For those of you directly impacted by issues related to garbage service, here is even more information from our city’s top administrator and our top engineer:
_________________________
From: Jay B Covington <jcovington@Rentonwa.gov>
Subject: FW: Solid Waste Contract Communication and Service Issues
Date: Wed, 14 Jan 2009 13:31:15 -0800
Council, further to the communication you received from Mayor Law earlier today, Gregg’s email below provides a little more detail on how we are attempting to respond to customer service issues.
From: Gregg A. Zimmerman
Sent: Wednesday, January 14, 2009 12:39 PM
To: Denis Law; Jay B Covington; Preeti Shridhar; Marty Wine
Cc: Lys L. Hornsby; Linda R. Knight; Elloyce Sumpter
Subject: Solid Waste Contract Communication and Service Issues
The implementation of the new Solid Waste contract significantly changes collection services received by Renton’s residents and businesses. Due both to the sizeable changes that needed to be communicated to customers and acted upon by them, and to some implementation errors that have occurred, both Renton and WMI have received a tremendous amount of calls from our customers. This call volume has created a backlog on the Renton phones, and has tasked the WMI call center to keep up. Customers have expressed frustration in not being able to talk with a live service representative in a timely way, and also there has been quite a bit of confusion about collection dates and schedules. It has become apparent that our current approach to handling these calls and correcting service problems has not been sufficient to date. After assessing this situation and reviewing our approach with WMI staff, we will be implementing the following steps to improve our service response.
COMMUNICATION:
1) As of today, Wednesday Jan. 14, WMI is providing six (6) higher ranking call center staff members dedicated to responding to customers from Renton. We have been off-loading recorded calls on Linda Knight’s phone mail queue and transmitting these to WMI to provide response to the customers and expect to get through the phone mail message backlog by today. WMI has offered to provide this additional call response service until the volume of Renton calls recedes. Note that according to WMI’s data, their longest response time to Renton callers has been 18-minutes, and on Monday Jan. 12 was down to an average of 6-minutes. The goal is to get this down to 2 minutes.
2) We are working with Rick Schwartz (IS) to forward calls from Linda’s phone directly to WMI’s call center (phone 1-800-592-9995). Upon the 5th ring, unanswered phone calls will be forwarded to WMI. Linda and her assistants will continue to assist with customer response as well.
3) WMI will prepare a mailing to each Renton solid waste customer in WMI’s service area that will provide weekly and daily collection schedule information. This will provide the exact collection calendar for each customer. We will ask WMI to double check the information and provide a high level of quality control to avoid distribution of any incorrect information to the public in this mailing. The plan is to mail these next week.
4) WMI is working with Preeti on an informational press release for the Renton Reporter that we are aiming to have go to press in the Renton Reporter’s next edition. This press release will emphasize use of WMI’s 800 number as the primary source of information for the revised collection service, and will provide information about collection of missed pickups as well.
5) The City Homepage will be updated with information from the press release.
6) We will work with all parties involved in responding to customer questions to assure that a uniform message is provided to the customers.
OPERATIONS:
1) WMI will attempt to pick up all missed collections within 48 hours of notification. Missed collections consist of scheduled collections that did not get picked up either due to WMI missing the collection or customers not getting their carts out. This service will be provided through at least the first 2-week collection cycle, and we will then consider whether we need to extend this into the second 2-week collection cycle.
2) If customers put out their carts for collection on a day not scheduled for collection, this is not considered to be a missed collection. Therefore we would not send out a special truck to make a “missed pickup” collection in this case. However, such customers will have their regularly scheduled pickup during the next week, so this should not present a hardship.
3) There continue to be some cases in which new customers are not yet in the WMI system and/or Renton’s system. These are mostly brand new customers either in new developments, or customers within the annexation area signing up for service for the first time in response to Renton’s mandatory collection regulations. Unfortunately these customers did not receive carts, and have in some cases been shuttled between WMI and Renton because their accounts are not yet in the system. WMI has agreed to record customer information, deliver the carts and begin proividng service to these new customers when we hear from them, and do the internal customer reconciliation with Renton later.
4) WMI has two staff members dedicated to working on service challenges in several multi-family (MF) residential developments in which questions have come up about where to put the new large yard waste carts, and whether these customers want the yard waste carts. These issues are being individually worked out with the MF residential developments, and will therefore take some extra time to resolve. The emphasis is to provide solid waste collection service while the service details related to the yard waste carts are worked out.
What a cluster
I will spend the 15 or is it 17.50 to make a dump run. This was NOT
handled well – just like the big airplane company . . .Lots of staff power point presentations but no understandable communication to the
peons (the end users).
This would not have happend if Mayor Kathy was still in charge. . .In fact we would have no solid waste other than Randy Corman
Re: What a cluster
Sorry for your frustration. But you should not have to schedule a dump run. Waste Management is saying they will be out in 48 hours if you call them.
If you’ve already had to make a dump run, I would consider sending the bill to Waste Management. If they have missed you a bunch of times, they owe it to you to make it right.
“This would not have happend if Mayor Kathy was still in charge. . .In fact we would have no solid waste other than Randy Corman. “
You are mistaken on one point; it was councilman Dan Clawson, not me, that built a reputation for picking though other people’s trash. But I do agree with you that the solid waste contract would have come to a complete standstill under Mayor Kathy ( just as the Highlands redevelopment did.) Clearly, what you meant to say was that if Mayor Kathy was still in charge we would have no solid waste pickup other than Dan Clawson’s.
