Worse council ever. My council tax is more than my mum who lives in a 4 bed house in hillingdon. and I'm in 1 bed flat. They miss my bins weekly (they missed them yesterday). Can't wait to stop paying these jobworth c u next Tuesday. Avoid. Plus staff are useless and have no idea what they talking about.
They never answer the phone why they have number,it s rubbish this peoples with council
most corrupt council in London, waited for 2 hours on the phone and still could not get through to them. Im glad im moving out of Harrow and getting rid of this stupid council.Their website is corrupt like their council.
Harrow Council should have collected my two small food waste bins on Thursday, they failed. Could not report on their website as it states not collected yet, although the rest of the road had been emptied. Telephoned and reported the problem. They confirmed it was their fault and gave a reference number and said it would be collected within two working days, which meant Monday as they don't work on weekends. They never turned up, so another phone call and a promise to "escalate" the complaint to the depot, which would take a further two working days (they don't seem to understand the meaning of 'escalate'). They also said they would ask their manager to phone me back, it never happened and they could not give me a reference number this time as I was informed the computer crashed. They asked for an e-mail address to forward the reference number when she sorted the computer problem, we received no e-mail. We are not allowed the manager's name or telephone number of the depot. Would anyone pay for a service which was not carried out? Harrow Council Refuse Department are a disgrace. Bins still not emptied and an army of ants taking residence.
Ordered new bins two months ago, they said will be delivered in two weeks still not heard from them. every time I call they take my number to call me back but never hear from them.
Missed bin "48 hours" to actually empty it is meaningless - They say it starts the day after it's reported but that's not included. So I reported on a Thursday evening (the earliest I could say the bin wasn't emptied). They recorded it Friday and they start counting on the Tuesday because of the bank holiday but it still hasn't been emptied and today is Thursday.
They seem to have a very different idea of 48 hours than most people!
Awful service. What a poor waste of money this council is. Embarrassing.
I would give LBH no STARS!!!! I called at 0900 this morning and it's 0940 now and (feign surprise) my call hasn't been answered. I am not sure how much longer I can listen to this awful music that is being forced upon my eardrums (I am sure it's a tactic they use so you eventually hang up, which I have done after waiting 40 minutes). I have never had to deal with LBH until recently and each service I was directed to doesn't seem to be forthcoming or even have the decency to respond.
Rubbish ,
I moved out of the property to another one nearby in same council , they opened the new account same day and started charging me immediately , but did not close the old account and when I cancel the DD after overpaying for a month rather than refunding me they are sending notices . try to reach them but no response , all employee are busy with priority covid-19 service . The only department working seems to collections department sending notices .
I still waiting a bin sice June ....the staff didn't answered to any of my e-mails.
Also to make a phone call to speak with them about anything it 's waste of time.
After nearly 5 years still trying to sort out all the gas, electric, water, roof leaking issues with our flat that was trashed by the former drug addict tenant who still has the debt collectors banging on our door because harrow council housing department hasn't updated their council tax department to tell them that a new set of tenants moved in a year ago! And that's just scratching the surface.
Would I recommend Harrow Council? Definitely, if you're wanting to die young, it's aged me a couple of decades in 5 years.
Would literally give minus review if possible.
Going through the reviews, they pretty much reflect every issue I've had in the last 4 years of living in Harrow.
The list of stupid things they have so far done is ridiculous, including numbering 4 buildings the same number on the same street.
4 years and they still can't even get a bin collection right!
Yet they will happily spend money on a chatbot for their site because it's so appallingly built.
Yet won't deal with the overwhelming amount of fly tipping that occurs in the area.
I'm sure this will be yet another unread review by them. Which is such a shame as this list pretty much summerises what their priorities should be.
Keep away. This council is the most terrible. They don't have a direct number. Their systems are very slow. Their procedures are a total failure. Executives working here think they are super smart and think that the systems in place are working well and robust. Council Tax PCN or any other services are not functioning well. They claim to be diverse, but i think because of the huge Indian work force, they're attitude and work ethics are the same as India. Total Disaster. They should be ashamed and move on and know they live in England not India.
the bins at my parents place in Claire Gardens , Stanmore, HA7 4EH, have now not been collected for 3 weeks, we don't get any response back on calls and emails, disgusted by the service, who would treat elderly people wrong
The way you treat your residents is DISGRACEFUL!! You deliver on the 16th a FINAL council tax reminder dated the 10th, with a 7 days deadline to pay in full, and leaving people with just 24 hours. And the only language you talk, when someone is trying to ask for your understanding of circumstances, is blame! Shame on you.
