Price gouging for garbage/recycle pick up

[thatguy]

We're outside of a municipality and have to hire a waste disposal company for garbage/recycle pickup. Wife has been handling it. We started in 2001 with a company that was bought out by another later, or maybe the new one always owned them. What started as far back as I can find a record at $59 for 3 months has creeped up over the years. 150 in 2017, 180 in 2018, 230 in 2019, 250 in 2020 and so on. Our last two bills are over $800 for 3 minths. $827 is due now.
Our neighbor is paying $80. Quotes from 3 other companies are 117 to 140ish.
We called to dispute. Someone from their office called back and left a message. They will adjust the rate, They can't do any refund. Call this number for me of just call customer service again, He didn't give a number, The caller ID number would not go through. It's a national company. when you call you get someone anywhere in the country. I called customer service again, asked to be connected the the company officer that called, by name. They don't know who that is, Can;t look him up. Did confirm there is a dispute case with a number. couple days pass. called again. Some nice lady in North Carolina listened to our story and tried to escalate it up to someone higher. She called back later saying the price is gonna be adjusted to 80 ish and the question of a refund has been escalated to another department. But when I log in our account on their web page it shows no adjustment and we still owe $827. I figure these crooks have over charged us over 7000 over the the years. They may give us a low rate., lower than competitors. I doubt I'm gonna get any refund. To continue business with them makes me sick . I'm wondering about some legal remedy but appearing myself in small claims court is gonna be too stressfull for this old introverted retiree. A lawyer could keep whatever we recover if it cost these b@stards

 

[Koolau]

When we lived outside the municipality, we could either pay "by the bag" or take trash to the local dump. We used the dump because it was on the way to town and open for "bags" of trash most days early AM. I'm guessing the thinking was: Better to have a free way to dispose of trash to avoid people throwing it out along the roads - which a lot of people did (do).

 

[VanWinkle]

We're outside of a municipality and have to hire a waste disposal company for garbage/recycle pickup. Wife has been handling it. We started in 2001 with a company that was bought out by another later, or maybe the new one always owned them. What started as far back as I can find a record at $59 for 3 months has creeped up over the years. 150 in 2017, 180 in 2018, 230 in 2019, 250 in 2020 and so on. Our last two bills are over $800 for 3 minths. $827 is due now.
Our neighbor is paying $80. Quotes from 3 other companies are 117 to 140ish.
We called to dispute. Someone from their office called back and left a message. They will adjust the rate, They can't do any refund. Call this number for me of just call customer service again, He didn't give a number, The caller ID number would not go through. It's a national company. when you call you get someone anywhere in the country. I called customer service again, asked to be connected the the company officer that called, by name. They don't know who that is, Can;t look him up. Did confirm there is a dispute case with a number. couple days pass. called again. Some nice lady in North Carolina listened to our story and tried to escalate it up to someone higher. She called back later saying the price is gonna be adjusted to 80 ish and the question of a refund has been escalated to another department. But when I log in our account on their web page it shows no adjustment and we still owe $827. I figure these crooks have over charged us over 7000 over the the years. They may give us a low rate., lower than competitors. I doubt I'm gonna get any refund. To continue business with them makes me sick . I'm wondering about some legal remedy but appearing myself in small claims court is gonna be too stressfull for this old introverted retiree. A lawyer could keep whatever we recover if it cost these b@stards

Sorry to hear about this for you. If you really want to go the legal route, check into a small claims court action with fraud being the case. This company has gone way beyond price adjustments for inflation. I also think that a closer look at any monthly charges could keep this from happening again. Good luck!

 

[mrfeh]

I figure these crooks have over charged us over 7000 over the the years. They may give us a low rate., lower than competitors. I doubt I'm gonna get any refund. To continue business with them makes me sick . I'm wondering about some legal remedy but appearing myself in small claims court is gonna be too stressfull for this old introverted retiree. A lawyer could keep whatever we recover if it cost these b@stards

Why did you wait so long to address the cost? I don't think you have a valid position here - a service was performed.

When we lived in an area where trash/recycling was not provided by the municipality, we took our refuse to the town dump. $2 per bag.

 

[zinger1457]

I live in a rural area and have 3 different disposal companies to choose from, the one I use was at $40 (for two months) for maybe the last 10 years but just went up to $46. It is a head scratcher why you waited so long to look into it considering what your neighbor is paying.

