Croydon Council Reviews

Staff says they will do things to your account that do not ever do so making you call 3 times to get the same job done. I was late once for a payment and in about 2 weeks they sent a letter threatening me to call me to court and expecting a payment of over 1800 in advance for the year to come instead of instalments on the same day as "punishment" to my couple of weeks late payment . Now , 3 months after I closed my account with them and expecting the refund of over 900 pounds they force me to pay in advance , I have still not received any refund !!! . So the council feels free to threat you for 2 weeks delay on a payment , charge you for an whole year in advance and then feels free to keep your money for as long as they want as we have no rights what so ever !!!
Council is a government body and behave by breaking any person's right !!!!

Croydon council services are a total failure in every area this is my/people I know experiences over the past 2 years .

Croydon Council is the worst council in the UK. Just a bunch of nobodys sitting in a glass building playing roulette with people lives. Family, born in Croydon and we been homeless 8 years and moves to temporary accommodation 6 times. Choose 3 secondary schools for my son and they give me one I didn't choose. The whole building needs to be sacked. Lambeth, Wandsworth and Bromley much better.

Poor response for basic services - in the effort to encourage more recycling I am in despair as to how to obtain the correct bins and have my waste collected efficiently and correctly. Can't understand why there is the endless automatic email response and no action on such a simple matter. Am at the point of withdrawing my council tax payments until this is sorted!!!!

Croydon Council is an absolute joke. They like taking money but support is none existent.

Depending on the service I need, some issues have been resolved and some still waiting on a reply. When my father became bedridden I contacted the council for some help and they got back to me next day and I am very happy with the service which was provided by Eunice, she helped us get the equipment we needed to make dad's care easy so if your reading this thank you!

I just deal with everything either by phone or email and now they have an online accounts service it's just easier.

West croydon
London

I have lost count of the number of times you have missed our recycling collection. I wouldn't mind but they are located at the front of our property and our neighbours seem to have been collected most times.

The sudden closure of the Whitgift Centre without warning any local businesses or providing alternative arrangements for them is completely unacceptable. I will not be giving the new Westfield shopping centre, if it is built, any business whatsoever.

Very bad service always have to wait for long time, the staff at desk just chat and chat and randomly walk of, there would be a massive queue and one staff servicing one person for ages no urgency no care for the queue no care what so ever, but for some reason theres like 5 staff at the door inviting you in and asking if u need help then pointing u to the information desk! 5 staff to point to a information desk that has one attendant! Seriously ???

Most stressful time with Croydon Council, all of the staff is very slow and rude.

Croydon council redirected all traffic through the Kidderminster Road .
The road was totally solid and taking 40 mins just to get down Kidderminster Road!!!!!!!!! and when I called to the council to complaining they hang up on me.

Floor staff are wonderful people that have a difficult job as they process homeless people and immigrants. Some real emotion and the empathy there is moving. The JCP has moved in and now offer a large computer area for the work program you can also find job club there on some days generally helping.

Need to contact the Council Tax Office regarding changing details on the billing. Spoke with Steve who was patient and helpful. Sorted. Good experience. Thank you.

Very poor customer service and very bad computer system. My son got 18 and everything get mixed up. I send them his school letter to conform that he is still in full time education, but it take 2 months and still not sort it out.

Appalling service. Nobody answers the phone, it doesn't matter what number you call. Not fit for purpose! Absolutely useless.

Good Service when i did get through> A lady named Louise in parking very helpful

If I could give negative 5 stars I would have. The council have not cleared organic waste bins within our apartment block for weeks now and they do not respond to any of the ways one can report this. It has become a health hazard in the apartment building now. Quite ridiculous!!!!

extremely poor!! pathetically slow website, trying to pay for hours without any success. awful experience

Unfortunatly I cant give 0 stars, the bin men have yet again missed collection cant report. Veolia have had more complaints then I can count yet the council keep spending our tax payer money to them. A company which provides a totally unreliable service, if i did half of what they do to an employer I'd be fired but nope they get a pat on the back and contract renewed. Discrace

This place sums up all that is wrong with public services

Debbie was amazing today. I went for a replacement parking permit and she was was great. Nice,polite and really helpful.

