have to sign and send on to Greyhound informing them I won't be using their service and asking them to remove my bins. They even included a stamped addressed envelope.

Not bad - but not what they promise when signing up:

"We will

1.Issue you with a welcome pack within 10 working days which will contain your account number/payment card & calendar for your area.
2.Issue you with your annual service charge invoice which must be paid on receipt
3.Cancel your current service and arrange for your bins to be taken away.
4.Deliver your Thorntons Recycling bins."

I am concerned about the following statement on their website as I am in process of signing up too:

SERVICE CHARGES FOR THE PERIOD FROM 1ST OCT 2011 - 30TH SEP 2012 IS €50.00

I hope that does not mean 4 months are already up before we even sign up!

Toby Take a Bow · 25-01-2012 9:17pm

The insistence by Greyhound that few - "if any" - bins have been left uncollected, and firmly laying any possible blame on the customers' is a pretty good example of how not to react to bad publicity.

Green bins and black bins still uncollected on our street.

smurke · 25-01-2012 9:35pm

Rebellious Jukebox wrote: »

There is a discussion on this on Near FM today at 12pm. You can listen to the stream here

http://www.near.ie/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=21&Itemid=50

Just listened to the Podcast. http://nearpodcast.org/pcast/?p=4434 The Dublin City Council bin men still don't know where they are going to be working, plus the lose €60 a week that was paid for handling the rubbish, seems pretty unfair on them.

I also heard that they were notified by letter, despite several of the men being illiterate. That was told to me by someone who works for Siptu, so I don't know if it's true

I haven't paid my €100 yet, and our green bin was picked up on Tuesday.

cosmic · 25-01-2012 11:35pm

eboarde wrote: »

I've signed up with Thorntons and they sent me a letter that I have to sign and send on to Greyhound informing them I won't be using their service and asking them to remove my bins. They even included a stamped addressed envelope.

That letter is for your convenience only. You don't have to send the letter, or tell Greyhound, if you don't want to.

kylith · 26-01-2012 9:00am

I've just been checking out Thorntons-recycling.ie. They have a yearly charge of €50, as opposed to Greyhound's €100. Bin lifts are a bit more expensive (black is €7.50 and brown is €4.20), but if, like me, you'd only be putting your bin out once every 6 weeks it'll almost certainly work out cheaper.

Plus I just hate Greyhound. I ordered recycling bags in November and they still haven't arrived, and that's par for the course with them.

podgeandrodge · 26-01-2012 9:13am

repost table in case it helps people.

podgeandrodge wrote: »

Here is a table of fees depending on bin lift if I have worked it out correctly...I am in Dublin City area (Terenure) and think these 3 providers are the only ones currently offering a service. (Access are not accepting new customers at the moment according to their website)

As far as I can see Thorntons win with exception of 6/7 bin lifts on a pay as you go with Oxygen with benefit of no service charge in that case.

I have not taken brown bins into account at all.

Noopti · 26-01-2012 2:08pm

Signed up with Oxygen today. We only moved into the house this month, and the letter from Greyhound was addressed to previous occupier. I haven't paid them anything, will ring them to say we aren't using their service and to collect the old bins.

lensman · 26-01-2012 2:09pm

RTE radio news at one now,..data protection agency investigating DCC hand over of customer data.

ooter · 26-01-2012 2:15pm

smurke wrote: »

Just listened to the Podcast. http://nearpodcast.org/pcast/?p=4434 The Dublin City Council bin men still don't know where they are going to be working, plus the lose €60 a week that was paid for handling the rubbish, seems pretty unfair on them.

I also heard that they were notified by letter, despite several of the men being illiterate. That was told to me by someone who works for Siptu, so I don't know if it's true

I haven't paid my €100 yet, and our green bin was picked up on Tuesday.

I'm a DCC binman,we were told on Tuesday what departments we are being reassigned to and we will be starting officially in those departments next Monday.
the €60 payment is remaining in place for the next 6 months but the intention then is to buy it out at one and a half times the annual value (€4680) but that is going to the labour court so who knows what will happen.personally,I think we will lose it.:o

JuliusCaesar · 26-01-2012 2:33pm

Ernest wrote: »

Furthermore, technically you could be charged for new bins to use with Oxigen since Dublin City Assistant Manager Seamus Lyons said last week on a webcast that they have GIVEN AWAY THE EXISTING GREY, GREEN AND BROWN BINS to GREYHOUND WHO NOW OWN OUR BINS!!!

