Man says council 'treated me like dirt' during bin woes

Littledown resident David Leclercq ordered and paid for a green waste bin - a fortnightly collection service costing £65.50 per bin per year.

He was only sent the bin and not the red waste sticker that should be attached to the bin to notify the binmen to collect it. 

So he then phoned up the council notifying staff there of the missing label, but was left unimpressed with his customer service. 

UNHAPPY: David's unwanted bin is left outside his house (Image: Daily Echo)

The retired project manager said: “When I phoned up the council I was told it would take five days for the label to come through. 

“But it never arrived so I again phoned them up and told them it hadn’t come, and the woman on the phone responded with ‘it will take six weeks to arrive’ - even though I was told five days. 

“I kept phoning them up saying all I wanted was my label for the bin and the woman on the phone said to me, in her words, that I’m not listening to her – she told me this a dozen times. 

“I did listen and to them and I was told it was five days.” 

Meanwhile, to ensure the green waste was collected, Mr Leclercq designed a makeshift sign of his own explaining that he had paid for the bin to be collected. 

He then escalated the matter: “I got in touch with Tobias Ellwood [MP for Bournemouth East] and asked him to investigate this. He got back to me and told me it was a communication problem between me and the council.” 

Eventually, Mr Leclercq was given his label and it was stuck to the bin – but when it arrived, it also came with yet another green bin. Since then, it has been left sat outside on the pavement by his house. 

“I didn’t want the extra bin,” he added. “This is an endemic problem within the council because they cannot get anything done or sorted out. 

“This is what upsets me: this is our money and it’s being wasted by those whose salaries we pay for. I’ve emailed them to and fro and the way they have treated me is disgusting – I’m over 80 years old and they’re treating me like this. 

“I know how these things work and with the council, it is endemic in the system, it’s out of control. I once had a team of 20 people working on fraud cases and we didn’t have a single complaint.” 

He added: “There is less and less service meanwhile the executives get more and more money. They are treating me like dirt.” 

BCP Council's spokeswoman apologised to Mr Leclercq over the misunderstandings and have arranged for his bin to be collected.

She said: “We have been in recent communication with Mr Leclercq and have apologised to him directly over the misunderstandings around his green bin requirements.

“Our teams manage the administration of approximately 50,000 green bins every year, and regrettably occasional errors are made.”

“We appreciate his frustration at the situation. He has now received the bin sticker and the removal of the extra bin is taking place on Monday.”