Reading Borough Council reviews

If I good give 0 stars I would. Council is only interested in Money, no care for the residents. If you look at their permit charges they increase it every single year, this is clearly daylight robbery. Working people always get done over. …

Absolutely useless council. We pay some of the highest council tax rates in the UK and our roads are in a dire state with pot holes everywhere – This has consequences for residents in the form of extra car maintenance costs….. The council …

These guys didn’t collect our bins for 6 weeks, by week 6 our bins were over flowing. So we double bagged everything we couldn’t fit in, then put them on top of the bins in the hope there would be some kind of understanding. The roadworks …

Out of all the councils i have experienced living in UK and abroad (6+). RBC has to be the worst. The service is bad. The rhetoric is threatening. Feels like a shoot first and no questions needed later policy. Been on the call with CS …

I have two main reasons to give one star here:
1. I have been trying to get a bulky waste collection slot for over a month now. They say they release the slots everyday and ask you to keep checking. I have …

BEWARE – RBC are happy to receive income from PCN’s even when single yellow lines are not maintained i.e. not continuous (barely visible)! A parking information sign was also not present in that section of the road. RBC’s attitude and actions boarder on the level of scamming the public.

Terrible service. They failed to collect our bins for 2 weeks. When I called, the person on the phone told me that it wasn’t RBC’s responsibility, and to email a complaint (I had to remind them that was why I was on the phone!). Where is …

If every time someone calls up, you have a queue of 10 people on hold, for years on end, you’re probably not experiencing ‘high volumes of calls’, you’re just severly underprepared to deal with the services which you are offering to residents.

The amount of dislike I have for the council cannot even be described in words. I set up a direct debit for my council tax, money should have been taken out my account every month. I confirmed with my bank that this was an issue from their …

Schools offer day and RBC earning their 1 star review because as usual they can’t get their act together and use a system that actually works. West Berks managed it hours ago, yet Reading residents still waiting. Suprise suprise.

What’s the point of having a phone number if it automates you to go to the website and find more information? Absolutely pathetic. These companies using “we are here to help you” as more of PR rhetoric rather than actually meaning what they say

Absolutely useless. All I want to do is a set up a direct debit for my council tax but my online account does not work and no one ever answers the phone.

Chocolate Teapot is more useful! Gold Medal for wasting money, with silly cycle lanes like Sidmouth Street.

The customer service team who works at this council are shocking , rude over the phone & useless.
They constantly missing the bin collections, food waste collections are forgotten for nearly a month.

Telephone the published council tax helpline:
Usual condescending intro from bot, followed by menus.
Taking options yields arrogant announcements about www.
Then it hangs up. Rude and crude non-administration.

given the cost of council tax and the state of most roads in Reading, it speaks a lot. I am still waiting a reply for 2 weeks with no signs of ever hearing back.

I have been trying to contact the council but couldn’t get an answer
I have ordered a general waste bin almost 7 months ago and never received
I have paid for this so please either fix my order or refund me …

I see 4 security guards, 1 receptionist… Just let’s you know where priorities lies. And the security people are the only ones smiling.

I am not sure if I am in the right place but I just wanted to say that Reading and surrounding areas are dirty and filthy! Some places look like 3rd word countries. Unbelievable!

The website is so outdated and doesn’t really work, finding a number to call… set aside half a day for that, can’t find a way to speak to someone, just told to visit the website.. I would happily do everything through the website but …

The worst council ever, I started driving in 2018 and the amount of parking tickets I have got till now in my own area is countless. Although I have a paid for a permit to park but there’s no parking. After challenging few of the tickets …

Website never working when you get someone on phone thay not forward the calls to people that surpost to ring you back letters that you have sent thay say thay never got them totally a waste of time

30/3/23:
Thumping bass heard over the last week when we went to visit friends over several days who live off Abbotsmead Place by the back of Waitrose carpark. Why do the …

No helping with my parking ticket, never received my first letter , charge double right away , they don’t think about 50pounds means a lot for someone under this economic circumstances

I’ve lived at my current property for nearly three years and I’ve paid the correct council tax on time, always. RBC instructed enforcement agents from two different debt collection agencies to collect on their behalf against people not …

Incompetent babuins sharing parking tickets without a reason,the concil never pick up the phone…

As I am writing this review, I have been on hold for three and a half hours. I still have not spoken to a single person. I am going to be homeless in three days, and no one can even be bothered to pick up the phone. Absolutely unreal. …

Can you improve the quality of the tap drinking water please some of us are paying council tax!!! And CLEAN Oxford Road it’s SICKENING!

