The garbage men broke our recycling bin. Is it fair for the city council to ask us to pay for a new one? DEAN DUNHAM responds

Our garbage men have broken our recycling bin.

I immediately complained to the city council, but now they charge us for a new one. What can we do about it?

CS, via email.

Dean Dunham responds: Your local council has the autonomy to set and implement numerous rules, thanks to delegated powers from central government. One of the areas in which you can do this is in garbage collection.

Here, all councils have their own policies and yours will have a specific one that covers the replacement of waste and recycling bins, and the circumstances in which replacements are free and when they are chargeable.

Some councils will replace the bin for free with no questions asked, but most will charge you to repair or replace the bin unless the rubbish collection contractor caused the damage.

Most councils that replace bins damaged by contractors will only do so if they can provide evidence that it was bin workers who caused it. They won’t just take your word for it.

Therefore, the first step is to ask your local council for a copy of their policy regarding damaged bins.

If the policy states that you will not have to pay for a replacement if the containers caused the damage, you will need to provide proof that they did to avoid being charged.

Please note that most councils will only accept videos, video stills or witness statements as evidence, so providing a photograph of the damage or the binmen handling the bin will generally not be accepted.

If your council policy states that

is charged to the head of household in all circumstances, one could argue that this is unreasonable and unfair as they should not have to pay for damages caused by their employee or contractor.

If you cannot reach an agreement on the way forward with the council, the next step is to lodge a complaint with the Social Care and Local Government Ombudsman, details of which can be found at lgo.org.uk.

However, experience tells me that if you are firm with your complaint, the council will relent and provide you with a replacement bin free of charge.

Sound cut in the cinema.

In the middle of a movie screening at my neighborhood cinema the sound failed and I left.

I asked for my money back, but they told me I could only receive vouchers, which I don’t want.

What are my rights?

FS, via email.

Dean Dunham responds: Section 49 of the Consumer Rights Act 2015 states that services must be provided with reasonable care and skill.

When you buy a movie ticket, the owner of the movie theater is providing you with a service, so it falls within this obligation.

The obligation to provide the service with reasonable care and skill forms part of the contract between you and the cinema operator.

In the context of a cinema, this means screening the entire film (i) with perfect picture and sound quality, and (ii) in facilities that are safe and sufficiently comfortable, and with all the advertised facilities.

So in this case, if the sound quality failed halfway through the film, it is a violation of the Consumer Rights Act and therefore a breach of contract.

In these circumstances, you are entitled to one of the remedies set out in the Consumer Rights Act, which is (i) free tickets to a future screening that is convenient to you or (ii) a refund.

Some theaters would say that you would only be entitled to a “partial” refund, since you were able to see part of the movie, but I disagree.

You couldn’t pay half the price to see only the remaining half of the movie elsewhere, so this is a remedy that simply isn’t practical, meaning only a full refund will be fair.

Now let’s move on to the issue of the movie bonus. Where a consumer has a right to a remedy under the Consumer Rights Act, it is perfectly acceptable for the trader to offer a voucher, but the consumer does not have to accept it and can instead insist on receiving cash.