Have an answer for missed garbage pick up on stat holidays for Cloverdale residents

Ah ha! I finally have an answer from the City of Surrey on what options are available for Cloverdale residents on missed garbage collection on statutory holidays when our pick up gets bumped to Saturday.

Harry Janda phoned to tell me they are going to implement one of my suggestions on their website and add the phone number for Emterra for missed pick ups on Saturdays. As he said even though no one at the City of Surrey is working on the weekend, Emterra is open and answering their phones and can dispatch a truck back for a missed pick up.

In the meantime he also suggested Cloverdale residents can phone him on his cell which he answers on weekends to assist residents 778-846-0597. His direct line at the city hall is 604-590-7208 but he's only at work on week days.

So I hope this helps for anyone in Cloverdale wondering what to do if for some reason the garbage truck misses your house to pick up the garbage can.

I still don't have an answer on the city's 10 days reponse time to their website's form and I'm still waiting for a response. Mr Janda does agree that 10 days is unacceptable and doesn't know why this has fallen through the cracks, though its probably what I suspect and that the city staff figures a missed garbage collection is going to resolve itself within the week the next time the truck swings by.

Our Tax Dollars at Work?

On Saturday July 2 I posted about a missed garbage pick even though the garbage can was out at the curb well ahead of scheduled pick up time.

Without rehashing my last post too much, I phoned the city's hotline to report the missed garbage pick up. No one was answering it on a long weekend. There was no option to leave a message on an answering machine. Only a warning that if you don't report a missed garbage pick up within 24 hours they won't be able to arrange another pick up.

Whenever there is a stat holiday in the week garbage and recycling is bounced a day back. For Cloverdale residents who get pick up on Fridays that means our pick up is on Saturday. Seeing as how city hall is closed on weekends it is a physical impossibility for Cloverdale residents to report a missed pick up within 24 hours.

I filled out their complaint form on their web page on July 2 and received an automated response that someone from the city would respond in 10 days.

Today is July 16, 2 weeks later, and I am still waiting for a response.

Our tax dollars at work!

I suppose the person at the City of Surrey decided that our garbage would be picked up the next Friday and seeing as how its 2 weeks later and there have been 2 garbage pick ups since then the problem has resolved itself.

Actually the problem resolved itself on Sunday July 3 when we took the garbage can to the dump in Port Kells, Wastech. I wasn't going to have a garbage can sitting out all week.

10 days response time is unacceptable to me for any business involved in customer service. Certainly by close of the next business day is the bare minimum most companies should strive for in providing acceptable response times.

I have now sent an email to Darryl McCarron who is the Manager of Marketing and Communications at the City of Surrey.

I have let him know I am still waiting a response from the city and have asked him if he thinks 2 weeks plus is an acceptable response time.

I have also asked him what options are available to Cloverdale residents whose garbage and waste pick up is missed on a stat weekend.

So now I wait and see if I get a response for him.

Will keep you posted!

Why Didn't You Empty My Garbage Can?

Garbage, recycling, and garden waste is picked up in Cloverdale on Fridays. Unless there is a stat holiday during the week and then its picked up one day later - on Saturday.

The company who has the Surrey contract for waste management is Emterra.

We live on a corner lot and have 2 driveways. I put my garbage can, recycle bin, and garden waste on one driveway and my tenant puts her garbage can and recycle bin on the other driveway. No need for garden waste on that driveway because I put all the garden waste on my driveway.

Yesterday - Friday July 1 - my tenant put her garbage and recycle out a day early. I called down to her and reminded her it was a stat and the garbagemen weren't picking up until Saturday. Oh well. At least she wasn't the only one in the neighborhood forgetting the stat and putting out a day ahead.

This morning - Saturday July 2 - I put my garbage can, my recycle bin, and 2 garden waste bins on my driveway which is a side street. No exit road, about 15 houses down there.

Our recycling is always picked up first, then the garbage, and usually the garden waste doesn't get picked up until later in the afternoon. They have odd routes. They seem to go down one side of the road collecting and then the other side, and they go off the side strees as they come to them.

When I came back from walking the dogs I saw the garbage truck. In fact they were blocking the roadway picking up the garbage from the house across the street. They had about 6 garbage bags and garbage cans. A little excessive. I believe each house is allowed 2. No matter. The garbageman took them all and then went down the side street.

We went out then and were gone for several hours. By the time I got home clearly the entire neighborhood's garbage and recycling were done but the garden waste hadn't picked up yet. I grabbed my empty garbage can and recycle box and put them away and then went to get my tentant's. To my surprise the garbage can was still full. What's going on? The can was at the curb where it always is and nothing obstructed it. The recycle box had been emptied.