THIS IS THE WORST COUNCIL IN THE WORLD. I am paying the council tax since 15 August. It is almost 1 year since then and my name on the council tax is still wrong. I can not open a bank account nor use this as proof of address for anything. WHY AM I PAYING FOR? Can you please let me know what is so difficult to write correct a name on a paper? I called several times I was on the spot talking to reception several time and all the make me is to put my name on a paper again and next month is wrong again.
Horrific attitude over the phone. Asking for ridiculous amount of money without prior engagement or communication. What an absolute joke!
The most useless bunch of incompetents I have ever come accross. I don't think there is a single thing that they can do right. Every time I had to deal with them, they just wasted my time and got me nowhere. Their contractors take advantage of their disorganised system and they try to sneak charges on your sevice charge bill. Total disappointment. They don't deserve not even half a star.
I have received 10 different letters saying i own money to Harrow council regarding a prohibited turning in one day . Cannot get through the contact number , not sure what else to do next !!!
The whole borough of harrow is filthy and full of rubbish all over the streets yet council tax is not forgotten.
They must be incredibly under-staffed to keep people holding on the phone for 25 minutes - either that or they can't be bothered to work a bit faster. Either way, they shouldn't forget the people who pay their salaries are the ones they're neglecting.
I tried to talk to street clearing department for poor bin collection and left bin other places but very bad person no help . harrow ceo take no responsiblity . i don't know ?????
Worse borough in london, I have been driving everywhere in london but this borough is the worse. Recieved a big fine while driving here.
Rubbish in more ways than one. Vermin has increased two fold. Fly tipping is left so it encourages more fly tipping. Sort it out Harrow. I wish there was a minus one star cause that's the rating i would give this good for nothing council. : (((
I would loved to have given no stars. Honestly most useless and point council I've ever come into contact with. Sending me to court for not paying council tax when I don't need to
I think it depends on the department and how much staff they have. At the end of the day, many institutions are short staffed nowadays but I agree, it shouldn't mean customer service is ignored. Personally, every matter or issue that I have has, has been followed up or resolved by Harrow Council, and most of the staff I come across are pleasant and diligant workers. Particularly from the adult services team. Patricia, Elaine etc (sorry I can't remember surnames). Yes, council cuts means a lack of proper services but the likes of rubbish on streets should be down to the residents and maintaining bins and recycling accordingly. I am part of the 99% who are very unhappy about the new tower blocks taking over tbe civic centre, and I do hope that Harrow Council can sort many of their problems out without forgetting about us folk and their services!
Contacting this council is almost impossible and always a waste of time.
I had to change my review in the light of recent events. The original review was great when we were arranging our wedding registration and everything went smoothly. 6 months later we got nothing but grief because of the messed up garden bin collection. We paid for the service and every single time the bins were ignored. We reported the missed collection online and they were still ignored. I complained in writing and nothing changed. I complained again, and again nothing changed. I called them and got the "Computer Says No" reply on figuring out what's happening and why. Last year was no problem, this year the garden bin collection decided to scam us and ignore us. Nobody cares, nothing gets resolved, no matter what you do.
I have requested my bin lid be repaired for the last four years, I filled In my last application 29/3/2019 have still not seen anyone . I find Harrow Council are useless at dealing with anything I dread having to ring them
Typical council bureaucracy, plus they also litter the borough with their ugly purple and orange signs with a dreadful font.
Website is abysmal; impossible to make telephone contact with anyone who can answer my questions, and despite being advised on website that questions/problems could be raised via the email address posted on the page specific to my issue, no email address is provided.
