Couldn't help laughing about this article.
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2644457/Marathon-moaners-10-000-complaints-30-YEARS-one-missed-bin-requests-costing-Yorkshire-council-11-000-year-deal-with.htmlMarathon moaner's 10,000 complaints over 30 YEARS because of one missed bin (with his requests costing a Yorkshire council £11,000 a year to deal with)
Steve Bradbury, 63, banned from Kirklees Council by 'intimidated' staff
The retired engineer's battle dates back to bins dispute in 1988
Council in West Yorkshire offered him £250 at the time but he refused
By Laura Cox
Published: 01:58, 31 May 2014 | Updated: 01:58, 31 May 2014
Many of us have had a moan about the bin collectors after they’ve forgotten to pick up the rubbish.
But few people would take their complaint to the same lengths as Steve Bradbury.
The 63-year-old has been dubbed Britain’s most prolific complainer after he turned a dispute over a missed bin collection into a three-decade feud with his council.
Despite writing and making roughly 10,000 separate letters, phone calls and furious visits to his local authority, Mr Bradbury has still not resolved the matter to his satisfaction.
And Kirklees Council in West Yorkshire now estimates it spends around £11,000 a year dealing with his requests – despite banning him from its offices three years ago because staff said they find him intimidating.
He said: ‘Every time I have dealings with the council, things go dramatically wrong. So I escalate it up the ladder and I’ve found that the further up you go the worse it gets.’
The retired engineer’s extraordinary battle with officials has been documented by Channel 4 programme The Complainers.
He told the Daily Mail he currently has around 50 complaints logged with the council, and traces them all back to three weeks in 1988 when his bins were not collected.
The council said it offered him £250 and an apology at the time. But he refused and promptly logged another complaint to express his dissatisfaction with its customer service.
The complaints soon snowballed, until he began calling the council almost every day, writing to its chief executive Adrian Lythgo, and turning up to demand a meeting with officials.
He added: ‘They’re just so incompetent that they answer one [complaint] and create half a dozen more.’
During the feud, Mr Bradbury who is also a landlord has been refused planning permission for one of his properties and experienced delays in having housing benefit paid to his tenants.
Consequently, he believes he is the victim of a council vendetta and now straps a video camera to his chest every time he visits the authority headquarters so he has evidence of each encounter.
Jane Brady, of Kirklees’ customer services, told Channel 4: ‘During one month we recorded the time we spent dealing with him and we reckon it would have cost us £11,000 a year. That’s ten times [a household’s] council tax bill.’
A spokesman for Kirklees Council added that Mr Bradbury’s approach had ‘made the situation worse’.
However Mr Bradbury still believes he is owed up to £10,000 in compensation, as well as a long overdue apology.
He said: ‘It’s not about the money. If I get compensation I will give it to charity. But I deserve an apology.’