This seems a little strange. My black bin was burnt out by vandals last year and I had to pay DCC for a new one. Does this mean that I didn't really buy it?? Was I just paying rental on it??

Also, I have just a small black bin. Can't find info on the lift cost except from Greyhound, where it's €3.60 a lift. I put it out most fortnights but not all, I estimate about 20 times a year. The brown bin is at most 12 times - not at all in winter and regularly if I'm doing garden work.

I have to say I'm ticked off with Greyhound. This is yet another example of a company which is run to make life easier for the company, rather than for the customer. Hello, I thought we were living in a capitalist system where companies vied to make and keep customers... I asked if they would send me regular paper accounts. 'No, we can't do that because we couldn't keep track of so many people' I was told. The ESB manage it, I said, and Bord Gais, and most other large companies. 'You can access it online' they say. I don't want to be bothered!!

So - question 2 - does anyone know the name of the managing director/CEO of Greyhound? I want to write him a stinker of a letter!

JuliusCaesar · 26-01-2012 2:41pm

JuliusCaesar wrote: »

does anyone know the name of the managing director/CEO of Greyhound? I want to write him a stinker of a letter!

Answered here:

“We are delighted that the new Government has recognised the potential to create new jobs by diverting waste from landfill to recycling and recovery,” said Michael Buckley, co-founder and joint chief executive of Greyhound Recycling and Recovery.

Address of the Head Office from their website: Greyhound Recycling Head Office: Crag Avenue, Clondalkin Industrial Estate, Dublin 22

Just in case anyone would like to join me!

Lawrence1895 · 26-01-2012 6:13pm

Still didn't get any bin tags, 10 days after I paid that Greyhound crowd. At least, they emptied the green bin today.

claretheoc · 26-01-2012 7:53pm

after nearly a month of practically begging greyhound to pick up my bins and send me an information pack, I made the switch to oxigen who answered any email I had within 30 mins and answered the phone straight away...they are like my heroes right now...very happy I made the change and they will be out next week to pick up the bins....:D happy days!!!

Dyr · 26-01-2012 9:18pm

lensman wrote: »

RTE radio news at one now,..data protection agency investigating DCC hand over of customer data.

Too right.

Actually I might send DCC a request letter myself

chinguetti · 26-01-2012 10:27pm

I loved reading in the Irish Times today that people were confused and Greyhound were washing their hands of causing the confusion. In my street, they dropped the new calendars through the doors in only one side of the street so no one knew what was the right day.

So if Greyhound changed the day of collection and didn't inform people correctly, who caused the confusion? The Mexicans?

mosi · 26-01-2012 10:56pm

None of the green bins got collected on my street this week. I haven't received a calendar but checked it out online. Haven't recieved a barcode sticker either :mad:

zacseph · 27-01-2012 9:29pm

After weighing everything up, I think I'm leaning towards oxigen (think thorntons are a little cheaper, but oxigen we're really quick with their info so I kinda like them) But i'm worried about 2 things:
1. Will greyhound try to take back the DCC bins? Part of what put me off greyhound was the thought of messing around with bin switching, especially since I'm renting and they were here when I moved in...
2. What will happen to whatever money I'll owe DCC for the last segment of 2011 - if i'm not with greyhound will they still charge me?

I'm also wondering if Oxigen will mind that I've 2 green bins - always had 2 with DCC as we've tons of recylables... guess that one's probably a question for oxigen directly tho.

Antho1966 · 29-01-2012 2:12am

I have seen a letter from DCC stating that your bag tags are ok for 2012 and have been told by dcc staff to put said bin tags on my bags and greyhound have to honour them

HeidiHeidi · 29-01-2012 9:24am

Antho1966 wrote: »

I have seen a letter from DCC stating that your bag tags are ok for 2012 and have been told by dcc staff to put said bin tags on my bags and greyhound have to honour them

According to Greyhound when I rang them just before the changeover, and what I've seen since, DCC tags (for bags) will be good until 16th March (two months from the changeover) and will be honoured by Greyhound. After that you'll have to buy Greyhound ones.

