Hippo Bag

I have been undertaking a huge renovation job on my hundred year old home, and as its an ongoing process, I have been hiring skips on an ad hoc basis. Thinking that these were costing me a fortune I thought I might try the Hippobag and see if what my friend, a small independent builder, was telling me was true.

I purchased the bag at a local branch of Travis Perkins for £10, which was an easy and trouble free experience. The bag was on a stand - which was nearly empty. So that must be a good sign.

I took the bag home and filled it full of building waste and old bricks and tiles... I was ripping out an old fireplace and replacing it with an original I had purchased from a reclaimation project I also work on in my spare time. The bag was easy to use and seemed to hold lots of rubble, the sides were secure and did not fold inwards as I had originally thought might happen. In fact it was extremely strong and sturdy considering it was made of fabric!

Anyway that completed I called the number on the side of the bag, and was immediately connected to a very charming and helpful lady who, having asked me a few salient questions such as where the bag was located, and what it contained, then booked my bag in for collection within 5 working days. Quite painless, my payment was accepted and I parted with £49 using my credit card. Making the total spent on the bag £59. (I am used to paying £90 for a mini skip!). I provided my telephone number and the process was complete. Simple and straightforward. Nothing complicated.

Anyway, two days later, I was contacted and advised that I would have my bag collected that day, and sure enough it was collected by the time I returned home from work. Unlike the other reviews, I did not witness the bag being taken away, but I am pleased at the overall experience - and good customer care - and am now going to use this teriffic service on a regular basis.

I have called them back to find out more about the things they can take away, and there are a few items that they are unable to uplift - such as hazardous waste, paint tins or anything toxic... definitely no fridges or chemicals - but other than that pretty much most household waste can be taken away by this great service. They also recycle most of what's collected, however I don't know how much... or where it goes after it leaves my drive... but I think that the service simplifies something that is a complete pain to organise and personally I think its a winner.

Marks out of 10 - 9, and thats only because I would like a bigger bag for the larger jobs!

This is perfect for kitchen replacement, window replacement, bathrooms, plumbing jobs, garden rubbish, building rubble and other stuff that can't fit in your everyday bin.