MEMPHIS, Tenn. — We’ve heard from numerous people in Memphis telling WREG they’re having trouble getting in touch with 311, to contact someone about issues in their neighborhood like debris pickup.
WREG’s Shay Arthur has been working to get answers.
Monday, those with the city said 311 is experiencing an extremely high amount of calls, as we worked to get help for those who contacted us.
Monday morning, we visited a Raleigh neighborhood off Stage Road, where Ashley Moore said she has been trying to reach 311 to report trash in her neighborhood.
While we were there, we saw trash being picked up, but not yard debris.
Moore said she’s tired of seeing yard debris piled up on the curbs surrounding homes. This trash had been there four or five weeks, she said.
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“I hate it, I don’t like to see it. I mean, when your yard is cut and then trash is on the street, it doesn’t look right, doesn’t make you feel good either,” she said.
Moore says she called 311 between four and six times, but can’t get in touch with anyone.
“I would just be on hold up to like 30 minutes, and I would have to get off the phone because I couldn’t hold any longer,” she said.
We took her concerns to City Hall. A spokesperson told us 311 is experiencing an extremely high amount of calls, acknowledging a larger-than-normal call volume with limited staff.
Because of this, they’re urging people to use the 311 app or go online to report their 311 complaint. It’s also important to remember that when it comes to 311 complaints, sometimes a crew will have to fully assess the issue in person then determine how the problem will be fixed so that process can take time.
In the case of this Raleigh subdivision, the city plans to have the problem cleared up by the end of Tuesday.
The 311 app is online here.
You can also download the app for Apple phones here or for Android phones here.