Poll on Greyhound Recycling Plans. What Plan were you put on? GH customers only.

goz83

NOTE: This Poll is only asking about the default Plan you were put on. It is not asking which plan you chose.

I am conducting a little bit of research about the claims that Greyhound Recycling are making in their customer letter and over the phone. The claim is that different households have been put on different plans. Not all areas have the same number of plans, but every area has "Plan 1", which is an upfront annual fee, plus a pay per lift fee.

Have you been put onto Plan 1 by default, or were you given a different plan by default.

Select either: PLAN 1, or Other Default Plan.

If there was a monthly plan available (even if it was not the default selection). What was the monthly fee being requested?

goz83

How much will you have spent in 2012 on your bins? How much will you likely spend on your default Plan 1? Find out below.

How to get the full cost of a black bin lift on Plan 1.

Take the average weight of your black bin and take 25 away from that figure.
Multiply the figure by 0.33.
Add 6.5 to the result and you have your average lift fee. Add this by the number of lifts per year (26) and don't forget to add your annual fee if you haven't already.

How to get the full cost of a Brown bin lift on Plan 1.

Take the average weight of your Brown bin and take 20 away from that figure.
Multiply the figure by 0.24.
Add 3.6 to the result and you have your average lift fee. Add this by the number of lifts per year (26) and don't forget to add your annual fee if you haven't already.


Example sum based on average bin weight (my household) Donaghmede Plan 1. Our 2012 domestic waste costed just under €300 paid January to December, including the €100 service charge.

Black bin weight of 65kg.
Weight restriction of 25kg with a 33cent charge per kilo over.

65 less 25 = 40.
40 X 0.33 = 13.2 + 6.5 (first 25kg) = 19.7 X 26 = €512.20.


Brown bin weight of 40kg.
Weight restriction of 20kg with a 24cent charge per kilo over.

40 less 20 = 20.
20 X 0.24 = 4.8 + 3.6 (first 20kg) = 8.4 X 26 = €218.40.

512.20 + 218.40 = 730.60 + 59.95 (annual service charge) = €790.55.

That's somewhat higher than the 2012 prices for a recommended Plan 1. Based on my household and running off the average weights, it is not at all possible to make any savings as Greyhound Recycling suggested in their letter.

Disclaimer: The figures above are based on the average lift weights of the bins at my household in Donaghmede. Some people will not use a brown bin at all, but you must then keep in mind that the kilos taken from the Brown bin (unless composted) will end up in your Black bin, which will result in a heavier Black bin. Greyhound Recycling have given different prices to different areas in Dublin, for reasons not given in their letter, or by phone, or email. It may be possible to save money on the new plans, if your domestic waste is minimal and you fall below the weight restriction threshholds.

quaalude

goz83 wrote: »

NOTE:
Select either: PLAN 1, or Other Default Plan.

If there was a monthly plan available (even if it was not the default selection). What was the monthly fee being requested?

Plan 1 voted for in poll.

There was a monthly plan available - €19 was the monthly fee being requested.
--
Other info that might be of interest:
€250 was the plan 3 annual fee.
I am in Dublin 4. I emailed them about their pricing inconsistencies across Dublin, twice, and neither received a reply.
I intend to leave at the end of the year, for Oxigen.

goz83

Cheers for info. Very helpful.

I just switched to Oxigen 5 minutes ago.

€60 for 3 months of black & green bin lifts.

I opted for the brown bin at €12 per lift, because we are set on recycling, even if it costs us more. Total payment made was €96, but could have been as low as €60 without brown bin.

Gloomtastic!

We were quoted option 1 as well even though all our black bins collected this year have had a zero weight listed on our account. So we cannot calculate what the charges will be next year.

When queried about this, Greyhound assured us that it would be fixed from the next lift but it hasn't been. No response yet from an email sent three days ago about the problem.

MOH

Plan 1. Although that does work out cheapest for us, and saves us about a tenner on last year.

Monthly fee was 15, Annual 175 - which makes the annual option a bit pointless, since with the monthly you're keeping your options open.

We've the same problem where all the black bin weight charges bar the last are shown as 0, although I remember thinking the bin was pretty heavy last time compared to usual, and it was still under the limit.

I've just noticed something though. The OP has a slight error in the calculations

On the weight charges, for both 'Pay by weight' and the excess charges for 'Pay by lift', the charges on the sheet I got are clearly stated as e.g. .33c per kilo.

€0.33 or 33c would be 33 cents.
But 0.33c is a third of a cent.

And given they've gone to the trouble of phrasing it in that odd way, I'm choosing to believe that's exactly what they meant.

goz83

MOH wrote: »

Plan 1. Although that does work out cheapest for us, and saves us about a tenner on last year.

Monthly fee was 15, Annual 175 - which makes the annual option a bit pointless, since with the monthly you're keeping your options open.

We've the same problem where all the black bin weight charges bar the last are shown as 0, although I remember thinking the bin was pretty heavy last time compared to usual, and it was still under the limit.

I've just noticed something though. The OP has a slight error in the calculations

On the weight charges, for both 'Pay by weight' and the excess charges for 'Pay by lift', the charges on the sheet I got are clearly stated as e.g. .33c per kilo.