 

[RetireBy90]

We live in a residential area but no govt trash, each must hire from 3 or 4 different companies. We have a dump but they charge by the load. We started about 18 years ago at $30/month and the fees keep rising every year until you call to complain. Every couple years one of the companies gets bought by a competitor and then a new startup arrives with lower prices. After a while startup prices rise to what others are charging. Like a game but I've found that they will raise prices until you complain and then slow the rise. I do know the local county dump has raised prices for the companies but not double like our charges. Sigh

 

[Surewhitey]

Probably no legal recourse but bad (but truthful) media is a possible way to go. There are probably some in the community who don't pay attention too. They may reimburse you for your silence?

Even in the city I visit the dump with bulk trash (for free) just to clean up my biz mess. And we have a scheduled monthly pick up for the neighborhood. I'd start composting & taking my own if I had the option. Our trash & recycling is lumped in with the water and sewage here.

 

[Aerides]

I understand having stuff on autopay and not noticing increases, but I think that negates your ability to retroactively claim a right to a refund, at least anything beyond the last few months.

Just have to suck that part up and decide how to move forward I guess?

 

[YellowSubmarine]

We're outside of a municipality and have to hire a waste disposal company for garbage/recycle pickup. Wife has been handling it. We started in 2001 with a company that was bought out by another later, or maybe the new one always owned them. What started as far back as I can find a record at $59 for 3 months has creeped up over the years. 150 in 2017, 180 in 2018, 230 in 2019, 250 in 2020 and so on. Our last two bills are over $800 for 3 minths. $827 is due now.
Our neighbor is paying $80. Quotes from 3 other companies are 117 to 140ish.
We called to dispute. Someone from their office called back and left a message. They will adjust the rate, They can't do any refund. Call this number for me of just call customer service again, He didn't give a number, The caller ID number would not go through. It's a national company. when you call you get someone anywhere in the country. I called customer service again, asked to be connected the the company officer that called, by name. They don't know who that is, Can;t look him up. Did confirm there is a dispute case with a number. couple days pass. called again. Some nice lady in North Carolina listened to our story and tried to escalate it up to someone higher. She called back later saying the price is gonna be adjusted to 80 ish and the question of a refund has been escalated to another department. But when I log in our account on their web page it shows no adjustment and we still owe $827. I figure these crooks have over charged us over 7000 over the the years. They may give us a low rate., lower than competitors. I doubt I'm gonna get any refund. To continue business with them makes me sick . I'm wondering about some legal remedy but appearing myself in small claims court is gonna be too stressfull for this old introverted retiree. A lawyer could keep whatever we recover if it cost these b@stards

You are being ripped on a high level...sorry to hear of that. In rural EC OH, I received my quarterly bill this morning for $59.6. Your over charge would be too high for most small claims courts; probably need a lawyer.

 

[mrfeh]

You are being ripped on a high level...sorry to hear of that. In rural EC OH, I received my quarterly bill this morning for $59.6. Your over charge would be too high for most small claims courts; probably need a lawyer.

Except the OP was not overcharged. They simply ignored an increase in the bill for decades.

 

[athena53]

It sure sounds like overcharging to me, regardless of when the OP chose to address it. I'm in the Kansas City area and pay $20/month. That excludes recyclables, which I take every couple of months to a site 10 miles away for free, and I buy stickers for paper bags of yard waste at $1.50 each, which they pick up.

Before I used this company I had a family business that was sold to Waste Management and was paying more. I forget how much more but at first it included recyclables in a separate container, then they stopped picking up recyclables and lowered the cost somewhat, then they added a "gas charge" a few months later that brought it back up to what they'd been charging.

Although I understand that the trash business has gotten a lot more complicated and recycling isn't as straightforward as it sounds, especially when the stream includes items they TELL you not to include (food waste on containers, shredded paper) and other countries no longer want to deal with our trash, there still seems to be big money to be made in the business.

 

[badatmath]

My city trash bill is bundled with other things but they raise the trash portion more often. I think because they don't have it regulated and subject to utility standards for rate increases.

 

[Jerry1]

OP may want to contact their state’s attorney general. I know our AG frequently talked about price gouging. Maybe your AG could look at all their records and see if there’s something actionable. If this is a pattern of business and there’s a significant number of people being taken advantage of, it might be more likely that something legal can be done.

 

[COcheesehead]

People notice the price of eggs when they go up a few dollars. How do you not notice when something goes up hundreds? I feel for the OP, but caveat emptor.

 

[CincyDave]

Wow, sorry to hear you got ripped off like this. Made me check what I was paying. Last bill was $281 for a year.
As someone else mentioned, maybe threatening to take your story to the local news might get some action.
Good luck getting some of your money back.