It is not possible to speak to someone, only automated services now available and the website doesn't have many numbers to contact with , so hopefully writing will work
I booked to give notice of marriage here and found the service to be polite, friendly and efficient.
blud dis civic ting is so butterz innit fam.Some clapped worker Abdul annoyed me fam.All de staff is clapped.Dont go all girls are butterz
Terrible service. Can't get through on the phone. Website useless. What are we paying our Council Tax for? The Chief Executive should sort it out or resign!
the most useless council that ive seen , if they cant configure a phone robot i cant see how they can manage the rest of the area . all the phone lines are down . no one working on there .good thing that you all get paid . good luck
Strengths: extorting council tax, issuing fines
Weaknesses: everything else. In particular waste services, which are now seemingly non-existent on the days they're meant to happen. Pathetic.
Harrow council is there as a job creation scheme with no real concept of service. Given the number of bad reviews i am surprised that there is no reaction. Esp. the website claiming that they have some 80% satisfied customers. Obviously someone needs to see what they classify as satisfied!! There is no real way to contact the council. There are some numbers on website but no generic number. Other councils have a generic phone number you can ring. Even going to the council office does not get you anywhere.
Reference to business support grant very poor response.
all the other councils have paid the money and harrow council taking too much time
most of the business are struggling
Hillingdon council paid within 7 days and Milton keynes council paid within 2 days
Absolutely useless. Cannot speak to anyone, not even the main switchboard. What are we paying for?
If you cannot find parking on your own road as a resident you will be attacked with parking fines because they don t offer permits on your road. If you do manage to find parking you will trapped and hit with multiple parking fines on the high street. Pretty clear to see after some online reading that this is definitely a massive source of income for the council. Looks like a problem here and would be interested to understand exactly how much they are making from car/road related fines.
Scum of the earth with no hearts. Harrow disgusts me! No compassion for anything. I hope they rot in hell - f**** b****.
They send low lives around issuing tickets to innocent people. I hope karma gets each and every one of you scumbags.
I'm literally fuming while I'm writing this - God give me strength. I hope the same thing that happened to me will happen to you too ............... amplified by 100.
F*** you very much Harrow
Very very very bad in every bloody way, I dont know how else to put it in words, they have computerised everything, no human to talk, all they say send an email, and when you do, no reply at all, leaving people with confuse, but they love to keep on sending you parking tickets even when the courts revoked the charges, those people are absolutely useless, not working for the citizens
It s an amazement to see the rating of this place and wonder how they are still operating without change.
Living in this borough since early 1980's, paying council tax on time and never late. Not one late or missed payment. But wow what a bunch of idiots, I want to use more foul language but I will refrain. I have been trying to get the council to remove a tree, several emails and phone calls still nothing has been done. I calculated i have wasted three WHOLE weeks on this which I will never get back. This has gone for TWO years. The residual from the tree is damaging my garden slabs, but let me guess harrow council wont come and clean that, I will have to do that myself. I would have thought council would appoint respectful staff who work their butts off for the local people and take pride, but I guess not. Might as well hire a monkey for half the wages they pay these people and get better results. May put that down as a suggestion on a survey. Sad times in the borough
MISSED BINS - if you ring up to say your bin has been missed, they put a "request" in, that it should be emptied within 2 working days. Well, if it isn't, and you ring up again they put in another "request". You would think that one house with 2 outstanding requests would be dealt with ASAP, but no ! It seems that a new "request" supersedes any outstanding requests and gives the council a further 2 days. So, the more you complain, the less likely you are to get the bin emptied. Catch 22.
Awful service. Paid for garden waste but bin not emptied. Unable to report online and they don't answer the phone. What a disgrace. They don't even deserve a star rating!
Called harrow council listened to muzak for 25 mins!!!! Recorded message came on to tell me to look at website --CALL ENDED!!! Disgusting
The area has turned into a dump.. literally, people just dump rubbish everywhere. Labour accused the Conservatives of demonising the Romanian community and said it was simply because they were unaware of how to sort rubbish. Of course, once Labour got hold of the Council the problem got ten times worse. It's an embarrassment to live here now, which is a shame as this used to be a clean and quiet area. Now we have people living in garages, sheds, 20 to a house and even in their vans. Not to mention the number of drinkers at all hours, also evident by the way they just chuck their beer cans/bottles in street, if not in peoples gardens. There is a huge cultural divide here in terms of disposing of rubbish and due to the volume of people, this has become a major problem. However Harrow Council insists that we still have to celebrate this cultural diversity.