€0.33 or 33c would be 33 cents.
But 0.33c is a third of a cent.

And given they've gone to the trouble of phrasing it in that odd way, I'm choosing to believe that's exactly what they meant.

Thanks for your post.

The advertised rate is ".33c" which is a third of a cent as I understand it. However, Greyhound have repeatedly confirmed that the price per additional kilo is NOT one third of a cent and IS actually 33cent per kilo. Please feel free to confirm this error with Greyhound Recyling directly by calling 1890989101.

Once you have confirmed this. Can you post back here with your 2012 domestic waste charges and then your estimated charges with Plan 1 for 2013?

The reason I contacted Greyhound Recycling in the first place was to confirm the .33c figure.

goz83

I notice 1 member voted "other plan" so far.

If you vote "other plan", can you give details of the plan Greyhound Recycling put you on? Remember, this is not the plan you, the customer selected, but the plan you would be on if you didn't ring Greyhound to change your plan.

An photo/scan would be great if you have the time too. The default plan is on page 3 of the 4 page letter sent to customers. The selected plan is on the left side, centre of page 3, written in WHITE text, highlighted by RED box.

Gloomtastic!

Gloomtastic! wrote: »

We were quoted option 1 as well even though all our black bins collected this year have had a zero weight listed on our account. So we cannot calculate what the charges will be next year.

When queried about this, Greyhound assured us that it would be fixed from the next lift but it hasn't been. No response yet from an email sent three days ago about the problem.

Got a reply this afternoon saying that from Dec 1 all bin trucks will be able to weigh bins! That's reassuring.

On another note they also confirmed that any money held on account would not be refunded fully. Got to look through their T&Cs to find out what penalties they impose.

goz83

Gloomtastic! wrote: »

Got a reply this afternoon saying that from Dec 1 all bin trucks will be able to weigh bins! That's reassuring.

On another note they also confirmed that any money held on account would not be refunded fully. Got to look through their T&Cs to find out what penalties they impose.

But they still recommended Plan 1, based on their analysis of your bin weights over 2012 to date :pac:

FreshCoffee

An elderly relative in the Dublin (South) City area was on the waiver scheme (no annual charge, just a pay per lift charge per the old Dublin Council waiver scheme). This will expire on Dec 31st. He got a letter in October from Greyhound saying they had decided not to terminate the waiver scheme and to introduce a new scheme for waiver customers. The letter says the new scheme is "hugely attractive" (sic.)! They would move him to plan 1.

The Greyhound letter gives three plans:

Plan 1, Pay by lift. €49.95 per year.
Plus €4.90/3.50 Black/Brown lift charge.
Plus weight charge:
Black bin at 33c/Kg over 25Kg
Brown bin at 24c/Kg over 20Kg

Plan 2, Pay per month. €15.00 per month.
No lift charge.
No weight charge.

Plan 3, Pay by weight, €49.95 per year.
No lift charge.
Plus weight charge:
Black bin at 26c/Kg over 25Kg
Brown bin at 19c/Kg over 20Kg


His neighbor uses Thornton's. From their website:

€50 per year.
€8.50 Black lift charge
€4.50 Brown lift charge.
No weight charge.

I called Greyhound to see if they had a record of his bin weights so I could estimate total cost but they couldn't give me that. He only puts full bins out occasionally. Estimating from bin weights others quote (>50Kg) would indicate that Thornton's service would be far more attractive so he will move to that from January.
BTW all above plans include Green bin lifts.

(Voted for Plan 1)

The Greyhound letter is very cleverly constructed. Sadly I think many people, especially pensioners are going to get a shock next year when they see the lift charges plus weight charges as many are used to filling their bins to the very top to minimize the charge.

goz83

FreshCoffee wrote: »

An elderly relative in the Dublin (South) City area was on the waiver scheme (no annual charge, just a pay per lift charge per the old Dublin Council waiver scheme). This will expire on Dec 31st. He got a letter in October from Greyhound saying they had decided not to terminate the waiver scheme and to introduce a new scheme for waiver customers. The letter says the new scheme is "hugely attractive" (sic.)! They would move him to plan 1.

The Greyhound letter gives three plans:

Plan 1, Pay by lift. €49.95 per year.
Plus €4.90/3.50 Black/Brown lift charge.
Plus weight charge:
Black bin at 33c/Kg over 25Kg
Brown bin at 24c/Kg over 20Kg..

Am I reading this correctly? €4.90 for black bin and €3.50 for brown? This is yet another price difference, but not just on plans, it's on the cost of lifts within the plans. My letter said €6.50 for black bin and €3.60 for brown bin.

I now believe that every customer is getting charged based on what Greyhound believe they can get away with. While I don't have enough evidence (yet) to prove this, it certainly looks that way for me.

How on earth can they say they are not getting rid of the waiver scheme, when they clearly have? They are introducing an annual charge for those who previously had the waiver scheme. Shame on you Greyhound Recycling, Shame on you! Shame on the government for allowing it to happen. Not even one year has passed and look at what is happening to our domestic waste collection service.

