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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

To be so upset and surprised someone swapped their full bin with our empty one!!

167 replies

Sailormooncloudylemonade · 03/02/2022 22:27

I’ve lived in flats all my life until I moved to our house less than 2 months ago.

The bin collection situation was all new to us and we spent 90£ on new bins as previous owners didn’t leave their bins behind.

To prevent my brand new bins from smelling I put a liner on them and sprinkled with a nice smelling powder I bought online.

We leave the bins at the front usually as we are not used to open the 2 side gates that give access to the garden and find very tricky to use them.

The collection was yesterday and just minutes ago I headed to my food bin to put my compostable bag with food waste on it to find that bin completely FULL UP without a liner or compostable bags or anything. Just food waste directly on the bin 🤢

I am so upset…

Is this a thing or I’m just unlucky?
I see so many neighbours leaving their bins outside I thought it was ok?

What should I do to the loose food waste? Do I have to put it in compostable bags myself or will they collect it like that?

I am reading the council’s website but it’s not clear and there is no number to call. The only email I found about bins is to order new ones so not sure who to contact and what to do to someone else’s rubbish!

It might sound silly but I’m so sad my clean new bin has been swapped by an old stinky one that I now have to sort out and deep clean. I don’t even have space to put my own food waste for the rest of the week 😭

Any advice will be very helpful

OP posts:
thereisonlyoneofme · 04/02/2022 10:16

You paid £90 for bins, we get them free from the council !

Original poster
Sailormooncloudylemonade · 04/02/2022 10:17

@Toanewstart22

* I am so upset… *

Confused

I am thought 😅 Someone stole my property and gave me their full up smelly bin.

Would you genuinely be ok with that?
Where would you put your own food waste until next collection?

OP posts:
Toanewstart22 · 04/02/2022 10:19

* Would you genuinely be ok with that? *
Where would you put your own food waste until next collection?

You do know there’s a middle ground between being “so upset” and “genuinely ok”

I’d be mildly pissed off
And for that week - I’d bin the food leftovers
No biggie

Cherrysoup · 04/02/2022 10:22

Get it back next bin day, re-clean, label on every flat surface, including underneath.

Singlebutmarried · 04/02/2022 10:22

@Sailormooncloudylemonade as other have said log it as a missed collection.

Doesn’t matter if you report once, twice or 1000 times. If the waste is not being collected then the waste company needs to know.

CrazyCatLover · 04/02/2022 10:37

Maybe your neighbours were getting fed up of looking at your bins when you could leave it in your back garden?

Orangeon · 04/02/2022 10:37

@Georgyporky

Buying a bin? What country are you in? Local councils provide them for free in England.
Someone needs to tell my council then, £40 a pop!
Original poster
Sailormooncloudylemonade · 04/02/2022 10:42

[quote TheNoodlesIncident]@AllOfUsAreDead You have to pay for replacement bins, that's why people get upset about it! Ours are still considered council property, so you are not supposed to take them if you move house, they stay with the house. It's £40 per bin here, and some families just can't afford to keep forking that out because some git has taken theirs. Somebody took my recycling bin from my old house (unoccupied and on the market) and I had to pay for another, as I didn't view it as the responsibility of the new owner.

How did you expect to be able to identify your bin once emptied?
My bins are the ones in front of my house?

That's such childlike reasoning! Anyone could move them, including the bin men, then how will you be able to show that your bins are yours?! You need to find yours - sniff out the scented powder in the new looking ones, no need to check them all - and put your number on it, not just on the sides but under the bottom and on the lid. I bought the big numbers you can get for the sides but added the more discreet ones in spray paint. And try to collect your bin as soon as it's been emptied, bring it in to your property as soon as you can as it's at its most vulnerable when it's just been emptied. Lots of people are out at work then, if possible cultivate a friendly NDN partnership where you help each other out with things like this if you can.[/quote]
As I said in my original post I am new to this own bin situation as I have been living in flats with shared bins all my life till I moved a few weeks ago.

I am still learning and this thread has been really helpful 😊

OP posts:
LakieLady · 04/02/2022 10:42

@BoredZelda

Not entirely the point, but why on earth would anyone have their bin cleaned, ever? That is batshit.

Don’t you ever clean bins? That’s minging.

I don't clean my bins, but they aren't minging.

My general waste doesn't involve anything wet or smelly, and is in a bag. My food waste is in compostable bags, so doesn't touch the inside of the bin. Stuff for recycling that's been in contact with food (tins, meat trays etc) gets rinsed clean under a hot tap and left to dry before it goes in the recycling bins.

They never come into contact with anything mucky, so they don't need cleaning. Unlike a neighbour along the road, who used to put unwashed cat food tins straight into her recycling, until the bin ended up infested with maggots. Shock

The binnies refused to empty it until it was sorted, and put a huge note to that effect on the bin so everyone knew about it. It was a printed note, too, so it's clearly something that happens fairly often.

