Odd one...fridge dumped in front of my front door and council say its tough....

ginger_nuts

put a "for sale " notice on it .

Someone will think its worth something and nick it :rolleyes:

wherediditallgo

Sometimes councils are their own worst enemy. We had an old wooden ladder at home that hadn't been very safe to use for ages, & after buying a metal one my OH rang the council to ask how to get it collected. They used to give all residents 3 yearly large-item collections free of charge so we thought they'd collect from us under that system, but apparently the policy changed this summer so that anyone who wasn't on benefits now has to pay £25 per collection. He wasn't paying that just to get rid of an old ladder! Luckily he'd not given them our address, so he took it up to the council offices a couple of weeks later & just propped it up against their wall with a note on it saying "Thanks, John, for the loan. See you at work Monday" to make any council official or watcher who took a closer look think he was returning council property. Haven't seen it since.

It's the same nonsense with recycling. The recycling team will collect plastic etc, but only if it's in the green recycling box, so if there's too much of it & you leave it clearly visible next to or in front of the green box, they leave it behind. When I rang the council about it, they said if it's too much to fit in the recycling box then either put it in your grey bin (meaning it won't be recycled) or just keep some it for the following week. Who's going to do that? The reason you call it rubbish is because you don't want it in your home. If they're only going to make a half-a*sed commitment to recycling, they can't expect the residents to do any different.

OP, I totally understand your position & annoyance, but in this instance I think you're going to have to bear the cost, as the energy you're expending repeatedly phoning them & getting irritated is probably worth more than what it would cost to get it removed if you can't take it to a tip yourself. It's causing inconvenience to you, & all the griping at the council isn't going to get it moved quickly enough for your needs. You're learning the hard way to never give your address to councils unless you've got the answer to your enquiry first & still think you need their help.

macaque_2

Guy_Montag wrote: »

It costs, what? £10-20 to get it lifted by the council. Pay to get it moved & get on with your life. What's the alternative?

If you dump a fridge on Local Council property, you get fined £20,000. If you dump it in someone's garden, you are clear. We are becoming such a nasty society and the state has become more concerned about protecting its own interests than those of its citizens.

Becks045, this is very unjust but I'm afraid that Guy is right. For your own sanity, you would do well to stump up £20 and put this matter behind you.

clutton_2

pay to get it shifted and move on - sometimes life is not fair - deal with it, smile and take someone out for dinner !!!

telfordwhite

clutton wrote: »

pay to get it shifted and move on - sometimes life is not fair - deal with it, smile and take someone out for dinner !!!

Wise words but sometimes when a principle is at stake common sense goes out the window. The other day I had to pay £2.30 in a council car park to stay all day. I only had 3 quid and the machine doesn't give change (do they do this deliberately to rip us off?) there was nowhere to get change so I had to lose 70p.
The following day I was tempted to pay 70p less to pay all day with the intention of picking up a fine and fighting it on principle such was my annoyance. I didn't in the end.....

This is from someome who has got used to shelling out the odd 100 quid here and 200 quid there for apparently little service in attempting to move house so it's not as though i'm tight.

neilo

I had the same problem, was doing up a BTL and had a fridge dumped on my front path just pushed it outside to the side of the road not my stuff not my problem, it was gone next day don't know were it went.

sooz

seven-day-weekend wrote: »

If you can take it to your dad's, why not just take it to the tip??

What's a tip? We only have a community waste and recycling amenity site!

Actually, even though it's technically closer to me than my dad's place, it takes much much longer to get there. It's also a commercial one, so the queues are huge as they have to weigh lorries and vans.

zappomatic

My council (Southwark) will remove things like this for free. http://www.southwark.gov.uk/YourServices/environment/waste/BulkyCollections.html is an example of how it should be done as when the council will take things away for free there is no need to fly-tip or pay dodgy people to do it for you. Probably cheaper in the grand scheme of things!

macaque_2

thesaint wrote: »

So many posts about a fridge, definitely a 'slow news day' Wrong.

A fridge is dumped on Becks045 and if he/she fails to pay up for someone else's act of petty crime, the local council have threatened to hit Becks045 with a fine of £20,000. It may seem a trivial matter to you but it annoys the hell out me.

‘All that is necessary for the triumph of evil is that good men do nothing’

thesaint

macaque wrote: »

A fridge is dumped on Becks045 and if he/she fails to pay up for someone else's act of petty crime, the local council have threatened to hit Becks045 with a fine of £20,000. It may seem a trivial matter to you but it annoys the hell out me.

Becks may have been told that they 'May' get fined up to £20,000, but Becks045 wasn't told that they would be fined £20,000.

If it annoys you so much, why don't you go and move it? There has been all the advice given that can be given.

All those wanting some crusade need to set up a campaign and march to the House of Commons with a petition.

It reminds me of a thread a few months back where some geezer was complaining about some rubbish left in the garden by the vendor of a house he'd just purchased. (In fact this gives me an idea. )