Gloomtastic!

Interesting conversation with a friend who knows the ins and outs of Greyhound.

Black bin charges went up from €6 to €7 due to government increase in landfill charges. Ask Greyhound how much they send to landfill........

goz83

And they're dropping black bin charges from €7 to €6.50 for my HH and the brown goes from €2 to €3.60. Even if there were no overweight charges, it would still be more expensive for anyone who recycles.

I got my black and green bin delivered from oxigen today. No sign of the brown bin, but it's a separate account number for that, so I will ring to see tomorrow what the story is there.

I have €7 left on my GH account, so I plan to keep the account open for now and will let them collect the brown bin another 3 times @ €2 per lift, which not only depletes the balance to €1....it also saves us on the brown bin charges from oxigen, which are €12 per lift. A must for the die hard recyclers, who dont have a garden suitable for the use of compost.

Gloomtastic!

goz83 wrote: »

And they're dropping black bin charges from €7 to €6.50 for my HH and the brown goes from €2 to €3.60. Even if there were no overweight charges, it would still be more expensive for anyone who recycles.

I got my black and green bin delivered from oxigen today. No sign of the brown bin, but it's a separate account number for that, so I will ring to see tomorrow what the story is there.

I have €7 left on my GH account, so I plan to keep the account open for now and will let them collect the brown bin another 3 times @ €2 per lift, which not only depletes the balance to €1....it also saves us on the brown bin charges from oxigen, which are €12 per lift. A must for the die hard recyclers, who dont have a garden suitable for the use of compost.

But come the €100 annual service charge in January, that €7 is gone! How many brown bins till January?

goz83

Would usually put them out once a month. I think there are 3 more collections of brown bin this year. One on Friday week. One in first week of December and I would say one just before, or after Christmas. Hopefully after, because that will be a full bin of turkey juice and what not :pac:

goz83

Would really like to know what default plans the two people who so far voted on them have been put on, or if it was a misunderstanding, or if it was down to Greyhound interests. I have not personally come across anyone who was given a different plan in their letter. Not a single family member, or friend was put on a different plan. They have all moved from Greyhound now.

goz83

bump. Just 2 more days left on this poll. Received letter this morning from Tom Brabazon who has been campaigning on this matter. He noted the misleading letters by Greyhound Recycling and the lies about the maintenance of the waiver scheme. According to him, (and from what I am interpreting) Phil Hogan is being evasive on this and has been since January. So Phil must have known about this since then. More smoke and mirrors! Tom issued a press release on it a while back.

Gloomtastic!

www.citybin.ie are offering €99 all-in annual fee to 1st 5000 customers to sign up. Black, Brown and Green bins. No weight restrictions in first year.

If you want to sign up for second year it's €15 per month. You're restricted to 500kg black bin waste a year though. If you go for the €99 deal there's no obligation to stay with them.

Just signed up here, seems like a no-brainer to me!

€99 deal is restricted to first 5000 sign-ups. Bloke on phone said they don't expect the 5000 to go before next week! I found that hard to believe or do people not give a damn?

Just posted the above in another Greyhound thread. Thought it might be of interest here as well........

goz83

Gloomtastic! wrote: »

Just posted the above in another Greyhound thread. Thought it might be of interest here as well........

Good intro for them. Have to check out the excesses here. 500kg when divided by 2 bin lifts per month (24 lifts) is a restriction of just over 20kg. That's less than Greyhound, but I don't know the penalties yet.

Edit: They charge 30c per kilo over. That makes them more expensive. I don't believe their 95% claims at all. But if you think you produce less than the 500kg per year, it's a good offer. If your average bin is 65kg, similar to mine, then your bill will be very expensive.

Gloomtastic!

Just been back on the citybin site. The 5000 counter hasn't gone down even though my neighbour and myself have both signed up. The customer service guy said it would still be available next week so it looks like this part is a wheez.

OU812

I was on to greyhound earlier. Their lift cost for the black bin is going to 6.50 per lift, but limited to 25kg. My bin is normally 60kg (lot of nappies). So have signed up for city bin

goz83

OU812 wrote: »

I was on to greyhound earlier. Their lift cost for the black bin is going to 6.50 per lift, but limited to 25kg. My bin is normally 60kg (lot of nappies). So have signed up for city bin

You're looking at about €290 extra if your average bin is 60kg. You're 40kg over per bin, if you break it down by bin lift. In other words, the €99 will get you 8 lifts of your grey/black bin before you exceed the 500kg restriction on lift 9. Looks like it's already falling apart

OU812

According to the website:

Are there any weight restrictions? There are no weight restrictions with the €99 deal. With the €15 per month plan you are subject to our Fair Usage Policy (FUP).

goz83

OU812 wrote: »

According to the website:

Are there any weight restrictions? There are no weight restrictions with the €99 deal. With the €15 per month plan you are subject to our Fair Usage Policy (FUP).

Looks like the fair usage policy applies to the €15pm only.

I have to say, it's a fantastic introductory offer and worth while for year one. It's a shame it only applies for year 1, because subsequent years will costt much more.