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News

Valet Living 1-year Experience Survey

9/11/2023

23 Comments

 
Tower residents have now had a year of using the Valet Living trash service. In advance of our next PLBRA Board + Residents meeting on October 5th at 7 pm, PLBRA is collecting feedback from residents on the experience. We'd like to be able to approach PLB management and have a constructive conversation about what is working and what is not. Please take the survey below - and of course, we welcome your comments about using the service after you take the survey. Please be civil in the comments - any aggressive or personally-directed comments will be deleted.

    Valet Living One-Year Experience Survey

    Please enter a time
    Please detail the problems you've encountered.
    Please enter your recommendations here.
Submit
23 Comments
Pilar Mac Daniel
9/11/2023 07:30:51 pm

The service missed some days, not a big deal but the tenants should be informed.

Reply
James Allnutt
9/13/2023 11:24:58 pm

The app helps! If they aren't coming it sends you a notification, or you can report a missed pickup.

Reply
b p
9/11/2023 07:42:28 pm

Valet spilled someone's used kitty litter in front of my apartment. It was there for more than 12h before plb came to clean it up.

valet told me they didnt even have a vacuum. isnt this the sort or inevitability a company doing that professionally should be prepared for?!

i dont understand why the health department hasnt shut this nonsense down.

Reply
Jackie Weiss
9/11/2023 08:34:22 pm

I love having the service. But why do I still get a trash charge on my rent?

Reply
Betsy Hunter
9/11/2023 09:17:29 pm

Would much prefer taking our trash, compostables and recyclables to basement at our convenience. We want to support recycling and compostables and would like designated bins in the basement for these.
The trash valet system makes our hallways look . . . trashy. And it can be smelly. Let's face it, many residents don't bring their trash cans in, some leave big bags of trash (not in can) in halls. It's embarassing to have visitors/clients see this in a supposedly "stunning residential community" (as described on the PLB website).
Support@valet living.com is responsive and apologetic about missed pick-ups, but frankly I don't want to spend time emailing them, or calling the number they provided if we discover a missed pick-up before they have left the property.

Reply
SR
9/11/2023 10:07:35 pm

The service needs to go away. The time of day that trash is in the hallways doesn’t work for me for a few reasons: I’m not always home from work before 7:00 pm to put out the trash, so I do miss the trash pickup more days than I’m able to have them pick up my trash. if friends come over for dinner, they see the trash all over the hallways which is embarrassing and smelly. Neighbors don’t always bring in their trash cans after trash has been picked up, the cans have stayed in the hallways until late the next day. I have one neighbor whose trash can stays outside their door always (with or without trash) they never seem to take it inside their apt. Some neighbors don’t have enough room to put their trash in front of only their door as they sometimes have a lot of trash and their trash has drifted in front of my door - gross. I have photos of this, wish I could attach here. I miss the trash Shute (I’ve gone to the Shute door several times forgetting it’s not an option anymore). Bring back the Shute

Reply
Sandra Schofield
9/12/2023 10:57:10 am

The folks at Valet Living, James, in particular have been quit nice to deal with. I have had difficulty in getting my trash picked up and James has helped me. For most of the time, the workers have been forgetting the Main Floor.
I think the system is somewhat flawed. I would much prefer designated bins in the basement for composting, recycle, etc. That way the hallways would stay clean and we could take our trash down when we see fit.
I really do not care to have my evenings intruded on by having to check “Notices” and track the trash.

Reply
Karen Schetina
9/12/2023 07:42:56 pm

I’ve accepted the fact that in life these days we encounter situations which didn’t cause headaches previously. Not only at PLB, but everywhere these days. I get a sense that many just don’t care anymore. It’s very sad to see that I have neighbors who simply could care less about anything. There’s absolutely no sense of neighborliness or community with some people. I also feel that if we were to discontinue the Valet service, and have separate securely contained bins downstairs for COMPOST, RECYCLING, LANDFILL, that it would be preferable. Then we wouldn’t count on people doing a job which sometime doesn’t get done, or is not done hygienically.

Reply
EB
9/12/2023 11:21:19 am

PLB Management is trying to makeup for all the money they lost during Covid. Or they are getting kickbacks from all the new "services" they are forcing on people. Thats why they are coming up with these "great" ideas. Instead of upgrading the trash chutes they decided to close them and force people to use an unreliable, 3rd party vendor. No one asked for this. Everybody was ok for decades at taking their trash out and putting it in the chute. Making the doors bigger and sanitizing the collection point was a logical and easy solution. The trash was not even going to the bins by the elevators. Each tower has a big, locked trash room that opens to the chutes. I work in propety management. I deal with many buildings with different problems. The goal should be making life easy to the tenets. The management company is here to serve them, not the other way around.

Reply
Massimo Grassia
9/12/2023 07:20:09 pm

The survey, which I filled on my Android phone, forces you to add comments even if you have answered Yes to all questions. Just a small glitch, which however might discourage users from completing and submitting.

Reply
AWG link
9/18/2023 10:18:12 am

Fixed. Thanks, Massimo.

Reply
Anne Wagner
9/12/2023 07:30:04 pm

The idea of the service is great in my opinion. The provider is not. They consistently miss days and leave trash debris in the hallways. A couple of days they have left disgusting spills in the elevator and we have seen them literally dragging bags into the elevator instead of using carts. If it's the same provider the whole year, the service has declined over the past several months. If we're paying we deserve consistency and cleanly service. We prefer it to taking trash down to the basement but only if they provide the quality of service that it is marketed to be. Trash chutes get really stinky if not cleaned regularly but they could work too if maintained.

