Greyhound Waste 2013 new charges may cost me over €200 more in 2013

BubbleBalls

quaalude wrote: »

It sure is a shame - I signed up with another provide (Oxigen) at over twice the cost of City Bin, just over a week ago, as it was the cheapest alternative to Greyhound I could find at the time. I'm sure I'm not the only one!

You are not - A mate of mine in work done exactly the same thing last week and is on the City Bin route so City Bin missed the boat on this one, otherwise that 5000 first come-first serve would have been used up by now. The fact they are on the scene will hopefully force GH and others to drop their prices for 2014. Also, once the new GH bills are received, customers seeing the increases may be determined to leave next year.

Yara Prehistoric Butler wrote: »

Check t&c. Refund after 1year with GH.

Fair play to you, thank you. I just have to ensure my cancellation is processed at the end of my contract Dec 31st - have emailed GH with that request. Even if €2 is left in my a/c I don't want them to have it, cheers.

Tom.D.BJJ wrote: »

I signed up for Citybin last Friday. On Saturday i received my new bins and a welcome pack which included a cancelation letter for Greyhound. My first bin was collected today.

very happy with the service. Dublin 9.

Happy days - never thought I'd be looking forward to getting bins, but that's a sign of the times, I suppose. To make sure GH does not get any extra money from me it looks like I'll have 6 bins for the next 4 weeks!

BubbleBalls

This is the response I have received from the NCA after I rang and emailed them.

Thank you for contacting the National Consumer Agency (NCA) with your
> query regarding pricing with Greyhound.
>
> European Communities (Requirements to Indicate Product Prices)
> Regulations
> 2002 requires that all goods that are on sale to consumers must show a
> selling price of the good and where required a unit price in Euro,
> however this legislation does not apply to traders offering a service.
> Therefore, Greyhound would not be obliged under consumer legislation
> to display a cost of a service. It would be deemed good business
> practice to make a consumer aware of their prices before deciding
> whether or not to avail of their services.
>
> It is our understanding that you have spoken to us over the phone in
> relation to your concerns about the information that they have
> outlined on their leaflets and the letter (that they are automatically
> opting existing customers into a specific price plan). As a result, we
> have referred the issues you raise to our Commercial practices
> Division (CPD) for further examination as a possible breach of the Consumer Protection Act, 2007.
>
> In order for us to examine this further, if you could send the leaflet
> and also the letter to our email ask@nca.ie quoting reference number: XXXX

We wish to thank you again for taking the time to bring this matter to
> our attention. Our Commercial Practices Division will examine the
> issue raised in the context of general consumer detriment and will
> take whatever follow up action (if any) is necessary and within our
> available resources. In this regard, our focus is to examine the
> commercial practices of traders to ensure compliance with the
> legislation for the benefit of all consumers rather than pursuing a trader on behalf of individual consumers.
>
> We hope you have found this information useful and if you have any
> further consumer related queries please do not hesitate to contact us
> on 1890 432 432 or 01 4025555

ezra_pound

Yara Prehistoric Butler wrote: »

Check t&c. Refund after 1year with GH.

Are you sure? I just read terms and understood no refund if canceled within 1 year of contract. Also at the end of terms there is a 45 euro cancellation fee. Am I incorrect?

I'm in d5 and signed up to city bins on Friday. Got bins Sunday and black bin collected Monday. Very impressed with service. Have sixty euro left in greyhound account and was going to just let it run out over 3 months @ 23 euro pm but having read terms now gonna cancel as soon as possible due to cancellation fee.

BubbleBalls

"10.5 Any credit balance in the Customer’s account will be forfeit and will not be refunded in the event that the contract is terminated by the Customer within the 12 month period."

"TERMINATION:

12. Termination of this contract by the Customer, for any reason, within the 12 month period, will result in administration charges and/or Bin recovery charges, in the sum of €45.00, being charged to the Customer. Termination of the contract must be done so by the account holder in writting, by post or email.

13. GRR reserves the right to terminate this contract at any time. On termination of this contract, GRR reserves the right, without notice to the Customer, to take possession of the Bins and the Customer agrees with GRR that GRR may enter upon the premises upon which the Bins are stored for the purposes of recovery of the Bins.

14. These terms and conditions are legally binding for the duration of the contract."

Basically, and not unexpectedly, you are screwed if you cancel within your 12 month contract period. If you can time your cancellation you will avoid these charges. In my case signing to City bin while running out the GH contract will save me a huge amount. My contract ends in Dec - I have mailed GH to NOT renew the contract. I was clear that I do not want to cancel the service - I simply do not want to renew it.

Will post their reply,

BubbleBalls

"10.5 Any credit balance in the Customer’s account will be forfeit and will not be refunded in the event that the contract is terminated by the Customer within the 12 month period."