Croydon council DO NOT comply to their own responsibilities when it comes to collecting the bins. Since the council switched their waste collection responsibility to a third party to save money and neglect responsibility the bins are More

Absolutely awful service. Was on hold for half an hour, which is a common occurance. Needed help getting temporary permit cover for my courtesy car as I was involved in an accident and the insurance company couldn t collect car straight away as bodywork place was closed over the weekend. Was told they wouldn t give it as my car wasn t being collected on the same day so I was expected to pay daily parking rates to cover the courtesy car until my car was picked up. I already pay a hefty amount for two permits to allow me to park my own vehicles outside my own home which is outrageous anyway. I was told they cannot give temporary cover as they can t hand out free bays as I am only paying for the vehicles I have and so as the courtesy car would be parked for 2 and a half days in adition to the two permits they can t give me cover until my car is collected so that they may swap permits. I was involved in an accident I wasn t trying to get a jolly off of an extra permit. I ve already been through so much inconvenience trying to sort out the damage to my car which was at no fault of my own and in addition deal with the stress of transferring parking permits to try and minimise further loss of my own. It s a complete money making scheme. What exactly would the council be losing by providing cover for the courtesy car? Principal is the key issue here we pay council tax to a council that doesn t take care of their residents. We made a complaint over 6 months ago in regards to a bay that cannot be used due to over grown tree roots damaging the curb and so the curbs damages the cars parked there. The council has done nothing to rectify it but yet they are so quick to call in the pennies with its residents.

Removed fly tipping of domestic waste which was ripped open, from the side of my house promptly on a Bank holiday Monday. Thank you Croydon Council.

A big 0 star for you Croydon Council. Missed waste collection again. Waste not collected for more than 6 week's . I can see on my CCTV the waste truck passed in front of the house without stopping or returning back. I Tried calling and I sent a few emails but is no answer or response regarding this matter. Very very poor service and a lot of money for nothing .You are a disgrace for society.

Croydon Council, why are you not helping in the investigation of the M25 London cat killer? If anything, you seem to be hindering the investigation and removing valuable evidence, in spite of being informed of the importance by police. This is disgraceful! Are you covering up for someone? Please start helping with the investigation instead of assisting a cruel, psychopathic killer! And please stop removing missing posters! Ppl love their pets and have the right to know that council care too (which, sadly, you don't seem to!)

Useless council unable to talk to anybody when I phone they need a free phone number as it costs a fortune because you have to hold in too long before you get any answer

Even on the rare occasion that you can get through to "someone", in Croydon Council, it is only ever to "someone" who says "It is not my department".

You should realise that Croydon Council, are short of your money, because they spend a vast amount on training staff to say "It is not my department" who cannot tell you whose department it is and cannot connect you with relevant department. They are short of money either because you did not pay enough, or because they wasted it, by painting "arty" coloured patterns on tarmac roads that you cannot drive on, or on sides of buildings that you cannot see. You decide.

Don't worry, they have recently appointed a new executive, being paid more than the Prime Minister!

About half the time bin/recycling collections are missed and when missed collections are reported they still don't bother to pick them up

Appalling service and a useless telephone referral system.

Awful . . . just awful. The website is really slow. Been trying to login and pay my rent for 30 minutes and still not been able to get into my account.

When you try to book a bulk waste removal via the web site nothing works. When you contact the council by phone you get told to do it on which don't work. This council is usless

I sent in a petition for parsons Rd to be turned into a one way and I've heard nothing. someone is going to get murdered due to the physical fights I witness day in and day out. please do something croydon council. All residents will be mostly grateful.

I WENT TO THE HOUSEING DEPARTMENT WITH MY 4 KIDS AS A WHITE BRITISH CITIZEN. I WAS TOLD NOTHING AVALIABLE DUE TO THE FACT LUNER HOUSE IS ACROSS THE ROAD AND THE INFLUX OF IMMIGRANTON WAS THE PROMBLEM BY A CROYDON COUNCIL WORKER. SO I RECIVED NO HELP WHAT SO EVER AND I WAS BORN IN CROYDON. IT MADE ME SICK TO THE CORE AND I FELT LIKE BURNING MY PASSPORT. CANT BELIVE THE COUNTRY CAN MAKE PEOPLE FEEL THIS WAY ...