Which is a pain as for once in my life I bought a stash of them, and have about four left - but I only put a bag out around ever six weeks :mad:

Toby Take a Bow · 29-01-2012 11:17am

HeidiHeidi wrote: »

According to Greyhound when I rang them just before the changeover, and what I've seen since, DCC tags (for bags) will be good until 16th March (two months from the changeover) and will be honoured by Greyhound. After that you'll have to buy Greyhound ones.

Which is a pain as for once in my life I bought a stash of them, and have about four left - but I only put a bag out around ever six weeks :mad:

Yeah, finally received actual communication from Greyhound and they state that this is the case. It's really bad form for people who bought stacks of them.

I'll like not having to pay the 100 'admin' charge, though.

Hootanany · 29-01-2012 12:46pm

Where can i Recycle my recyclables now. Are the depot closed or is it business as usual. thanks in advance

siobhanH24 · 30-01-2012 8:37pm

I was about to pay the greyhound charge as I thought that there were no other northside waste companies.

Is it certain that Oxigen are going to start servicing Drumcondra/Dublin 9? I just sent a request for information through their website, but if it's a possibility then I'll hold off paying the Greyhound annual charge. Would love the option of going with someone else.

part time punk · 31-01-2012 12:38pm

Whatever about the ins and outs of the whole privatisation debate/debacle, Greyhound could surely have designed a better website and made online payment easier and more user friendly, given the fact it's impossible to get them on the phone. I know the Council's online payment facility wasn't brilliant either but you could at least do it and know you had paid. It does kind of dispell this myth of a privately provided service being efficient and good and publicly provided service being bad.

Stripey Cat · 31-01-2012 1:36pm

part time punk wrote: »

It does kind of dispell this myth of a privately provided service being efficient and good and publicly provided service being bad.

If they really believed that, they would privatise the Tax Office.

tomasrojo · 31-01-2012 4:59pm

I tried once again to put out my brown bin in Dublin 8. This time I was at home and saw the Greyhound truck approaching, and I went out to talk to them. The binman admitted to me that they would not collect brown bins on this occasion, and that he knew that they hadn't been collected two weeks ago either.

When asked when they would collect brown bins, he would not be drawn, but directed me to Greyhound's helpline. I rang the helpline, and logged another non-collection.

This isn't very good service so far.

vikingdub · 31-01-2012 8:06pm

Angry Troll wrote: »

that would be the perfect solution…yet, as “toby take a bow” has already said, it seems just too easy somehow…will have to find a way to confirm that info…

The information is correct but is limited to those areas of the city which do not have wheelie bins for waste, we use plastic sacks with prepaid tags and the green bins are collected (by Greyhound) every 2nd week. We negotiated this concession with DCC as we live in terraced houses which either have 1) no back/side entrance or 2) have back entrance which is at the end of a long lane.

However, to date we have not received any notification from either DCC or Greyhound with regard to our collection days, there has been chaos since DCC stopped collecting. A search on the Greyhound webside for our addressed produces "no result". Letters and emails to DCC are ignored, our local councillors are as much in the dark as we are and I have been told that the City Manager has instructed the Customer Service staff at DCC not to transfer calls to his office.

DecTenToo · 31-01-2012 8:20pm

Has anyone received their Green Bin ID labels?

johanna57 · 31-01-2012 8:21pm

Anyone having trouble getting bins off Thorntons we joined up on 13th of Jan paid 50 Euro as did our neighbour still waiting on the bins were originally told they would be here on 27th now not till 2nd Feb rubbish piling up:mad::mad:

HeidiHeidi · 31-01-2012 8:33pm

DecTenToo wrote: »

Has anyone received their Green Bin ID labels?

Nope.... but I today got yet another pack of Greyhound-branded white sacks delivered (formerly green ones) - at this stage I have about ten sets of them! I'm assuming that these will be collected as they always have been, and that the labels are only required for the actual green bins.

(Duh, think the above quote refers to bins - sorry to be thick. But will leave post for the info of other sack users)

ETA - the transfer here seems to have been seamless and trouble-free (Kilmainham. Black and "green" sacks being collected as per the new timetable. Thank goodness!

Dublin City Council - Bin Collection Privatised/Greyhound Megathread

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