"TERMINATION:

12. Termination of this contract by the Customer, for any reason, within the 12 month period, will result in administration charges and/or Bin recovery charges, in the sum of €45.00, being charged to the Customer. Termination of the contract must be done so by the account holder in writting, by post or email.

13. GRR reserves the right to terminate this contract at any time. On termination of this contract, GRR reserves the right, without notice to the Customer, to take possession of the Bins and the Customer agrees with GRR that GRR may enter upon the premises upon which the Bins are stored for the purposes of recovery of the Bins.

14. These terms and conditions are legally binding for the duration of the contract."

Basically, and not unexpectedly, you are screwed if you cancel within your 12 month contract period. If you can time your cancellation you will avoid these charges. In my case signing to City bin while running out the GH contract will save me a huge amount. My contract ends in Dec - I have mailed GH to NOT renew the contract. I was clear that I do not want to cancel the service - I simply do not want to renew it.

Will post their reply,

quaalude

Tom.D.BJJ wrote: »

I signed up for Citybin last Friday. On Saturday i received my new bins and a welcome pack which included a cancelation letter for Greyhound. My first bin was collected today.

very happy with the service. Dublin 9.

Wow, I am jealous - I signed with Oxigen 10 days ago and they've not yet given me new bins, plus collection day was today so I won't have a bin collection for two more weeks now.
Today, I am trying to cancel Oxigen and get City Bin instead as I can't manage the all my rubbish without bins

goz83

Oxigen delivered an extra black and green bin to me when they separately delivered the brown bin. That was about 2 weeks ago. Seems they're a bit overwhelmed with all the new business according to the rep I spoke to. Last night I got a to tell me to leave the extra bins out to be taken away. Hopefully they will be gone by the time I get back from work.

quaalude

goz83 wrote: »

Oxigen delivered an extra black and green bin to me when they separately delivered the brown bin. That was about 2 weeks ago. Seems they're a bit overwhelmed with all the new business according to the rep I spoke to.

Maybe those bins were meant for me!
I just rang up and cancelled - I couldn't see another way, as they'd no ETA on bins for me.
Hopefully City Bin will get bins out to me quickly.

quaalude

quaalude wrote: »

Maybe those bins were meant for me!
I just rang up and cancelled - I couldn't see another way, as they'd no ETA on bins for me.
Hopefully City Bin will get bins out to me quickly.

Just a follow-up for those thinking of switching to City Bin - I signed up with them Thursday 6th, and got my bins Tuesday 11th - so very happy so far.

markiemark2005

Greyhound are now charging €9 for 6 recycling bags that used to be free, they have said that they will only collect Greyhound branded bags. I just bought my own clear bags and will leave the rubbish out for collection, if they dont collect it I presume the council will have to deal with it. I suggest others do the same.

slimjimmc

markiemark2005 wrote: »

Greyhound are now charging €9 for 6 recycling bags that used to be free, they have said that they will only collect Greyhound branded bags. I just bought my own clear bags and will leave the rubbish out for collection, if they dont collect it I presume the council will have to deal with it. I suggest others do the same.

I think you presume wrong.

You might also fall foul of the Household Waste Bye-Laws by putting waste out in an in-appropriate container.
And since you've already been told that only Greyhound bags will be collected you now have a fair idea your bags are not appropriate.

3.2 A holder shall only present waste for collection in an appropriate waste container and shall deposit no other waste for collection in a waste container other than that fraction of waste applicable to that container.

BubbleBalls

Several mails from Greyhound. First stating that my balance will not be returned as per 10.5. I pointed out that one applies within the first year. Again asked that I simply do not want to renew my contract so to avoid the exit charge and avoid loosing my outstanding balance. The guy said he will forward details to accounts dep on Dec 31st but has still not confirmed the exact process. So I still wait to see if they refund.

On another note - the city bins were delivered 4 days after sign up and my first lift happened on Tuesday - as Citybin advertised I received a text on Monday evening and the bin was put back where I had originally left it, unlike previously with GH when the bin was regularly half way up the road.

Now I notice a distinct improvement in GH. From last week all bins were left in front of the respective houses and I received a text this week asking if I would like text notifications going forward.

I think this means they are worried and hopefully signifies that many people are moving from them. I have never seen bins returned to their houses before and believe the owners of GH have shown contempt to us this year by trying to sneak in new pricing structures.

These little gestures are too little, too late and it still does not hide the sheer rip off of their new prices for 2013.

uck51js9zml2yt

BubbleBalls wrote: »

Several mails from Greyhound. First stating that my balance will not be returned as per 10.5. I pointed out that one applies within the first year. Again asked that I simply do not want to renew my contract so to avoid the exit charge and avoid loosing my outstanding balance. The guy said he will forward details to accounts dep on Dec 31st but has still not confirmed the exact process. So I still wait to see if they refund.
.

