Birmingham City Council Reviews 322

TrustScore 1.5 out of 5

1.5

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Review summary

Created with AI, based on recent reviews

Evaluating 43 reviews, most reviewers were let down by their experience overall. Many people expressed significant dissatisfaction with the staff, describing them as rude, unhelpful, and unprofessional. Customers also reported extreme difficulty in contacting the company, with long wait times on the phone and unanswered emails, leading to a general sense of incompetence and disorganization. The customer service was frequently criticized for being dismissive and unsupportive, with some individuals feeling unfairly treated. Some people were dissatisfied with the service, citing issues like uncollected rubbish, poor road conditions, and confusing signage leading to unexpected fines. However, some reviewers were happy with specific individuals and services, particularly "Support through Court" volunteers, who were described as helpful and understanding.

What people talk about most

Staff

Users describe negative interactions with staff. Many reviewers report staff being rude, dismissive, and... See more

Service

Reviewers mention ambiguous feedback about service. Many customers express strong dissatisfaction, citing... See more

Location

People report ambiguous experiences with location. Many customers express frustration with Birmingham's... See more

Customer communications

Customers consistently express frustration with contact methods. Many report extreme difficulty reaching a... See more

Customer service

Clients share negative opinions on customer service, often finding it nearly impossible to reach a person on... See more

Reviews shaping this summary

Rated 1 out of 5 stars

I'm appalled that Equans employees are paid to stay home, provided with vans, and receive good wages. It's even more frustrating knowing that Birmingham Council is responsible for covering these ex... See more

Rated 1 out of 5 stars

Absolutely the worst money grabbing overpaid bunch of wasters I've ever had dealings with!!! Fines for everyone, paid council tax for what? They don't empty rubbish, police never turn up, god forbid... See more

Rated 1 out of 5 stars

This is a council targeting non-local drivers with a penalty system designed to extract money, not improve air quality. Upon leaving and following the SatNav and getting confused by the multipl... See more

Rated 1 out of 5 stars

cant respond to complaints or deal with them properly whilst lodging court claims when the debt was already being paid off. They think they are eclever by scamming people by increasing debt. Di... See more


Company details

  1. Charity
  2. Non-Profit Organization

Information provided by various external sources

Birmingham City Council is the local government body responsible for the governance of the City of Birmingham in England, which has been a metropolitan district since 1974.


Contact info

1.5

Bad

TrustScore 1.5 out of 5

322 reviews

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Rated 5 out of 5 stars

Bulky waste collection

Booked a collection online. Date confirmed. Yes there is a cost but as we don't drive we have no access to the tip. Placed items outside as instructed. Collected before 8am. Everything gone. Very happy. Great job team

April 11, 2024
Unprompted review
Rated 1 out of 5 stars

Rip off

They've increased the community tax substantially and have missed refuse collection. They never honour to collect with in the 48 hours they say they will.

March 27, 2024
Unprompted review
Rated 1 out of 5 stars

Useless and incompetent

If only I could give less than zero! An absolute waste of a council. They have messed up with CAZ and LTN. They never fix pot holes until they become ponds. And now they're putting up our taxes. Useless and incompetent.

March 28, 2024
Unprompted review
Rated 1 out of 5 stars

BIRMINGHAM CITY COUNCIL CAUSING…

BIRMINGHAM CITY COUNCIL CAUSING DEPRESSION AND STRESS
Sent 4 PCN straight to Bristow and Sutor ..according to them they have sent all notices which is a lie i have always paid my fines however now that they are bankrupt they are sending the increased fine straight to debt collectors.
I havent recieved any letters since before August .... I even had to ask Bristow And Sutor what dates the PCNS have as I had no idea about them
I have paid so many fines in the past with no issues however somehow no letters were arriving and now I have to pay nearly 1000 to Bristow and Sutor on a payment plan
Now I have received an email because I appealed a PCN that came with 189 gbp to pay when I hadnt even received the 1st one they normally send you.
You are causing stress BCC ... I haven't received any notifications for these PCN and I know post is arriving correctly because you sent me a bus lane fine recently which I happily paid
There was something wrong with your post in August September October November and December as I recieved NOTHING FROM YOU

March 27, 2024
Unprompted review
Rated 1 out of 5 stars

0 stars

Waiting on the phone for nearly an hour for someone to answer my call, then to be told they couldn’t help with my enquiry so had to transfer me to a different department… Where I had to wait a further 40mins

February 16, 2024
Unprompted review
Rated 1 out of 5 stars

Incompetent and disgusting

The worst City Council I have been unfortunate enough to live under and fund. The council tax has gone up at a much higher rate than inflation - every single year - for many years. The city has become dirtier and dirtier with every passing year. The roads are full of potholes. There are so many temporary traffic signals where no one ever is seen doing any work. All council money is spent in funding some particular places of religion and for supporting 'diversity'. The council has managed very successfully to run a once beautiful and great city down to the gutter. I would leave Birmingham if I could.

