By Brendan Rees
An elderly resident has declared war with Casey Council over their failure to pick up his bin, sending them a $20 bill.
Allan Mills of Cranbourne says he was at the end of his tether “dealing with idiots” from council with what he thought would be a simple reimbursement.
He says he “thought it was strange” when his wheelie bin went uncollected at the front of his Campbell Parade home on Thursday 3 May.
“I told my wife and she told me to leave it out,” he said.
As days passed and the bin remained uncollected, Mr Mills decided to take a trip to the Hampton Park Transfer Station where he forked out a $20 fee to have the bin emptied.
“I have since sent emails to Casey Council and received from their representative’s emails refusing to pay the reimbursement,” he said.
Mr Mills, 72, says an email from council in June said they could not reimburse him because the “City of Casey did not direct you or authorise you to take the rubbish to the tip” nor did he “provide an opportunity to council or its contractor to rectify the situation.”
“I’m not arguing about the truck stopping, I’m arguing the fact that the bin was not emptied.”
Casey manager of waste and landfill management Michael Jansen said although “we understand that it’s frustrating when a bin collection is missed,” Mr Mills’ reimbursement claim had been refused.
“The resident did not contact council to advise of the missed collection or provide opportunity for council to rectify the situation before choosing to pay to use a private waste transfer station,” he said.
“City of Casey has a commitment to returning to empty an uncollected bin by the end of the next business day, once the missed service is reported to council.”
Mr Jansen said a letter was sent to Mr Mills with details of the internal ombudsman should he wish to have the decision reviewed.
Meanwhile, Mr Mills has written to the Victorian ombudsman to take action: “I’ll just keep making a fuss.”
Mr Mills believes one of the emails from council was “really rude” and “didn’t say sorry for the inconvenience nor can we help you.”
“I just can’t understand it…I worked out I’ve had six emails. It must have cost the council in wages about $700 to write back and tell me they’re not going to pay me $20.”
Residents can report a missed service within 48 hours via the online form on council’s website or by calling Customer Service Centre on 9705 5200.
There is no additional cost to Council or the resident to return for a missed collection.