The council doesn't even respond to complaints, which is the main problem. People are reporting Illegal Multiple Occupancy (which is the main reason behind the bags of household waste on our streets) and telling the council who the fly-tippers are via their inadequate website but the Council doesn't even have the courtesy to reply.
And don't for one moment think this problem is going to get any better, the council seem to take delight in approving the building of high rise flats on every bit of land available. Welcome to the new face of Harrow.
The worst council in UK and i have dealt with a lot of them! The staff are very rude and very incompetent, they like transferring calls to different departments on purpose and need major improvement with their manners.
Im trying to pay my council tax. Its almost like they dont want my money. Been on hold for nearly 2 hours.
Difficult council to deal with, from planning permission to refuse collection. I paid for my garden waste to be collected 2 weeks ago, and they still haven't collected the bin, though I have been charged for the collection. I have rung them but still no joy. If one misses a council payment, then they are onto you in a flash, but cannot provide other services. Lots of room for improvement
You will not find a more useless bunch of councillors or officers in any local authority anywhere. I am ashamed of my borough. The list of Harrow Council's failings is endless. The decisions they take are mindless. Nothing works even adequately. Please can we use our votes to elect better representatives next time we get the chance.
The most unfair council ever - Since when does it say on their council tax reminder notices that you only get two and if you get another they issue a Final Notice? How is that even fair? I tried to set up a direct debit on their USELESS website only for it not to accept my type of bank?! And then when i do use a bank they accept the direct debit doesn't even go through. Only received 2 bills in the last 4 months and they're now trying tot get me to pay the whole remainder in full or I'll be issued a summons. Tried to explain this when I finally got through to one of their numbers and they said there was nothing they could do. NO care in the world and terrible staff and service. Very sad. They sound like they're money hungry scoundrels!! Wish I could give zero stars.
Awful service, was on the phone with very brushed lady. Her customer service manners were appalling, shouting at me. When I asked for an explanation on the rule I was referring to I got an answer ''Its a rule end off'' . They creating stupid rules to which have absolutely no explanation!
Shame I need to give one star to post this as I would happily give minus 10 if I could!
Would give a lower rating if I could. Harrow council is the worst: scumbags who only care about money rather than actually helping anybody in their borough
I did not like anything about the civic centre , Bad communication .i did not get the relevant answers
Awful council.. if there is no star. I would rate them zero.
They only get one star as it will not let you give none. This is the worst place to live in London.
Should be a no star rating. Moved to Harrow from South London. Hoped for an exciting change. 6 Months later we are moving back to South London. Council tax a rip off, no service or support. You can't phone them, staff useless. Randomly demand immediate payment on large chunks of money of 700+ due to their miscalculations, with no repayment option. Fly tipping outside our house, reported several times but yet messy skips and mattresses remain from before we even moved in. Water company overcharge, you are billed as standard water amount a family 4+ wouldn't use. Overground line is horrendous, unreliable and staff at all Harrow stations are unhelpful and clueless, especially Harrow and Wealdstone. Rude. And there is just so little to do in Harrow, as previous review stated all leisure is knocked in favour of cashing in on flat builds. Read the reviews before you make a big move like this. Don't make our mistake.
I am so glad i have moved away. My son summed it up, the people who work in the council occupy "sympathy jobs"
Well, thanks very much for telling us that the garden waste service is being cancelled the afternoon before it is due to be emptied! They suggest not filling the bin - bit too late now after people have spent the last week tidying up their gardens. Sadly not surprised though as it is Harrow Council after all who probably provide one of the worst services in the country. No stars!!
Ridiculous. No form of communication, completely corrupt.
Hunger for money. Uneducated staff and not well trained officers. These are money suckers attendant officers. Arrogant and aggressive staff. Shame on them to run this department.
Appalling service...the line for it,help harrow council to make harrow better....yeah right...FPN's no way to contact anyone apart from emails 5 weeks after the FPN was issued and paid i received a letter saying it hadn't been paid jeesh More
I ordered my waste bin on 5th September and I have been told that it won t now arrive until December. The price I paid up front is significantly higher than for bins available online but only those with the Harrow Council logo can be used. So, the Council has a monopoly, resulting in the usual abuses: high prices and poor service. The managers at the Council should be ashamed and be held accountable.