So I looked up the city of Surrey's website because I know there's a number you can call if your waste hasn't been picked up.

Here's the web page with the information.

Basically it says to call their hotline 604-590-7289 to report the problem but its not open on stat holidays. To further aggravate the problem it says if you don't report the missed collection within 24 hours you might be out of luck for getting the garbage rescheduled.

OK. I might not be good at math but seeing as how today - Saturday - was the scheduled pick up day and the city is closed on Sunday I won't be able to report the problem until Monday which puts me outside the 24 hour range. To make matters worse after sticking around on the phone long enough and listening to all their menu options, there is no option to leave a message on the answering machine.

I was forced to take the other option at filling out their online form for complaints so I did that.

I got an auto responder back on my email saying the problem could take up to 10 days to resolve.

Hunh? This is our tax dollars at work! And by the way, speaking of taxes they are due at city hall on Monday July 4. A 10 day response period is unacceptable. I would think most companies or government agencies should strive for a 4 hour response time or at the most 24 hours. Unacceptable!

10 days indeed! Our next scheduled pick up is next Friday - 6 days away. The problem will have hopefully resolved itself. In the meantime my yard looks slummy with a garbage can outside.

I will also phone in on Monday to city hall to let them know my garbage can is still sitting out at the curb. I will also try to find out what resolutions they have for Cloverdale residents whose collection is missed on Saturdays. It would seem logical that they would have a phone number on their website for Emterra where residents could call directly and say what's going on? My can was at the curb well in advance - and yes I think a day ahead of scheduled pick up is sufficient! - and your staff drove right past it. Well, I have to admit I did not see them drive right past it. I didn't see them at all other than picking up the across the street bags and cans and then go down the side street.

This is the first time we've had a missed collection other than a couple of years ago when Surrey switched to Emterra on January 1 and it took about 3 weeks for them to get all the garbage collected.

I'll post an update after I've spoken with the city staff.

Walking around the block

I notice something unusual just about every time I take the dogs for a walk around Cloverdale. Today its Friday, normally garbage and recyling pick up day in Cloverdale. Due to the Good Friday holiday there is no garbage service today. They bump it back a day when a holiday falls in the week, so our pick up will be tomorrow, Saturday. This not unusual. Almost every month has one stat holiday so everyone should know the routine.

Today is a blustery day in Cloverdale. I checked the weather network and the winds are 30km gusting up to 50km. It wasn't real windy first thing this morning but picked up around noon.

There are a lot of households who put out their garbage and recycling even though collection isn't until tomorrow. There are a lot of garbage cans rolling around sideways and garbage can lids skidding down the road. Not to mention contents of garbage cans and recycle boxes littered everywhere.

I realize a lot of people, especially in the service industry, are working today, so out of habit they may have put their garbage out and left for work not thinking anything of it, forgetting that its a stat holiday because they're working and it wasn't windy this morning. A lot of people are at home too and completely oblivious to what is happening with their garbage cans.

I mowed the lawn yesterday and filled 3 garbage cans with lawn trimmings for the garden waste recycling. I don't have them out at the curb, they're in my yard. With bricks on the lids holding them down.

The most unusual thing I've seen today is the man 4 houses down who is power washing. The overspray is getting carried everywhere in the wind. I'm not sure what he has that is so dirty that absolutely had to be power washed today. We own 2 power washers, industrial sized, used in our business, and we would not power wash in this weather. I also would not power wash in monsoon rains even if it wasn't windy. Ideal conditions for power washing are when its raining a bit, or is scheduled to start raining sometime after the job is done so the rain helps wash away the debris that the power washing loosened up.

Meanwhile the weather forecast shows it will be windy again tomorrow morning. I might just leave the lids off all the garbage cans before I set them out at the curb.

Cloverdale Monsoon Friday January 15

Doesn't it figure that the windiest, rainiest days happen in Cloverdale on Fridays - the day we're scheduled for garbage and recycling pick up?

I got my garbage can and blue recycle box out early this morning but neither one of them is full or heavy enough to hold it down in the storm. After running into the street to pick up my recycle box and having to pick up my garbage can, I weighed both of them down with bricks. But I see garbage cans and blue boxes all over the street, or more accurately blowing across the street and ending up in a neighbor's yard.

Fortunately both our collections came early enough today and within minutes of each other that I was at home and able to bring the can and box back to safety.

A few months ago I lost a lid to one of my garden waste garbage cans in a furious wind storm. Even though I hunted the neighborhood looking for it, I didn't find it.

Here's hoping that it may blow back to my yard today. Or one just like it!