This morning, TLS posted surveillance video of a UPS driver knocking over and breaking a Lakewood resident’s bin.
The resident, who submitted the surveillance to TLS in hopes of getting this resolved, said he called the Township and was told he would need to pay $50 for a replacement.
We posted that on Twitter and asked UPS if they’d like to get in touch with the homeowner.
A short time after posting the video, Lakewood Mayor Ray Coles reached out to us with the following message.
“I saw the video of the UPS truck taking out a resident’s can. I have asked Public Works to replace the can at no charge. We will take it up with UPS.”
We Tweeted the Mayor’s message, and a short time later UPS responded.
UPS asked us to put them in touch with either the Mayor or homeowner. We gave them the Mayor’s contact in (after confirming with the Mayor it was okay to do so), though as of this posting they had not yet reached out.
Lakewood DPW tells TLS they will be dropping off a new bin at the resident’s home.
Question is what will the homeowner do with the old bin? If he throws it out in the new bin or leaves it outside with the rest of the trash, the sanitation workers might think it’s a usable bin and not trash, and they might leave it there!
I asked this question to a very wise man, who told me that the homeowner can leave a note on the bin saying “This is trash, please take it away.” But I asked the wise man, “What if the sanitation workers think the note is a prank being played on the homeowner, and they ignore the note?” So he changed course, and told me that a better solution would be for the homeowner to call the UPS, and let them take away the bin. “They know the whole story”, he said. “And don’t forget to leave a note on the bin,” he added, “so the UPS knows which bin to haul away.”
Ahhh! So simple a solution, and yet, so profound! What would I do without this wise man?
Good for you! My bin was stolen by the township garbage truck believe it or not! And they won’t even answer the phone or return any of the 14 messages that I left!!!
you should have TLS write a story about it, seems to get results. before the days of internet, my mother Z”L had the same story, sanitation threw out our garbage can into the garbage truck ( no bins in those days) and she called up to complain. they asked around the office and claimed that they didnt do it. When my mother insisted that they did, they responded ” Our men dont lie”.
@Shimon,i believe you cause I saw a guy at a pawn store trying to get money for a beat up can full of garbage. Why we always accusing people without knowing the facts? Why the DPW workers are going to steal an useless garbage can when they can ask a supervisor for a brand new one if they need one? In this town we have automated trucks and maybe it could have been that the can fell inside the truck and the driver didn’t have time to save it. And he probably called whoever is supposed to replace it and that person forgot or will replace it soon. But the easiest thing is to claim that was stolen without proof, not even a police report.
Technically speaking, This incident is a Motor Vehicle Crash, where the driver left the scene without reporting it. There was damage to the Recycling / garbage bin.
The one who should be replacing the recycling / garbage bin free of charge is UPS not the Township.
While I appreciate the gesture by the Mayor I’m not sure why we the taxpayer have to foot the bill…
You might want to reread what the Mayor wrote…
A while ago, the garbage truck ate up my bin, also. I called public works, and they said it DOES happen sometimes. They promptly replaced the bin at no charge.