Our bin men have broken our recycling bin.
I immediately complained to the council – but it’s now charging us for a new one. What can we do about this?
C.S., via email.
Trash clash: A council is ordering a reader to pay for a new recycling bin – despite the fact it was their workers who broke the old one
Dean Dunham replies: Your local council has the autonomy to establish and implement numerous rules, thanks to powers delegated from central government. One of the areas it can do this in is refuse collection.
Here, all local councils have their own policies and yours will have a specific one that covers replacement waste and recycling bins, and the circumstances under which replacements are free and when they are chargeable.
Some councils will replace the bin for free with no questions asked, but most will charge you for a repair or replacement bin, unless the refuse collection contractor caused the damage.
Most local councils that replace bins damaged by contractors will only do so if you can produce evidence that it was the refuse workers who caused it. They will not simply take your word for it.
So, your first step is to ask your local council for a copy of its policy in relation to damaged bins.
If the policy provides that you will not have to pay for a replacement if the bin men caused the damage, you will need to provide proof that they did in order to avoid being charged.
Note that most local councils will only accept videos, video stills or witness statements as proof – so providing a picture of the damage or of the bin men handling the bin will generally not be accepted.
If your council’s policy states that
the householder is charged in all circumstances, you could argue that this is unreasonable and unfair, as you should not have to pay for damage caused by its employee or contractor.
If you cannot agree the way forward with the council, your next step is to make a complaint to the Local Government and Social Care Ombudsman, details of which you will find at lgo.org.uk.
Notwithstanding this, experience tells me that if you stay firm with your complaint, the council will cave in and supply a replacement bin free of charge.
Sound cut out at the cinema
Halfway through the screening of a film at my local cinema the sound failed and I left.
I asked for my money back, but was told I could only get vouchers – which I don’t want.
What are my rights?
F.S., via email.
Dean Dunham replies: Section 49 of the Consumer Rights Act 2015 provides that services must be provided with reasonable care and skill.
When you buy a cinema ticket, the owner of the cinema is providing you with a service, so it falls within this obligation.
The obligation to provide the service with reasonable care and skill forms part of the contract between yourself and the cinema operator.
In the context of a cinema, this means playing the whole film (i) with perfect picture and sound quality, and (ii) within premises that are safe and sufficiently comfortable, and with any facilities that have been advertised.
So here, where the sound quality failed halfway through the film, it amounts to a breach of the Consumer Rights Act and therefore a breach of contract.
In these circumstances, you are entitled to one of the remedies set out within the Consumer Rights Act, here being (i) free tickets to a future showing at your convenience, or (ii) a refund.
Some cinemas would argue that you would only be entitled to a ‘partial’ refund, as you were able to watch part of the film, but I disagree.
You would not be able to pay half price to only watch the remaining half of the film elsewhere – so this is a remedy that is simply not practical, meaning only a full refund will be fair.
We can now turn to the issue of the cinema voucher. When a consumer is entitled to a remedy under the Consumer Rights Act, it is perfectly acceptable for the trader to offer a voucher, but the consumer does not have to accept it and can instead insist on receiving cash.
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