I Seem to be cursed when I try do things the correct way it always seems to go wrong.

I paid Bury Council to take Bulky Waste away and they have refused. I am classed as disabled and have tried to do everything correctly.

I booked through the Bury council website on the 2nd January and paid £30 to have 2 mattresses collected and disposed of from Bury Bulky Waste Collection, the collection was booked for the 10th January 2017.

When booking online it said “Do not leave items that may soak up water, such as a sofa or mattress, out in the rain. Heavily sodden items will not be collected”. The communal bins for our block don’t have a roof on and I can’t exactly cover them to make them waterproof. It also says the collection men can’t enter the property – so I put the mattresses right by the front door of the building ready for collection and a note on the front door to the building saying to buzz up to my flat and we’ll take them out to them.

On the 10th of January I stayed in all day after rearranging medical appointments, ready for the collection anytime from 7am till 4pm. The weather on Tuesday 10th January was quite miserable with heavy rain, so wasn’t able to leave the items outside.

After 4pm i phoned Bury Council and was told they have refused to collect as they have not been left outside. No refund. When questioning them on the phone the reason why was apparently “we broke the Terms and conditions of collections”, which are not listed on their website.

I was told as a Bury resident we are meant to know all of Bury Councils terms and conditions, apparently in a welcome pack when you moved into Bury (which I didn’t get). I’m now left £30 out of pocket (which is nearly a quarter of my weekly income) and have two old mattresses stuck in a small 1 bedroom flat. I did everything correctly and yet paid for nothing it seems.

I have been told that I have to rebook and pay the £30 fee again. However i will be in the same position of not being able to place the items outside as i do not have anything to cover 2 mattresses.

I am trying to dispute this and hopefully get it all corrected.

Update – 16th January, Bury council Called they sent a van straight away and everything collected, no further charges.