You could be right about this.
Re: What a cluster
Randy
The kathy reference was tongue (or lipstick) in cheek. . .
TRIEED to understand the websit for waste management.
A) Hard to understand. Will just put every bin out till I figure out which week is which.
B) BUT nowehere on the site does it say if the DAY is changed.
– Live in Kennydale and some now “think” day is changed to Mon other believe it is still Tue. And no Day is not on site or on any bin
With almost my panties in knots. . . .
Re: What a cluster
I live in Kennydale. My day was previously Tuesday pickup. When the new containers arrived the blue recycle bin contained a sticker that stated pickup would be on Monday. The instruction packet contained detailed instruction as how to sift and sort. The single cardstock glossy flyer showing each container has a calendar for the entire year on the back that indicates which weeks the various colored containers would be picked up. This flyer has a punched hole in the top so you can hang it in your kitchen cupboard, or garage wall or where ever you choose to keep your reference material. Please note the old recycle bins will be picked up the last week of January if you have a Monday pickup in Kennydale.
Sharon
Randy’s Corman’s involvement in the Highlands Redevelopment Circus.
Let’s set the record straight. It wasn’t just Mayor Kathy who brought all the growth in the Highlands to a complete standstill. You (Randy Corman) voted for a complete Moratorium in the Highlands right along with Mayor Kathy that made it impossible (during good economic times) to improve or build anything in our residential community. Then before the first Moratorium period expired, you had the nerve to vote yes to support extending it another six months.
You need to rethink about your own involvement in limiting the growth in the Highlands before you recommend throwing stones at the past mayor. Now a question to you, when the community starts to see some construction starting up once in the Highlands, are you going to again vote for another Moratorium?
Re: Randy’s Corman’s involvement in the Highlands Redevelopment Circus.
is this who i think it is?
Re: Randy’s Corman’s involvement in the Highlands Redevelopment Circus.
he he… I was thinking the same thing!
We could very well be hearing again from Kathy Keolker, her former campaign manager Raechelle, or Dan Clawson.
In any case their comments are flat wrong.
You can see how I actually felt about the moritorium by reading my blog entry at the time right Here
And, anyone who is interested in learning more can get a complete record of the Highland’s events by clicking here
If I voted in favor of one of these highland moritoriums, it was conditioned on making it briefer and giving property owners more opportunity to enjoy the use of their own property. I simply did not like the moritoriums and I made that very clear.
Mayor Keolker, Dan Clawson, and Terri Briere were always pushing hard to extend the moritoriums, and I was using all my political clout to elminate or at least shorten them.
Then, dramatically, when Kathy and Dan started getting out-voted, they each resorted to their own crazy tactics.
Kathy resorted to an apparent cry for help in lipstick on her bathroom mirror, while Dan Clawson ended up rooting through garbage cans while setting the stage for his resignation from council and ultimately getting thrown out of court by a King County judge for a frivolous political lawsuit.
And to the above commenter, if you are Kathy, Dan, Raechelle, or anyone else associated with Kathy’s failed campaign, feel free to express truth and facts here on my blog. But spare us the lies. In the age of the internet, it’s too easy for me to disprove every fabrication you offer up, it re-opens your embarrassing campaign, and it makes it difficult for your one remaining friend on council, Terri Briere, to keep a working relationship with the rest of the council.
Re: Randy’s Corman’s involvement in the Highlands Redevelopment Circus.
At the time, it seemed to me that you were sticking up for the CITIZENS of the Highlands, and it was not appreciated by Her Highness. To the point where she had to resort to the famous Lipstick Caper to try getting you out of her way.
Re: What a cluster
The Kathy Opara was before my time here in Renton but your post sure doesn’t place her in high regard in my eye.
-H
Re: What a cluster
Paleeez! The few times I experienced a serious problem and needed Mayor Kathy’s action, all I got was a reaction like she couldn’t care less.
a map would be helpful too
There are different calendars for different areas of Renton. I think Northest, West, and Southeast (just a guess as I don’t have the WMI web page up right now to check it). It would be helpful for a resident to see what the boundaries are for these delivery areas so someone in, say Monterrey Terrace, would know are they considered Northeast or Southeast, for example. This would be useful and in the future as new residents move in. The more useful info on the web, the fewer phone calls!
As someone in the trial area this past year, the new program worked well once started. The snafu for the full-scale implementation came in the roll-out, no doubt exacerbated by the December weather service issues. At the start of the year, even the residents in the test areas like ourselves found our pick-up days switched without notice and the calendars distributed only indicated which weeks were for food/yard waste and which weeks were for food/yard waste + recycling + garbage. It did not indicate whether we were on a Monday, Tuesday, etc.
Who knew litter collection could be such a hot topic? It’s a hot button right up there with school speed zone and red light cameras!
Jeez, what a bunch of whiners. People, let’s just try to learn from the experience and move on. We’re talking about trash collection here, not ambulance response times or power outages.
By the way, you all need to REMOVE the food scraps container from your recyclables bin — it’s meant to go IN YOUR HOME, not flap in the wind as a decoration. I know, change is difficult.
Love the new garbage/recycle program!! Clean streets now that we have covers on our recycle containers, half the dayts of lugging the containers to the curb and with the scraps container in the kitchen, we barely have any real garbage!