RBC ‘s shocking lack of competence puts people’s lives at risk. You are a danger to our community and need a huge overhaul.
Step one …

You need a – stars option on here! Had a letter to confirm our council tax was fully paid to date and then I get a letter from an enforcement agency demanding money 8 months later. Absolutely the worst council

I want to sort out my bus pass it meant to take ten days and it’s been more then ten day

I’ve lived in many cities and Reading has the absolute WORST council of all. Unhelpful, rude staff. No one ever actually wants to help anyone, they waste money hand over fist, haven’t a clue about priorities. Their processes are geared to …

I went into the Civic Centre building today to ask a basic follow up question and I had the most terrible experience with a member of staff on the customer service desk. They were rude, unknowledgeable, patronising, and profoundly …

Their parking services do not work for their constituents and they are only losing money by having such horrible systems.

I am a mother of two children .. I have been calling for 5 months to help me find a house, even privat rent.. because I live in a room… that landlords don’t accept people with Universal credit… and council told me they can’t help me .. call …

New Boiler that was fitted approximately two months ago has gone wrong, my partner has health issues and we have no heating or hot water, although for water we can use the immersion.. RBC’s emergency number is a joke – held so far 38 …

My partner got a PCN which was sent to our previous address so we had no idea about it until we started getting emails from a debt collector organisation. Emails looked as a scam and didn’t have any conclusive information about the nature …

I would like to thank RBC for the excellent work they have done on clearing The Wokingham Way between Island Road and Green Park. Long may it continue. Safer and much more enjoyable. Please pass this on to those concerned.

04/10/2021 11:43. I would like to thank Rob, from the Council Tax Support department, for being patient, informative and helpful. I suffer with extreme anxiety but I was OK because Rob has great customer service skills. I am very grateful for the help Rob gave. I wish him nothing but the best for his future.

Reported a problem weeks ago and I’ve been waiting for the housing officer to contact me. Unfortunately I am still waiting. When I phone I’m told I’m in a queue I was in a so called queue for 40 minutes and then the line went dead.

What a lovely experience, welcoming great inn from reception and Moira was a pleasure to deal with. Thank you for your assistance today

awful service. i do not know why we pay them. completely useless.

Why is it so difficult to get hold of anyone regarding HMO license?!

Reading Borough Council Staff have really been helpful I cannot thank them enough I had been to get my Childs birth Certificate and the official there was very Generous I arrived late to the appointment but yet The Women at the Reception …

You have to laugh, I rang up using the number on the website and the automated call that lasted about 5 minutes and several options ended saying “use the website … good bye” and what I needed doing CAN’T be done on the website , automated …

If I could leave no stars I would as they are an absolute disgrace of a council! I requested for 3 bulky items to be collected on 24/11 for collection on 7/12 (I’d called a few times before then and they were being extremely difficult with …

If I could not even give a star, I literally would give RBC zero.
This council is unprofessional, unethical and disrespectful.
They will stress you out non stop, throw the word safeguarding around like it …

Received a parking violation with a registration number that doesn’t even belong to us. Thanks for the diligent work, guys. Then again, this is an epidemic across the entirety of the UK.

Was told to call housing advice @ 9am was sat on the phone for almost 2 hours just for a machine to cut in & tell me the office isn’t open to calls then hung up with no alternative way of contact I hate reading & want to move out but can’t because can’t get any answers to how I can get onto another councils housing list

terrible they treaten you for council tax but dont answer the phone to provide bank details to make the payment and nothing on the bills. shame you cant give no. stars

Worst council of the year? Possibly. Currently in the closing stages of buying a flat but haven’t exchanged yet. I had another viewing at the property to check the vendor had fixed an outstanding issue, only to find on arrival a council tax …

I have lived in Reading for nearly 40 years and seen it morph from a nice place to live to an overcrowded shambles run by a council who are only interested in getting city status, minorities and hard luck cases. Jason Brook and his loony …

Very helpful, patient, knowledgeable and friendly people

This is the worst council to live under! I have lived in reading and under RBC all my life and can honestly say they are the worst. They take money at every turn and do very little to help. If I could give no stars I would. …

Shambolic at every turn, I have been running a business in Reading for 36 years.
Retired now, would never suggest anyone run a business in this town ! Shocking …

So Slow
I applied for an allotment at Scours lane in November 2017 and they had empty plots, it’s now the 27th of April 2018 and I still don’t have a plot. The website …

