Elk Grove Recycle Collector 'Jason' Defies Logic; Is 'Customer Service' Not in His, City's Vocabulary?

June 4, 2014 | Now and again you encounter a situation that is a real head scratcher. Thanks to the friendly neighborhood recycle c...


June 4, 2014 |

Now and again you encounter a situation that is a real head scratcher. Thanks to the friendly neighborhood recycle collector-truck driver in Elk Grove named Jason, today was one of those days.

After returning home, I discovered that while my trash was correctly picked up (the city missed a pick-up at my address and a few neighbors houses two weeks ago) the full recycle bin was not picked up. I can tell right now it was not a missed like my trash was two weeks ago because there was a friendly note from Jason that he did not pick-up the recycle as the container had a friendly reminder attached to it.
Jason had enough time to write this notice, get out of
 his vehicle, and carefully wire it to the receptacle.
As a courtesy, why couldn't he have left the notice for
next time  and take the recycle material?

The note, which was tightly and skillfully fastened with wire said it was not picked-up because it was not properly placed. Now I admit, it may not have been placed properly, but in my new neighborhood the parking is tight and even space for placement of trash and recycle bins on a Wednesday morning is at a premium. 

It was placed about one foot away from the trash container and I guess the trash person, who thankfully didn't forget this week, had sufficient room to do their duty. 

Furthermore, having read through my HOA guidelines, for the life of me I can't recall instructions on the placement of trash  and recycle bins. God knows if there is a regulation, an HOA will  have it and detail it! 

The real puzzler is this - if Jason took the trouble to fill out the denial of service form, climb out of his vehicle to carefully, and might I say skillfully, wire the notice to the receptacle, why couldn't he, as a courtesy and in the name of customer service, much less community sanitation, empty the recycle?

Would that be to much to ask?

Perhaps Jason drove around in a separate chase vehicle, a sort of recycle container Nazi if you will, flagging containers for denial of service. 

"No recycle for you!"

Alternatively, perhaps the recycling collector radioed a hot lead in to Jason.

Either way, Jason could have left the notice as a first-time violation, picked-up the material in the name of customer service, sanitation and as a courtesy to an on-time rate payer, and I promise, I would never, ever again improperly place my recycle bin.

Instead, I guess that the material will wait around for a couple more weeks and potentially become a nuisance to my neighborhood. Flies and mosquitos sound like a nice recipe for West Nile Virus. 

One last note; if I were not a civic-minded person, I could easily dispose of this material on some nearby empty lot and leave it for someone else to handle. When garbage and recycle collectors refuse to be customer service oriented, that is exactly what some people will end up doing.

And we all know what that can lead to. So much for building stronger neighborhoods. 





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8 comments

Anonymous said...

Let's see, you are upset because the driver took the time to fill out a form, but didn't empty the recycle container. YOU took the time to write a lengthy article blasting the driver and the City rather than picking up the telephone and making a simple phone call to resolve the issue. In the contest of who is sillier, you win. I wish I had your problems. Be glad you sit at a computer and don't pick up other people's gross trash for a living.

Anonymous said...

There shouldn't be anything in your recyclables that attracts flies, mosquitos or a virus. It's recyclable. Clean. Recyclable. I guess that's another memo you didn't get.

Ray Patterson said...

Quit complaining about city services, Anaon is right. I am much better than the alternative.

Anonymous said...

Maybe Jason has a different/specific job description Dan. Too bad customer service, sanitation and courtesy is not listed in his. In which case, i wonder who pays for his salary.

Anonymous said...

The tag that was attached to your un-emptied trash was preprinted, which means that "Jason" was just following policy. It isn't as if he wrote you a personal note to tell you that he purposely didn't pick it up. I admit that customer service overall has declined - but publicly criticizing a specific employee when he was obviously doing what he was told to do is unnecessary.

Elk Grove News said...

UPDATE

Allied Waste-Republic Services, the City of Elk Grove's waste management contractor, was contacted Thursday morning regarding the refused recycle pick-up.

According to the telephone customer service representative, garbage or recycle pick-up is refused only after three written violations. The violation notice wired to the recycle bin was the first notice issued.

Anonymous said...

Ah - then by all means, OFF with Jason's head!!!! He has defied logic and made an error. This behavior will NOT be tolerated! How fortunate that you had this forum to expose him for what he is...HUMAN.

SteveB6509 said...

Sorry Dan - most of what you write is reasonable but with this article, you sound like the "Holier than thou" pseudo-royalty that have made some poor decisions in Elk Grove. Admit you screwed up, the punishment was a bit more extreme than it should have been, and move on.

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