I've heard nothing back. I'll phone them Monday.
Small Claims Court here I come if they break their own T&C's

BubbleBalls

While people here have been happy with CityBin, it appears others have not

http://www.newstalk.ie/reader/47.301.341/4021/0/

L1011

Despite the fact that one of their drivers nearly killed me by swinging out from Lomans and using two lanes of the N4 to do so, it wasn't me :pac:

€99 has to be below the cost of operating the service - how much is this likely to rise to next year?

BubbleBalls

MYOB wrote: »

Despite the fact that one of their drivers nearly killed me by swinging out from Lomans and using two lanes of the N4 to do so, it wasn't me :pac:

€99 has to be below the cost of operating the service - how much is this likely to rise to next year?

lol

After next year the price is €15 per month for the same service, though a Fair Usage Policy kicks in - 30c for each KG above the yearly allowance of 500KG for grey bin waste. For my household, so far this year, I estimate less than 400kg so this actually seems fair. And that price is guaranteed by Citybin until 2015.

€99 may not be profitable (I have no idea) but it is getting them noticed. And even if I already tied myself to Oxigen for 2013, Citybin would still be in my mind next year.

At €15 per month it would still be cheaper than this years bill.

goz83

BubbleBalls wrote: »

While people here have been happy with CityBin, it appears others have not

http://www.newstalk.ie/reader/47.301.341/4021/0/

Maybe it was GH

BubbleBalls wrote: »

lol

After next year the price is €15 per month for the same service, though a Fair Usage Policy kicks in - 30c for each KG above the yearly allowance of 500KG for grey bin waste. For my household, so far this year, I estimate less than 400kg so this actually seems fair. And that price is guaranteed by Citybin until 2015.

€99 may not be profitable (I have no idea) but it is getting them noticed. And even if I already tied myself to Oxigen for 2013, Citybin would still be in my mind next year.

At €15 per month it would still be cheaper than this years bill.

500kg annually is pretty small I reckon, but if that's all some are producing, I raise my hand to high them. Ours would be 3 times that for the black bin I think per annum.

BubbleBalls

goz83 wrote: »

Maybe it was GH



500kg annually is pretty small I reckon, but if that's all some are producing, I raise my hand to high them. Ours would be 3 times that for the black bin I think per annum.

You could be right. I based that on my GH online weights, and not all of them are available, so I averaged the ones that are there across the year.

I hope Citybin have my weights on the their site so I can see the actuals from now on. We do recycle as much as possible.

Gangster movie stuff if waste companies start burning out rivals, eh?

olaola

We go PAYG with Oxigen, €14 a lift. I'd say we'd put them out less than once a month. So it's a good deal, no standing charge.

You get a text the night before your bins are to be collected. I didn't realise this, but you also have to top up your card 24 hours before lift. I topped up online Friday morning before the bin truck came that day. I contacted them today to say the bins weren't collected. They told me it was because my account was not in credit (didn't hit it until Sat) but they rang me back to tell me to leave the bins out tomrw, and they'll send a truck around to collect them.

I'm impressed with customer service. You can always get someone via the onlinen chat/phone or email. Recommend them!

chasm

Regarding "Greyhound", the NCA just announced this on their FB page (link to their website):

""Greyhound agrees to change consumer contracts and make refunds
Among the terms considered unfair by the NCA are that consumers must forfeit their credit balance and pay a €45 administration fee, if they cancel their contract with Greyhound within 12 months. If you were charged money in these circumstances, Greyhound has agreed to refund you.

Greyhound will communicate these changes to all of its consumers by 18 January 2013. If you have any questions about the changes or getting a refund, you should contact Greyhound directly.

http://www.nca.ie/index.jsp?p=100&n=101&a=968

ezra_pound

chasm wrote: »

Regarding "Greyhound", the NCA just announced this on their FB page (link to their website):

""Greyhound agrees to change consumer contracts and make refunds
Among the terms considered unfair by the NCA are that consumers must forfeit their credit balance and pay a €45 administration fee, if they cancel their contract with Greyhound within 12 months. If you were charged money in these circumstances, Greyhound has agreed to refund you.

Greyhound will communicate these changes to all of its consumers by 18 January 2013. If you have any questions about the changes or getting a refund, you should contact Greyhound directly.

http://www.nca.ie/index.jsp?p=100&n=101&a=968

Thanks NCA.The xxxtxxds would have taken over 60 euro off me.

Just in time for xmas!

goz83

ezra_pound wrote: »

Just in time for xmas!