Parking Permit Process – I’m really impressed with the process to get a parking permit that we desperately needed when we visit our elderly/house bound relatives in Caversham. The helpline have been helpful and guiding us to the right pass to apply for and options for paperwork they need but we didn’t have. Excellent service

Came here to get my personal licence. I had already attempted online however this was incorrect. They communicated this all very well and were very prompt in processing my application when I arrived. The staff are great and welcoming. …

Bins are a big issue, we are a family of 7 and been told we get to put an extra bag out next to bins, we have 26 bags to last a year what a joke. Iv used them already, and then get complaints about rubbish bags in my garden, well where else …

SHOCKING!!!!!! By far the worst council.
Downsized the general waste bins.
We have 2 kids in nappies. …

they claimed to have sent me 4 bus lane fines months ago. funny how i didn’t get those but i got the increased ones which i have no way to appeal unless i can afford to get a lawyer. thieves. I spoke to Ava and they couldn’t care less. if i …

Very helpful staff once you have negotiated your way around the droid in front of reception whose sole function seems to be to deflect every troubled citizen to whichever useless telephone number, website or ambiguous form they deem to be …

The service provided today by the person on the penalty charge office was shocking. In my first call, she did not want to provide information I am entitled too and I had to call a few times until she actually provided some of it. This is …

Green Garden waste Bin not collected Monday 22nd March reported this by online services and received what appears a standard reply saying wasn’t out by 7AM Monday Morning! It was in fact out on the pavement at 5pm Sunday 21st. I cannot find …

There should be a negative star system enforced for situations like this.

Long story short: …

Has anyone actually had a good experience dealing with this council I wonder? Basically they make mistakes but it’s your problem and they couldn’t care less. The advic3 they give you to appeal a problem caused by them is to get a lawyer! …

I have lived in Reading all my life and never found it so dirty scruffy and overflowing bins as it is now .It makes you wonder what they spend the money on . The smaller wastebins make it extremely hard to get a tip slot because everyone …

I just wanted to thank the staff at the tip at Smallmead – very polite and helpful, thank you very much! Just generally, the tip is a fantastic resource, it is really good to be able to get rid of rubbish in a more environmentally friendly way, thanks to those responsible.

Reading Council is a criminal organisation, either through malice or through incompetence so staggering it beggars all belief. …

Pretty useless council, bin collection is often missed or not on schedule, recycling collection is only every 2 weeks. Very little help with residence parking permits and a slow application process, so now I can’t park outside my own house for almost a week while I wait…. kind of makes you want to live in a different borough.

I have noise problems with my neighbour. I’ve used The noise app and recorded on 20 different ovations on really late hour’s. Afther a few months i got a message from reading council saying that because i didn’t recorded anymore in the …

A bad council to deal with. Customer service is always poor. Very long waits just to speak to reception. They never seem to receive any post because when you send them important documents they magically go missing. Complaining doesent help …

If I could score it less I wouldn’t hesitate. Staff have no compassion, are ignorant and unhelpful. Absolutely shocking service. Could learn an awful lot from West Berks on how a council should be run and how your staff should speak to people.

Readings parking attendants seem to attracted to my car. Every time I put a parking voucher in my car they seem to get me for some reason whether it’s hard to read licence plate number or accidentally scratching slightly over the line of …

Having received a Parking Charge Notice for having a Pay & Display Ticket on the dashboard rather than on the windscreen, and had my challenge rejected, I called to pay the fine, but was put through to the wrong department twice (having …

RBC is a big organisation and your experience will be determined by which part of the organisation you contact. Some parts of RBC are actually reasonably efficient. Sadly their bulky waste collection service is not in this category. We …

A bunch of con artists. Gave me a parking ticket even though I clearly bought a ticket. Apparently I parked on the wrong side of the “empty” road. I don’t think I did but even if I did, I paid for parking, no one was effected, you think …

I am speechless at the service RBC tax offers through the phone, absolutely appalling, they don’t want to do anything, very lazy and very patronizing in the way they speak with the customer. This should be addressed at the next level and …

I wish I could write a better review. But the building control department is really disappointing. For the last three weeks we have been sending them emails and reminders to answer us back and we still haven’t got any reply back, they just ignore us. Useless and disappointing…

A challenging town yet blessed with a diverse community and mixed challenges. So how much is this town worth.? . One blessing a day . Blessed to be in the most Blessed town – Reading with great leaders from all sectors and walks of life keeping safe in our community.