Bin Drama!

Lgas

Ask for a renovated bin -mine cost £15 from the council and looks like new. We have had a spate of wheelie bin thefts where I live, mine was taken from outside my back gate. Now both of mine are painted front and back with my house number and street name as big as possible to deter thieves!

rustyboy21

Have you thought, it may have actually not been nicked, but fell into the lorry whilst they were emptying it?


My mum has waited 4 weeks for a new recycling bin as hers fell into the compressor and they couldn't get it out, due to 'Elf and Safety'


That may be a way to work on your local council. It is known to happen quite often. Especially with the small wheelie bins.


From my local council...
Will I be charged if my bin has fallen into the back of the bin lorry?
If your bin is damaged or lost as a result of falling into the back of a waste collection vehicle it may be replaced free of charge. However, it is important to note that the waste collection teams record the details of any such incidents. If we are unable to verify your request, a charge will be applied for a replacement.


http://www.westlancsdc.gov.uk/refuse-recycling/charges-for-wheelie-bins.aspx

saraih

Hi, this happened to me and although the council can play silly !!!!!!s, if you get a crime reference number they will usually replace it free of charge. Two councils have done this for me so far, but I had to ring several times to find someone that knew the policy. Our bins are double that cost of replacement so it was worth it for me.

It is a total waste of police resources but if you explain why you need it (and don't use the emergency line!) they will be helpful. Tell them you aren't trying to make a fuss and don't expect the bin back but you need the ref number for the council.

Round this way burglars often steal the bins to cart their loot back home so it is a known issue.

Gordon_Hose

Nick_C wrote: »

You said in your original post that your collection was last Wednesday, and you went out the next morning to bring the bin back. If it had been out 24 hours, there is a good chance someone took it.

If you went to reclaim on 7am on collection day, after the collection had taken place, then I would have thought it likely that the collector returned the bin to the wrong house. If that is the case, you could try taking out a formal complaint against the Council. Say you believe your bin was not returned correctly by the collection team, and that you are unable to recycle. Ask them to replace the bin. If they refuse, ask them to give you details of the investigation that they carried out. Then take your complaint up through the various stages of the complaints procedure. They will probably give in and replace your bin as it will be cheaper than dealing properly with a complaint.

You could also send in a FOI request, asking how many bins were reported missing last year, how many were believed stolen, how many were believed to be returned to wrong address, and how many were replaced free of charge. This could highlight some information to help with your formal complaint.

Bins go out the night before collection, unless you want to get up at 5am to put the bins out! It would have stood for a considerable time full of rubbish, so I doubt anyone would have taken it until after it was emptied at 6am. So in the hour after it was emptied someone has nicked it... I suspect one of your neighbours who has had theirs pinched previously and noticed the new kid on the block and thought "I'll have that".

If there are no distinguishing features that identify the bin as yours then you'll have a tough time finding out who lifted it.

Not sure what kind of filthy !!!!! robs a wheelie bin though.

clayton16749

Have you asked your neighbours? Do you have your house number on the bin?


Ring the police on 101, report it as stolen. Depending on the force serving your area, they should deal with it over the phone as there are no further enquiries they can reasonably make. They'll give you a crime reference number.


Ring the council back, tell them you've reported it as stolen, give them the crime reference and wait to get your new bin free of charge to replace the one you had stolen by some idiot.

blackshirtuk

I would get in touch with the council again and see if they have serial numbers/chips in them.

Our council does and tracked down our bin 2 roads away!!

Biggles

If your house had been empty for a while, it seems quite likely that the bin men weren't used to returning a bin to your house, so returned it to someone else's. Try that on the council, you should stand a good chance.

Theft between 6am and 7am seems less likely. More likely than that is that your full bin was taken before 6am. Had you thrown away anything valuable? Or are there any groups of guerrilla recyclers locally?

Jellybean1108

Thanks for the useful posts.
Just to clarify, the bin did have our number on it, quite noticeable too. We're exteremly friendly with our neighbours, we live on a main road so we're all always looking out for each other.
We put the bin out the night before the morning of collection and our neighbour moved it where they collect them from before he went to work at 6am, then my other half went to work at 7.30am and the bin had vanished.
Not thrown away anything valuable, just card/paper etc.
I'll be reordering the bin tomorrow but will try these tips first, thank you!

SailorSam

You need to get yourself a tin of paint and put your address all over the bin when you get your next one.

the_matrix

Same as me.

I thought £18 was OTT. Blimey you got charged way too much.