Staff need training on how to talk & treat people, if you can even get in the building ! the security guards are at the entrance asking what you want to do when you get there!! Pathetic customer service. Terrible don t deserve 1 star useless

Utter shyte. Couldn't organise a fart at a bean eating contest. Unprofessional and couldn't care less. Very low IQ employees.

I rent a flat in a house so I sent my agreement with a landlord to Croydon Council to figure out how much to pay for taxes. Now they're sending me other floor bills to pay. Such a shame. Never saw such incompetence. Do you have an extra 1k to pay for your neighbour?:)

Terrible nasty money grabbing council that threaten and abuse families with kids, work hand in glove with bailiff extortion, and hire out back rooms in the court building and judges in pretend court proceedings to abuse people and make money. No help, no one will give Advice to help, cant get through on the phone to whom you need to, worse than MS13.

Worst council. Every year increase the council tax and still no proper utilities.
Council is making money only on parking fine but no proper sign boards

I dont know what this guys Are doing infront of system for nearly 26 minutes not calling next person walking there & here drinking water doing all shuts not doing their job

SERIOUSLY they don't even deserve a 1 star. I've unfortunately been stuck in this borough since birth and have seen its rapid decline. (Over 20 years) but the last 10 years the council have deteriorated rapidly only interested in building tall skyscraper buildings that are ruining the little green spaces we do have in the urban areas of Croydon. THEY REALLY ARE A CORRUPT COUNCIL AND NEED TO BE INVESTIGATED IMMEDIATELY! Alphonso Williams from the anti social department is useless and a joke he does not return calls or emails and sides with criminals and ppl who harrass ppl, and does not deter antime social behaviour but encourage it, he should be ashame of himself and the way he has abused his position. But Im a big believer in what goes around comes around, so let him continue to OPPRESS croydon council residents with his unprofessional and lying ways. If you ever get a 'boy' called Daniel from housing he is a young piece of scum who had the cheek to breach data protection by screaming abuse out loud whilst on the phone about a customer, and they refuse to investigate. Complaints are dealt with by corrupt managers of who ever your complaining about, so don't bother. The council and the issues I have had affected my health. Im talking stress and hair loss.. AVOID THIS BOROUGH AT ALL COSTS!! oh and whilst they are spending millions on knocking down and refurbishing old buildings for irrelevance. They refuse to carry out necessary repairs to its houses, especially old ones. The repairs team lie and say they had no access to cover their own backs (which goes on your record btw) when they never even show in the first place! They only want the main streets.. the streets 'visitors to croydon' will more than likely pass through (as they are building a Westfields) to look good and neglect back roads and streets. BTW this new bin sceme is a scam. For 2 months I have had no household waste bin and my new recycling bins I was secretly told by an adviser at croydon council have run out!!! DISGUSTING COUNCIL WITH DISGUSTING AND CORRUPT WORKERS. INVESTIGATE!!!

To Busy Building Buildings Rather Than Focusing On The People I Think Miss May Should Kick The Officials Out And Get A New Council

Croydon Council don't want you to actually speak to someone if you want to report a problem. I phoned and, after going through several menu options and messages that I had no interest in, I finally got a message telling me I was number eight in the queue and the number one caller had been waiting for nine minutes: I hung up.
I wanted to report a dangerous tree on the pavement outside my house which looks dead and is dropping branches. I ended up doing it online and, so far around a week later, no action has been taken and Croydon Council have not contacted me.

Worst run council in the UK, Ruined the borough of Croydon!!

It is the worst council in london. The colleges are very rode with costomer. I went to submit some document but I had to wait 1 hr. In the counter person doesn't know proper work they asking everything over the phone to someone. It is make me iritate.

Worst council ever. Me and my children have had no cooker in our temporary accommodation for almost 1 year because the cooker the council left in the property, as a gift was leaking carbon monoxide . I m unable to removed it as it s integrated.

