Kiama council charges man $8,000 extra over red bin general waste mistake as he fights for refund
Warning from man after nightmare of $16,000 in red bin that took him 12 years to realise: ‘Don’t be taken advantage of’
- Geoff Oppert had only used one bin
- Kiama Council on the south coast of NSW charged for two
- This resulted in an additional compensation of $8,610 over 12 years
A man is warning all Australians to check their council fees after his nightmare experience with a rubbish bin left him paying double what he should have been.
It took Geoff Oppert 12 years to realize that Kiama Council, on the south coast of NSW, had charged him for two red lidded bins instead of one, leaving him with a bill of $16,610.
Mr Oppert raised the matter with his council, but was not reimbursed for more than two years.
A single red-lidded tub would have cost the Oppert family $8,000, but the doubling meant he had thousands of dollars out of pocket.
Mr. Oppert took his fight to A Current Affair and eventually got a refund for the switch, but warned others to “examine your rates notice” to make sure they avoid a similar fate.
Geoff Oppert was billed for two red-lid general waste bins instead of one, leaving him with a bill of $16,610 over 12 years
Mr Oppert said the fee had slipped under his radar for so long because of the ‘bureaucratic jargon’ in the council’s notices, but he immediately asked for a refund when he noticed something was wrong.
“In total, we spent $16,000 on waste disposal in 12 years, which should have been only half” Mr Oppert told A current situation.
‘However, they only wanted to pay us compensation for two years and argued that the reason was a tax law, which is unjust and downright wrong.
“It wasn’t our fault – they made the mistake and admitted – [so] examine your rate message to ensure you are not being taken advantage of.”
A Kiama City Council spokesperson defended what had happened, explaining that it was up to Mr Oppert to check his fees.
“As with any account or bank statement, it is the customer’s responsibility to review their documentation and notify the issuing authority of any discrepancies,” the spokesperson said.
“When this matter was brought to our attention, Kiama Council took action and refunded the amounts of $805.72 for 2021-22 and $818.61 for 2022-23.”
Going forward, the council also promised to check if anyone else in Kiama was similarly overcharged.
“In addition, the Kiama City Council is now working on an audit of all our municipal and residential waste services to ensure our charges are correct,” the spokesperson said.
A red lidded bin would have cost just $8,000 in the same period, leaving Mr Oppert thousands of dollars out of pocket after Kiama’s Council paid back only in the past two years