Original poster
Sailormooncloudylemonade · 04/02/2022 10:45

@CrazyCatLover

Maybe your neighbours were getting fed up of looking at your bins when you could leave it in your back garden?
Almost everyone here leaves their bin on their front garden and that was one of the reasons I thought it would be safe to do so.
OP posts:
StrawberryLollipops · 04/02/2022 10:50

Yours are new - you will be able to tell which ones they are. Most will be shabby and/or manky. Go out on the road and have a look round - chances are it's someone close.

I am forever getting my bins back from neighbors - even with big house number on it. They never mean anything - but also never check they've got the right ones.

JugglingJanuary · 04/02/2022 10:55

@Theunamedcat

Food waste bin? Can you call the council and tell them what has happened its a fail to collect isn't it?
I rather suspect the twat who stole the new, empty bin, put it out too late!
JugglingJanuary · 04/02/2022 10:56

@CrazyCatLover

Maybe your neighbours were getting fed up of looking at your bins when you could leave it in your back garden?
🙄🙄

You do come out with some 'interesting' takes on situations.

RosiePosieDozy · 04/02/2022 10:58

You definitely should have put numbers on them. You live and learn.

For your food waste until the next collection, see if your neighbours have space in their bins. You might also catch sight of your freshly cleaned bin which would be annoying. After the next collection, grab the bins you think are yours that you paid for, put them behind the gate and put numbers on them!

JugglingJanuary · 04/02/2022 10:59

@Orangeon

Buying a bin? What country are you in?
Local councils provide them for free in England

Someone needs to tell my council then, £40 a pop!

And mine. Ours are even more expensive. Some people really need to stop banging on about levelling up with the SE as it may surprise them with the things they're suddenly expected to pay for!!

JugglingJanuary · 04/02/2022 11:03

@TopsieGreenwood

I didn't realise there were areas where you had to buy all your own bins rather than get wheelies/food waste bin from the council. Ours introduced wheelies as it was better for the bin men not having to lift them.
They're still wheelies! You just have to pay for them.
Wafflesnsniffles · 04/02/2022 11:04

Just go hunting for the cleanest looking bin (on the outside) - that'll be the one that is yours. Pinch it back and put your house number on it.

Georgyporky dont assume just because your council does something all councils do! All councils are different.
Ours make us pay for bins and as of last year we now have to pay an annual fee for garden waste collection. An area we lived in previously made us put garden waste in bags (that we had to pay for and we had caddies for food waste - I wish we had those here but alas no.

ZeroFuchsGiven · 04/02/2022 11:04

We have a decent sized front garden so the bin only go near the road on collection day

Your collection day was Yesterday, You left your bin roadside for a day before even going to retrieve it. YABTU and inconsiderate to your neighbours and anyone else using the pavement.

Drinkingallthewine · 04/02/2022 11:05

Here in Ireland we pay for each bin lift so our bins come with a sturdy label with a barcode.

What some do have to contend with though is cheeky fuckers throwing their rubbish into their bins - we don't as we are too far from the main road for any passing opportunist to do that.

JugglingJanuary · 04/02/2022 11:07

@AuntTwacky

Replacement bins should be free from the council and you should put your house number on it. Also doesn't need a liner
Why would you assume that applies to all councils?

Several people have already said, not where they live!

Chely · 04/02/2022 11:08

Tip... get a nice shiny new bin, put some dust tape on one corner. People presume it's damaged and don't want to steal it.

Original poster
Sailormooncloudylemonade · 04/02/2022 11:12

@ZeroFuchsGiven

We have a decent sized front garden so the bin only go near the road on collection day

Your collection day was Yesterday, You left your bin roadside for a day before even going to retrieve it. YABTU and inconsiderate to your neighbours and anyone else using the pavement.

No! We put them near the pavement Tuesday night and brought them back to near our door Wednesday morning like I see everyone doing.

That’s fine right?

OP posts:
JugglingJanuary · 04/02/2022 11:13

@Shortpoet

I’d put on some rubber gloves and go through it to look for an envelope with an address.
That's a smelly, wild goose chase in a FOOD waste bin!!
Original poster
Sailormooncloudylemonade · 04/02/2022 11:13

@Chely

Tip... get a nice shiny new bin, put some dust tape on one corner. People presume it's damaged and don't want to steal it.
Genius!
OP posts:
JugglingJanuary · 04/02/2022 11:16

@Spanielsarepainless

One of our neighbours watched in horror as her whole wheelie bin disappeared into the maw of the crushed on the bin lorry. The council gave her a new one.
Our council told my friend, who watched it happen!!, that it was impossible because of the hooks inside the bin trucks & if she wanted a new bin she'd have to pay for one!!

She was so pissed off that they were calling her a liar, on top of having to pay for a new bin.

Not all councils are equal !