Well it might be until February that you get it back, but at least you will get it back. Doubt it'll be easy though.

tk123

:mad: €7 was left on our account - supposed to cover our last lift and we sign up to citybin..came back this morning and the bin wasn't collected..we now owe them €52.95 - I'm assuming they've signed us up to some new contract but gave up trying to find out after being in the queue 20 mins! :rolleyes::mad:

goz83

tk123 wrote: »

:mad: €7 was left on our account - supposed to cover our last lift and we sign up to citybin..came back this morning and the bin wasn't collected..we now owe them €52.95 - I'm assuming they've signed us up to some new contract but gave up trying to find out after being in the queue 20 mins! :rolleyes::mad:

That sound like they took €7 off the €59.95 yearly fee and have you on Plan 1. They didn't collect your bins, because in their warped minds, they don't owe you €7. You owe them €52.95 + a minimum top up (€20 i think) before they will resum service. LOL.

Did you not email them to cancel your service? It seems very wrong though that they signed you up for a new year, just because you didn't contact them. The right thing for them to do, is to only sign those up who paid their annual charge and leave the rest of the people to do whatever they like. I suspect this is just a way for them to keep any credit balances people had in their account and also make a killing on debts.

It's only just beginning. I cancelled my account. Told them to wait until the full year was out before closing my account. Think I have €1 left, so no big deal.

tk123

goz83 wrote: »

That sound like they took €7 off the €59.95 yearly fee and have you on Plan 1. They didn't collect your bins, because in their warped minds, they don't owe you €7. You owe them €52.95 + a minimum top up (€20 i think) before they will resum service. LOL.

Did you not email them to cancel your service? It seems very wrong though that they signed you up for a new year, just because you didn't contact them. The right thing for them to do, is to only sign those up who paid their annual charge and leave the rest of the people to do whatever they like. I suspect this is just a way for them to keep any credit balances people had in their account and also make a killing on debts.

It's only just beginning. I cancelled my account. Told them to wait until the full year was out before closing my account. Think I have €1 left, so no big deal.

No I didn't contact them at all! I was holding out until the new year to use up that last lift and not have a crossover between the two services . At least it's cold and the dog has being pooping on our walks- the poos are in the bin in the park and not house bin so it's not stinking and gross! :pac:

goz83

tk123 wrote: »

No I didn't contact them at all! I was holding out until the new year to use up that last lift and not have a crossover between the two services . At least it's cold and the dog has being pooping on our walks- the poos are in the bin in the park and not house bin so it's not stinking and gross! :pac:

If I were you, I would contact them to say that you did not pay an annual charge and therefore did not opt for another year of their services. Further to that, demand a refund of the €7, which was not used.

slimjimmc

tk123 wrote: »

No I didn't contact them at all! I was holding out until the new year to use up that last lift and not have a crossover between the two services . At least it's cold and the dog has being pooping on our walks- the poos are in the bin in the park and not house bin so it's not stinking and gross! :pac:

It's common for service contracts to contain a clause stating that the contract will continue in effect after the minimum period (e.g. 12 mths) until you cancel in advance and in the manner stated in the T&Cs. If that's the case you may be still under contract and liable for fees.

Cancel now in the proper manner but don't be surprised if you may have to pay for the months where they provided the service even though you may not have used it.

goz83

slimjimmc wrote: »

It's common for service contracts to contain a clause stating that the contract will continue in effect after the minimum period (e.g. 12 mths) until you cancel in advance and in the manner stated in the T&Cs. If that's the case you may be still under contract and liable for fees.

Cancel now in the proper manner but don't be surprised if you may have to pay for the months where they provided the service even though you may not have used it.

It is common, but does not apply in this case. There is no clause that I can see, which allows Greyhound to roll over a service contract. In fact, their terms and conditions seem to say otherwise. A section of their terms below:



CHARGES / PAYMENT:

10.1 The Customer will be notified by GRR whether an annual service charge applies (They did this in the letter they sent to everyone) in respect of the Service and the amount of that annual service charge. Payment of the annual service charge will be made in advance by the Customer (customer made no advance service charge payment) and the Customer will be notified of any renewal / payment date at least twenty (20) days prior to the payment being due, along with any change to the rates being charged by GRR for the Service.

10.2 The Customer will be notified by GRR of the manner in which charges and rates shall apply to the Service from time to time.

10.3 The rates / charges (to include the annual service charge), chargeable in respect of the Service provided by GRR, will be reviewed periodically and the cost / rates / charges in respect of the Service to the Customer may change. Payment for the Service must be prepaid (again, customer paid no service charge). Payment may be made by credit/debit/laser card at your local post office, online, by phone or by automated top-up service.

tk123

They sent a text this evening saying they couldn't lift the bin, pay up and they'll collect on fri - so we're obviously not the only ones in the area who are in the same boat (next door's wasn't lifted either). The account is in my dads name so he's going to call them tomorrow and see what they say - he "thinks he remembers getting a letter off them but forgot about it" :rolleyes: This i why I took over and signed up with citybin in my name lol :P

goz83

Doesn't matter if they sent a letter (which was totally misleading by the way). They say you must pay in advance. No payment was made for their service charge, so a contract does not exist by their own terms and conditions.