 

[Delawaredave5]

We had same. Local company gobbled up by national, huge price increases.

Then customers started dropping. I called to drop and they said "what do you want to pay ?" They clearly overplayed their hand.

Unfortunately doubt you have any recourse.

 

[jollystomper]

I am sorry this happened to you, but I think it is going to be tough to prove you were "ripped off" after paying the increases over all these years. What are other charging for this service in your area?

A good rule of thumb is, every time a service you pay for increases, start checking to see what other competitors are charging, it is a good way to quickly gauge if you are being ripped off or not.

We use to use a "national" company, whose name is similar to "haste banishment". When their rates started doing something similar (but before reaching levels like the OP) I started checking around and found local haulers charging less than half of what they did. I switched. Their rates have risen, but more in line with inflation, and we now pay around $75/quarter, which is reasonable in this area for know. But, I will check again at the next increase.

 

[CO-guy]

As other folks have said, I'm not sure you have a valid claim, so why not try to gain some media attention?

Whether or not they refund you anything beyond your current bill, sharing your story might encourage other folks to look at their own bills.

 

[RetiredAndLovingIt]

What's the company name? If it was me, I'd name and shame them. It works well especially if local legislators are somehow involved in the business or getting a kickback to look the other way.
Also wouldn't it be cheaper to get a dump card if you can they're usually pretty cheap and drop off your own trash and eliminate the bill completely. Works better if you have a truck to transport the trash bags.
Another thing to look at, does the current bills include more services than what it used to years ago. In our \case we used to have a trash bill and a water separately bill separately and then were conned into voting to amalgamate the services which would save us tons of money(not) and the city took over the billing and with all the zillion fees that get tacked I'm paying $150 a month but some others are paying a lot more, I get a discount. You really need to go pull all you bills as far back as you can and look at them.

 

[YellowSubmarine]

Except the OP was not overcharged. They simply ignored an increase in the bill for decades.

Yep, you gotta be proactive and cover your butt

 

[COcheesehead]

If you name and shame you better know what you’re doing. I know someone who went down that road and was served with cease and desist papers with a threat of libel and slander.

 

[Slim11]

I feel your pain. I had a 3 familly home and was required to pay for 3 garbage services even though we only had 3 people living in the whole property and generated less trash then a single familly home. This was 210$( like 68 bucks a unit)a month back in like 2000. The town only would let one compony collect trash in its boarders. So there was no one to switch to. Total rip off.

 

[RetiredAndLovingIt]

If you name and shame you better know what you’re doing. I know someone who went down that road and was served with cease and desist papers with a threat of libel and slander.

Agreed, definitely needs to be evidence that OP has been paying far more than his neighbors for the exact same services for years. We have a couple of local TV stations that have consumer advocates that investigate stories like this and you can bet their lawyers have verified everything before the story makes it on the air.

 

[thatguy]

Wife signed up for service years ago and has been mailing checks to pay. I just didn't look at it. She had called to complain about some of the increases and got a bunch of excuses about increased costs, or we live way far out. For some of the years when it was only double the typical rate, we just didn't know what others were charged. Most of the homes on this county road are served by this company.
I'm not going to blame my wife. A few years ago I advised her about credit card payments, that we should always pay the statement balance on credit cards. I don't judge her purchases. We don't fight, ever. We both have retirement income. With her age 70 SS, this year, her income is now more. It's all in one joint account.

There is discussion on somebody's local Facebook page, about this companie;s overcharging, where they are named. Others have chipped in on what they pay and who they're using, I've got online quotes from 3 other companies
Records, I can and have downloaded, & printed 2 years of invoices from the companies web page. Our bank was bought out in 2020 and online account history from the old bank name is gone. The payment record on the bank page show amount date and check number, but, for some, you have to select one by one to see a image of the check to see the payee. So when I'm online with the bank, which entry is the trash bill is not apparent to a casual look. I can go back several years in my check regester to see what we paid. but it's a bit tedious. Most dates in the register do not show the year. Some old check registers may be lost. I can't find all the way back to 2001

 

[thatguy]

anything I agree to with them leaves them without a black mark against them. I looked at the state attourney general consumer protection page. The amount of procedure & documentation they want with a complaint is discouraging. Maybe I can file a complaint with insuficient documentation. I don't have notes of exactly who I called, who I talked to, who said what with time & dates. I don't think we signed any contract. Ordered service over the phone 24 years ago with a different company the was acquired later by present company. Perhaps the companies were always associated. Both names are on the trash cans.