January 1, 2024
Unprompted review
Rated 1 out of 5 stars

Rubbish School admissions

School admissions have become even worse, I applied for 6 schools for my daughter which are best, even went to see them, and they gave me the worse school, with the worst ofsed report, and not even one of our choices! Now it's going to waste our time appealing, and I know they will still mess us around. My daughter is so upset.

March 1, 2024
Unprompted review
Rated 1 out of 5 stars

Absolute Scam - Preying on innocent to pay back the 2.9 billion they are in debt.

I parked at Snow Hill in April 2023 and forgot to pay for my ticket on parking, but paid when I realised at work. So my duration was fully covered before I got back to my car.

I’m then met with a fine, when speaking to someone from the council they explained people make mistakes and it should be ok, just pop an appeal through. So I didn’t worry about it and submitted my appeal - I heard nothing back and received another letter about payment. I called them and was told they’d sent an email/letter rejecting my appeal (neither had been received) when I asked them to resend it or let me know why it was rejected they said no.

Next I had to appeal through the TEC and as I’m waiting for a response from them, I get a bailiff at my door at 620am! As a women staying on her own, this was extremely frightening. I genuinely thought the house was being broken into at first. I was mortified - I ran downstairs and saw a letter about repossessing my property. I work for a charity and can’t cancel my meetings last minute so I eventually paid the £394 after going back and forth with the bailiff. He didn’t listen, he wasn’t interested in anything I had to say about how I was waiting to hear back from my appeal. His attitude was truly awful and his broken English made it even harder to communicate and resolve the situation.

This is all because Birmingham City Council decided people can’t make genuine mistakes anymore, as they have millions of pounds of debt they need to claw back. Absolute SCAM. I will be avoiding any council owned car parks going forwards and will be taking this further to get my money back.

The best part is, they’ve taken the £394 and still kept the money I paid for my ticket!

February 20, 2024
Unprompted review
Rated 1 out of 5 stars

Useless

Inside and outside leak has been going on for over a year! They keep saying its sorted but isnt. Massive amounts of water coming inside my sons room . They keep sending out the same useless roofer who just sits in his van. I have video and photo proof of him NOT doing anything

February 26, 2024
Unprompted review
Rated 1 out of 5 stars

I had no idea about the clean air zone…

I had no idea about the clean air zone until I received word of a very significant late penalty charge. Birmingham City Council couldn't bother to send me a letter, so unfortunately it went to an enforcement agent and they managed to get in touch. Of course I would have paid the charge immediately had I been made aware! I'm not sure why Birmingham is so inept, the City of London has no problem getting in touch with me via post. If you want my honest opinion, greedy Birmingham City Council just wanted the multiple fee fee (£££)... like something out of a Simpsons episode, but not nearly as humorous. However, they themselves are nothing short of a joke.

February 16, 2024
Unprompted review
Rated 1 out of 5 stars

Unable to function as a Council

Unfortunately, there are a number of issues with this very poorly run City Council, and this is one of them that relates to Council tax. Mum, age 91, gets letter that she needs to log on to online server and enter account number including Access key code (never mind that she suffers with weak sight and does not have access to a PC). Family log on for her and enter codes / numbers (3 times) and 3 times the system has a problem! Family contact BCC and raise the issue, the Agent checks and enters the codes/numbers manually. They finish by saying, it is now done and all ok. 2 weeks later, another letter arrives, same as before, however, now threatening to stop the single person discount if not logged on and codes entered within 2 days. Family log on again, enter codes and numbers, guess what? Same as before, issue with system! Now, do we need to ask why this Council recently went Bankrupt? Not really, it's simply not able to function because they do not seem to see the issues and problems that are taking place. Have they considered elderly people? Nothing so far has demonstrated to me, that they have.