Where do I beginning? This is truly disgraceful as these staffs lack practical knowledge in the roles that they are been paid to provide, and when I say staff's I am not just speaking about lower ranking officer but those in seniority as well. Croydon Council behaves as if the hierarchy, meaning they do what pleases them and not what is stated in law. Can you image this local authority (A Public Body) that has been entrusted to provide a duty of care to correctly assess our eligibility requirements and prevent injustice from happening are the actual ones creating the injustice in the service! The sad thing about all of this is, When you complaint it gets fab off, then depends on the nature of your complaint, like mines you become a victim. Yes! I have evidence where I have been and still is begin VICTIMIZE and BULLIED by Croydon Council, mainly the Housing Department all because I stood up for myself and highlighted that they are breaching Homeless Applicants Human Rights and there own Policies. You DO NOT deserve any star.

Been a landlord with Croydon for nearly 20 years. I've been trying to get my account issues sorted for nearly 2 years yes thats right 2 YEARS. When will i ever talk to a REAL person. Even this message screen doesnt work as im typing this blind on my phone. What a complete shambles.

Possibly the worst council of all time! Their refuse/waste services (excluding the dump which is actually very well run and has great staff) are a complete joke.
Bin collecting staff leave dropped rubbish on the streets when emptying bins and recycling boxes.
The road I live on is covered in litter and even though I wrote to the council 3 times, requesting a litter picker/road sweeper, nothing has been done. It's not like we don't pay council tax!
Also, having to pay to park outside your own house is a joke! Having to pay for visitors permits is a joke!
They're ruthless, money grabbing and don't provide a standard of service that reflects the cost of living in this borough.

Getting parking fines for a car I ve never owned nobody is listening to emails ! I live in Yorkshire and I have never been to Croydon .

This must be the worst-run council in England. I'm going to stop paying council tax asap.

Staffs at Croydon council think they are the boss. They speak to you very rudely. They have no respect for the client. There is no complaint procedure. Once I asked the staff to pass the phone to his supervisor. He then put me on hold forever. After 45 minutes of holding I cut the line. I think the higher authorities should look into the matter.

Utterley incompetent! For last 8 weeks missed 3 bin collections despite intervention of deputy Leader of Council called Clean Streets Stu!!
Couldn't run a **** up in a brewery! But suppose that's Labour for you. Say one thing and never deliver!!!!

Another council who knows nothing of public service, just a vessel to collected money and create a two tier system of the have and have not's just self serving employees and council staff just looking out for there own next pay rise or next step up the political ladder.

They have not collected my bin for 1 month now and their website is not working to report and no options are given when calling.

1 star only because Google doesn't allow zero ratings.

Incompetent is too kind a word for this council. They are completely uncontactable and consequently unaccountable. Can't phone to speak to anyone. Send an email and they just ignore it. What are you supposed to do? Withold council tax? They send threatening letters if you're as much as 7 days late. They need to be put on special measures and forced to provide customer services to all the people they are extorting council tax from.

Croydon Council is the shitest Council in London, confusing and the housing benefits workers are sooo rude. I have really bad experience from these Council still they haven't solve my problems.

Switchboard open 9 - 4 Average waiting time around 15 minutes then usually cut off if your query/complaints gets too contentious. Rarely get response to messages left . Apparently IT skills not up to the demands of a modern Council administration and some databases are apparently not up-dated in their (eternal?) lifetime. Most staff are very human (once you get through the data protection barrier) but their assistance is usually limited if you are not introducing an issue that will generate fines or fees for "failure to comply" in the area you are requesting assistance. Turn-around in staff or job-titles may preclude resolution of your issue at the 11th hour so little point in getting the name of any operative who may actually have tried to help...................generally "Big Brother " hasn't changed much in 30 years but that is a nice new building to mal-administer from and the old site , when completed, will create so many more problems for Croydon Council to ignore or collect fines against..........City Status ??? o.m.g.

This is about the website, phone and email communications only - not everyone dealing with Croydon Council lives nearby and can visit. The email addresses have been cancelled, the website has a message stating the phone lines are not working, and when you access the contact form you are directed back to limited basic functions on the website with no means of contacting the council for anything more complex that can't be done online - at least not where council tax is concerned.

worst borough i have ever lived in. customer service is very poor. very rude staff. needs more training.

You get told you have to provide a licence but nobody is ever at the end of the phone to help, guide or to even take payment. If payment is late you then they get in contact and will chase, its like it is planned. I have been really dissatisfied with my contact each year. Staff need to be on the phones more and help where it is needed.