Harrow PCN dept is an absolute disgrace and so lazy. I have told them numerous times and by sending letters back saying person not at this address but they are so unintelligent they don t understand what that means so to make it easier for them I told them to contact the owners car insurance company because the guy they are chasing sold the property and didn t update DVLA but no they still want to keep writing to me. Brent Council and Camden Council understood and dealt with it promptly. Its harassment and I am going to start invoicing Harrow council for my time. They could check the land registry but they have such a easy job why bother thinking! I do feel sorry for anyone having to deal with them as I do not live in Harrow borough and I find them useless.
Ive seen too many RATS running around Harrow now. Sort it out. The Rats are getting bigger too. Sign of mismanagement and incompetence. Would second the other reviewers ( 95% of which are negative).
I have been on hold for 20 minutes and counting to speak to someone in the council tax team. After 20 minutes of holding I got through to switchboard for the second time. Another 10 minutes of holding and finally someone took my call. I am waiting for a refund of overpaid council tax from February. I have been told that they have not received the form even if I have a reference number and an email confirmation.
Incompetent - this is the best word to describe Harrow Council tax team.
Hqppy to take overpayments and chase fir council tax but has taken me 3 weeks to get the overpayment back. Wish i could take legal steos like they do....if i could give 0 i would.
So bad, no directions on website and unclear options on the phone line.
Unpleasent experience.........always...rude,beligerant, cold
ive emailled and rang so many times,ive reported them to the local authority omsbudsman and they found harrow at fault,worst borough in london,total rubbish
*Harrow is undoubtedly THE WORST council in London. The area used to be a nice, posh, middle class one a few years ago, but is rapidly crumbling due to the incompetent and disinterested services offered by its council.*
If you phone the council to resolve anything, you can be sure you will have to phone 3 or 4 times and still be lucky to see a conclusion to the matter. They just create more work for themselves because they can't resolve it the first time around, then the backlogs start. Staff are rude, incompetent and disinterested. They talk to down to customers in a very condescending manner and all they do is type lots of notes on their screens as you hold on. An average phone call to this council will take 40 minutes as you will be kept on hold listening to the same mind numbing moronic classical track over and over again for at least 15 to 20 minutes before anyone picks up your call. You will be wound up before you even get attended to.
Once you get through you will realise how truly incompetent the staff are, they have no powers to do anything to resolve any issue. The glorified typists type voluminous notes for their equally incompetent managers who refuse to take any calls from the public. You will be told bluntly to submit any complaints through their website and it is so useless that the complaint will either never be submitted automatically or else they will falsely claim you never submitted it.
179 Reviews on Google so far and all around 1 star only because people can't give zero or negative stars to this useless, incompetent behemoth that hinders its residents rather than help them. In short, all staff from the bottom to the top are totally disinterested in providing any sort of genuine service for the borough as they are anxiously waiting for the big hand to hit the 12 at closing time so they can rush home. Salaries intact who cares about the residents. *NOTE: Next election is in 2018 (next year) so lets try and change the leadership as the current one is more useless than the disinterested staff they have employed.*
Terrible council. Has no care for people who actually obey rules. They are not even worth zeros stars and if I could give MINUS 5 stars I would.
Harrow Council are an absolute disgrace. If I pay my council tax late I would be in trouble but they regularly collect bins late and there's no way to hold them to account! And good luck to anyone trying to get through to report anything on the phone, you'll be on hold for 1-2 hours just to speak to someone.
I like nothing about harrow council. Totally useless!!! Never reply to letters, waiting for an hour on the phone!!! And as for the housing officer's!!! Where are you!!!! I could do a better job myself
Worst council ever, all they do is trap drivers to sent PCN's.
Worst council I have ever dealt with. Almost impossible to speak to anyone..
Horrendous scumbag council that give PCN's to community NHS workers using their own car for work. I got one for parking in a permit area ( I have a Harrow permit) I was going to a life and death situation but got a ticket because in a tiny box it stated no parking after a certain time but this does not make sense as you would think permit only until a certain time and then parking allowed to anyone after that time??? Typical money grabbing scum tactics to trick people.
harrow.gov.uk