Reply
Karen Schetina
9/12/2023 07:30:22 pm

I am quite pleased with the service. During the year, there were probably 8-10 occasions (not including holidays with no trash service) where the trash/recycling/compost was not collected. It did not cause hardship. I’m simply letting you know. I find the system to be very simple and efficient. It’s easy to separate landfill, recycling and compost; and given the existential threat of climate change, and the California mandate to collect compost separately, I can only hope that Valet Trash Service and Athens Services are actually separating the bags and ensuring that all is sorted and properly disposed of.
Question about enforcement: We, and all of our neighbors except one (directly next door) place trash bins out between the designated hours of 5-7:00pm. No one, except our next door neighbors, leaves their bins out after the collection has occurred. Our neighbors leave their large black bin out all the time. They don’t separate anything and sometimes don’t tie their bags, and their trash often leaves an odor. Will there be a notification sent to anyone who leaves their bins out all the time? Not only is it unsightly, but it’s unsanitary and could attracted unwanted pests/critters. Thank you for conducting this survey, and for your work to help management to ensure a clean and safe environment for residents of PLB.

Reply
Michele Palermo
9/14/2023 09:49:05 pm

Valet Living ended recycling in the towers at PLB. That is not only wrong for the environment, it's ILLEGAL. Recycling is the law and it is not being done here anymore. EVERYTHING from towers is going into landfills. I put my trash in the basement bins and walk my recycling to a townhouse parking lot bin, so at least I feel like I'm not contributing to the problem. (Athens still picks up recycling from those parking lots regularly). and there is ZERO composting being done, even though that was the "hook" - that LA City mandated composting" that they shoved the Valet Living thing on tower residents with. This is a terrible service, operating illegally according to City code.

Reply
Anne Wagner
9/15/2023 05:36:51 pm

Trash missed again last night. This is the 2nd time this week. There are trash spills and debris in the hallway and elevator and the hallway stinks of trash. Our neighbors' trash was also skipped on the whole floor. Our belief is that the service provider simply cannot handle the volume of this community and we should not have to pay for services we aren't receiving. Hopefully Management will look at this carefully and rectify.

Reply
A
9/16/2023 06:22:43 am

Would prefer for Valet Living to offer recyclable bags too, or even a separate container.
Sunday seems to be the day most often missed by their staff.
Would like enforcement of the rule to bring in containers each day. Many residents just leave them out constantly.

Reply
Adine Porino
9/18/2023 10:16:28 am

Is the recycling really being recycled?

Reply
Shawn
9/18/2023 10:22:29 am

Don't need the service, and not happy that they force it on you to begin with. Completely capable of taking my own trash out.

Reply
Nadine Antin-Colla
9/18/2023 05:21:20 pm

I’m not unhappy with the service per se, but I agree with the comment about it looking tacky in the halls. Also, I’d be VERY upset if Trash Valet should come on the elevator the same time I was on it-that must happen to folks. That would be inappropriate in my opinion. I too wonder if trash is really recycled.

Reply
mary Lloreda
9/19/2023 02:57:51 pm

I think the trash service works very well. I find it to be very convenient . People are complaining about trash in the hallways. I think the problem is with the user i.e. the tenants. As your all know, you must enclose your trash in a plastic trash bag and put it in the black bin outside your door. Make sure all your trash is securely in the bag! If people would follow the rules, taking in your trash cans, put your trash out during the hours posted and be mindful of your neighbors. That’s all very simple, we cannot have piled up trash in the basement of the of the buildings again, it is a source of rodents and cockroaches I give a big thumbs up to Trash Valet! Your job is not easy.

Reply
Jack Hunter
9/19/2023 04:36:25 pm

I don't need anyone to pickup my trash. I do not have enough room in my kitchen as it is and I don't want to keep that big ugly trashcan in my kitchen. the hallways are dreary looking enough as it is ,those trash cans and bags of bottles don't add any charm. I am ashamed to invite anyone to my home. I am all for recycling and the mulch thing and I am perfectly willing to take that portion of my garbage to the basement. Open the trash chutes and reconfigure the electrical rooms for recycling.




Reply
Betty Moore
10/4/2023 04:28:55 pm

I am pleased with the valet service. Because of health and security reasons I appreciate the fact that I do not have to go to basement to dispose of trash.

The doors in Tower 38 are never locked; therefore, valet service is excellent. I have no complaints. The valet service is being used nation wide.
I believe management should address the tenants that are not following the guidelines. It also allows for a cleaner building. There have only been 2-3 days when the trash was not picked up.

Reply
Brian Schirmer
10/5/2023 11:33:52 am

Twice this month our trash was not collected by Valet Living. For the record, on both occasions our bin was outside the door well before 7pm. As we do every time, we reported this to PLB and VL.

Given that my wife and I only produce enough trash to merit putting the bin out at most three times a week, two failings in a month is not nothing. Particularly when this is a service we have no choice but to pay for.

The convenience factor of apartment-door trash collection is undeniable. That said, if Valet Living’s standards are not up to the task, then perhaps an alternate vendor is in order.

We've had promises from VL of being on a "tracking list" and having your "Lead Associates check" not once, not twice, not thrice, but on FOUR occasions. It’s meaningless. Plus, we have receipts.

We are viewing this strictly as a PLB matter. PLB has contracted with VL. PLB is charging us for this service. VL is failing to reliably supply said service. I expect Park La Brea to address this matter AND clearly explain WHY we should be paying the full amount of our share of this service.

Reply



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