Heard some negative opinions about Croydon council, but to my surprise was pleasantly shocked at the quality of service and understanding of my personal issues . Empathy was shown and good communication.

really bad council. They actually deserve no stars. How difficult is it to get bins- when we don't have any. No matter how many times you call -going round in circles, or email no urgency in response. Took over 2 months to get these bins. Just a really appalling service and so expensive for nothing!

Very poor service from Croydon Council. The point is they do not care about their reputation. The third time they have missed my general waste bin collection and simply state health and safety when this is completely dishonest and a complete lie! Complete laziness and incompetence from this council staff. I have tried to contact them several times about the issue and they simply state that it was done and its a health and safety issue which they cannot state what it is. On the other 2 occasions they said they emptied it when they did not do it. They then lie and say they did. I sometimes wonder why we have an issue of fly tipping as it appears Croydon Council do not do a proper job when it comes to the environment and recycling. Will be taking this up with my local MP for Croydon as it appears to be deliberate discrimination or complete incompetence.

I think Croydon Council is the best the staff members are so friendly and good communication skills and they are very good in listening to your problem when I was stressed I went there and they finish all my stress thanks a lot to the government for providing Croydon Council God bless you all you all and the security

This council has issues and very aggressive nature. Glad I live in Wandsworth now. Amazing council there.

Maybe wandsworth council should train croydon council on how to treat human beings

What a truly awful system "my Account " is. Errors ,passwords not recognised, time out, when you hit that go button don't expect anything to move for about 2 minutes! If you are trying to register for private landlord license don't leave to end of September it took me 2 hours to try and register!
Croydon Council get your act together!!

Horrible place they will never help you with something that is not your fault ****ing idiots!

Yet another organisation without human customer services, when you need them. Very poor

You don t get to speak to a human report it on line....good bye

Constant missed recycling collections.

I have been contacting the council since August 2018 to clear a blocked gully in Thornton Heath (when it rains, it literally turns into a lake)
I spoke at least a dozen times to 3 people who said they'll deal with it, in fact the last one told me it's her job, so I finally thought I got through to someone that works for the pay they get. She is the one on the ground doing the work she said!
7 months on and I am still waiting.
It appears Croydon had plenty of money to spend on Thornton Heath high street, while the neighbouring roads are completely overlooked for maintenance.
NO to applying double yellow lines where they are needed on street corners to stop idiots from parking there and NO responsibility for clearing gullies when they are blocked and NO dealing with potholes.
Dreadful borough! Just get your finger out and do some work!
One star is definitely too much for you but unfortunately Google does not believe in zero stars for anybody, even for the worst.

Don't even deserve 1 star. Someone at the council clearly has money in road maintenance company, and is just using their place to fill their pockets!

Corrupt and clearly have no clue what they're doing in regards to town planning - replacing the busiest, most tightly spaced main roads with extra wide pavements or rows of half-dead, poorly maintained trees?

Impossible for buses to get through London Road at the West Croydon end, Thornton Heath has new pavement but the roads are full of pot-holes, Shirley is full of pot-holes and every 4-way traffic light junction is an absolute disaster.

In central Croydon, every traffic light in existence geared towards letting trams through as priority, even though they're 75% empty and there are piles of buses trying to get through, rammed with people.

Good luck getting any of these dimwits on the phone, or getting any of them to actually help you! I had to wait THREE WEEKS for a response to my Email about garden waste, simply because there wasn't a single department willing to deal with it, and it kept getting "forwarded" to a different person/department. Honestly, they're so thick (or lazy? Maybe both) it makes you want to rip your own face off in frustration.

Now they're rolling out new recycling schemes to try and make it seem as though you're getting something for your extortionate council tax but guess what? They expect YOU to get rid of all the old bins yourself!

Bunch of lazy, good-for-nothing, simpletons.

The worse of its kind. Rude customer services. Most of them are clueless some of them can t even talk English properly.
Just bad very bad all over.

Lovely function rooms. Attended the Croydon Soroptimists' Loud and Proud Competition in the council chamber. Great venue. The room gave an air of gravitas to the proceedings.

Always missing recycling collections. Can't even report missed collection on website. Food waste not collected in 6 months!!!! When reported they simply took the bin away and didn't replace it!

workers simply there to get paid not offer a service that helps the people of croydon

Shocking customer service, website even more useless than calling, which is saying something.