February 15, 2024
Unprompted review
Rated 1 out of 5 stars

Just touched the clean air zone by…

Just touched the clean air zone by accident and just before midnight, so had to pay for two days as the call centre couldn't tell me which day(s) I was clocked and I didn't want to risk getting a PCN.

They'd soon manage to tell me when I was there if I hadn't paid, what a con! Another way to tax money from the motorists and give it to their paracitic mates who administer and run this circus!

August 28, 2023
Unprompted review
Rated 1 out of 5 stars

Scammers

They have tried to scam me out of an exorbitant amount of money because I have moved into a new build and expect me to pay council tax on this new property for all the months that I wasn't the registered owner. I tried calling and asking for help and the best response I got off them was a 'that's just the way the cookie crumbles' attitude. Very unhelpful and extremely unfriendly or caring on the phone. They went bankrupt this year and haven't denied when I asked if they were trying to take additional money off me because they need it themselves. I have spoken to citizens advice and the ombudsman as well as other residents in my buildung who moved in this year and AREN'T paying the same amount that the council want to charge me. The former two have both advised that this isn't right and I need to be pursuing this further and complaining. The council have yet to respond and seem to be taking a deliberate amount of time.

January 1, 2024
Unprompted review
Rated 1 out of 5 stars

Became homeless after my break up from…

Became homeless after my break up from my 14yr relationship found HMO that was terrible I complained of drug mis-use and long story short I was put back on street from a homeless shelter Kind Hands worse in world then I contact council 3days I been on streets cos council can’t find me a roof to live under Great Britain what a joke nothing great about this hell hole I will be dead in few days thanks to neglect by Birmingham City Council

February 2, 2024
Unprompted review
Rated 1 out of 5 stars

What a joke Birmingham City Council…

What a joke Birmingham City Council are, three months ago they put scaffolding round mine and the neighbours shed, no one knows why this was done, the council don't know why it's there, I've phoned eight times and still none the wiser, now I can't see what the problem is, it was put up by mistake and mistakes happen, so all Birmingham City Council have to do is tell the scaffolding firm to take it down, why is this such a mission for them oh yeah incompetent council that should all be given the sack for there failings and putting Birmingham City Council in bankruptcy, and if I worked for these clowns and someone asked me where I work I'd rather say I work at McDonald's or selling big issue mags

January 23, 2024
Unprompted review
Rated 1 out of 5 stars

Disgusting

Disgusting

Got a PCN notice for driving through the clean air zone although I had paid on the day I had driven into the zone. why????????????

January 12, 2024
Unprompted review
Rated 1 out of 5 stars

If I could give 0 stars I would!!

If I could give 0 stars I would!!

Received a bus lane fine through the post and this was the first letter I had for it and was made aware of. It stated the cost has doubled to £105.00 from £70 as it had not yet been paid yet this was the FIRST I’ve heard of it.
Called up to discuss this and the woman was absolutely rude shocking how she has a job there! She was very sarcastic in a very unprofessional manor I wish I got her name to make everyone aware of the nasty woman! They said there is nothing I can do other than pay this or ignore it and go to court and get a potential CCJ for not paying it as it on their records they sent the first letter, when it was not sent! Now with someone with anxiety too this is not what you want to get told. I think this is absolutely appalling. Typically Birmingham city council are in the gutter with money and are doing nothing at all for the community and I didn’t receive the first letter, but it’s doubled makes me think they didn’t send it to scam more money instead of sending it!

January 11, 2024
Unprompted review
Rated 1 out of 5 stars

Leaving a 1 star is too good

Leaving a 1 star is too good, but is the only way to leave a review! Charged £120 for a pcn I appealed! Charged for Images of the vehicle captured on camera at Bristol Street at Belgrave Middleway Although this is not supposed to be part of the clean air zone as clearly stated all on there websites! They broke so they just trying to get all the money they can from people who are already below the breadline! Very disappointing that this is how low they have scoop to get money from people who are already struggling!

August 8, 2023
Unprompted review
Rated 1 out of 5 stars

I received a pcn for entering the clean…

I received a pcn for entering the clean air zone. We travelled via the back roads and there were no signs anywhere, as we were part of a wedding convoy a number of cars received this. The other vehicles appealed and were let off. I appealed and did not hear anything back, they have now written to me 1.5 years later demanding payment.

December 7, 2022
Unprompted review

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