I've been sorting out a problem with our Joseph Joseph waste bin. A couple of e-mails going back and forth today.

We bought one of their bins a few years ago from QVC. My wife got sold on it as it compacted the rubbish. There's a handle you push down that compresses whatever you have in the bin. What they don't tell you, is as you pull the handle back up some of the rubbish just follows it up again.
It was on special offer, around, £100.

It had a soft-close lid. Unfortunately, the mechanism packed up a few weeks ago which meant as soon as you took your foot off the pedal, the lid slammed shut. There's a filter under the lid and the "trauma" of the lid shutting with a bang meant it ended up in the trash, so I had to use tape to keep it in place.



Anyway, I dismantled the base and took out the broken soft-close mechanism, photographed it and sent it to Joseph Joseph, asking if it were possible to get a replacement.



I sent two follow-up e-mails, as I got no reply.

I gave it up as a waste of time a couple of weeks ago, but then last week I got a response and despite me not being able to find the proof of purchase they wanted, (I may have registered the guarantee), they said in this instance, they'd help me out, but they needed to know the model number, I couldn't find one, all I could do was send a photo of the actual bin.



This was enough. Today I received an e-mail to tell me they were replacing it, not the mechanism, the whole bin! They're £199 now!

www.josephjoseph.com/products/titan-30l-trash-compactor-stainless-steel

Never hurts to try. I'm glad this story has a happy ending. I guess there are some decent companies still out there. I bought a mattress in November and the policy was 101 days to try it out and if it didn't work out you could send it back for a refund. Well it didn't work out. I followed the return instructions and emailed the company and set up a pick up date. It actually went smoothly. The mattress was picked up[to be donated to Habitat for Humanity] and I got the receipt and went back to work. By days end my Amex card was refunded. i was pleasantly surprised. This company did what it said it would do with no hassles.

The bin arrived Saturday afternoon, in a huge carton.



The old one has been re-used.

It's the one nearest the door. It will be used for plastics and glass.




We were using a smaller bin for that, but I was for ever having to empty it, (milk cartons, not wine bottles!)

We've not used that door very often since we've had to separate our trash into three categories, plus a small bin for food waste. It's the only spare space in our small kitchen.

I've realised why the supplier had seemed quite generous. According to what was on the carton, they come with a ten year guarantee.
The original couldn't have been much more than four or five years old.