WASTE MANAGEMENT

WM should be ashamed at the level of sloppy business responsibility. They canceled my service because they said a payment was not received. I sent proof of paid bank statements showing all statements have been paid. Then they want to charge me a reinstatement fee. They are the ones that messed up on their accounting transaction. Your name fits your business perfectly, Waste Management!

About every couple of months they miss the pickup and they are now $41+ a month, more than anyone else. They suck.

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We hired Waste Management for our weekly residential rubbish removal when we first moved into our home in 1990.  We have been with them that whole time because everything was routine and they performed as expected.  Never above and beyond, simply average and as expected.  They have always been the most expensive hauler in the neighborhood, currently  47% more expensive than the neighborhood average. We never switched simply because of the fact that even though they were substantially more expensive, things went as they were supposed to.  Well, that was until last July when the wind and storms came through Hennepin County.  I had my lawn clippings out the evening prior to pick up day as usual.  They had already begun to smell a little funky because they had sat from Sunday to Wednesday.  Well Thursday, trash day, came around and every other hauler had picked up the lawn clippings as expected; however anyone with Waste Management was not picked up.  I assumed some small event arose and they would be by on Friday.  They still did not pick up the clippings as they were contracted to do.  So finally, on Friday afternoon I called and was informed that they neglected their residential customers because a better offer came along from the city or county to pick up the debris from the storm.  Sounds like a nice gesture although I would venture to guess they did so for the almighty dollar rather than out of the goodness of their hearts.  They did so without the common courtesy of informing any of us of their intent to breach the contract and/or explain their game plan for our pickup.   Well I had company coming that evening so I requested they please pick it up before 6:00 PM.  The help line said she would see what could be done.  Needless to say nothing was done, the clippings were still there and I had no response from Waste Management.  On Monday, of course they don't answer the phones on the weekend, I called to have the now fermented clippings removed.  They told me they would not pick them up until the following regularly scheduled pick up on Thursday.  Two things, I had nowhere to put this weeks clippings because the bin was still full, and the stench from last weeks clippings was now wafting through my neighborhood.  I asked and they would not provide another container for the new clippings, nor would they make a trip to pick up the existing clippings.  Finally, Thursday came and they picked up the now two  week old, fermented, stinky clippings.  Well needless to say the now empty can reeked.  I scrubbed the can and it still stunk, so I bought a large bag of baking soda to absorb the smell.  That helped; however the clippings and water left on my driveway and in the street stunk to high heaven, so I had to pick up what I could and wash the rest all the way down to the sewer.  Well I complained that I had been loyal, 23 years, paid a premium, currently 47% more expensive, and when I finally have an issue Waste Management didn't care, and I truly felt like they just didn't care.  So I wanted to cancel my service and go with a local company.  They transferred me to a "business retention specialist" to see if I could be persuaded  to stick around.  This person offered to charge a price closer to what the competitors charge, currently 47% less expensive, and throw in a free month's service. Funny, why did they not offer me competitive pricing all along?  Is it my job to continue to hound them to reward me for loyalty instead of punish me or bill me for it?  He would send me a written offer in the mail.  Well lo and behold before the letter arrived, THEY NEGLECTED TO PICK UP MY CLIPPINGS AGAIN!  They  admitted it was their fault; however the response, or LACK OF RESPONSE, was the same.  They would do nothing to make things right.  I have now cancelled my service with Waste Management and I'm in the process of organizing everyone in my immediate and surrounding neighborhood to switch to a single carrier.
The benefits of switching are as follows:
Discounted "block" pricing which is a discount made possible by allowing a provide the ability to service more accounts in a
small area.
Fewer trucks in the neighborhood on trash day.  Imagine 4 different companies with three trucks each rumbling up and down the streets every trash day.  That lower the truck traffic from 12 trucks to 3!
Less wear and tear on the streets
Safer for children and pets
Less noise and traffic on trash day
Greater strength during conflict resolution, the provider would have more to lose if they don't do whatever they can to provide good service.

It's been great - I've always had good service from them but this was an added help that I really needed!

I called to cancel today, since I'm tired of paying twice as much as I would using another service.  They're outrageously expensive, and leave the driveway a mess if something comes out of the can, they don't bother to pick it up. They "forget" to pick up recycling, and then say "they'll get it next time."  They aren't picking up yard waste until the week of the 16th, while others in my area started on the 2nd.  To top it off, they claim they don't have to refund what I have prepaid through May.  Even if that turns out to be the case, it will be worth it to be rid of this crooked, horrible company.  When you've been with a company as long as we have, it is not appropriate to say "It's written on the invoice"  So what? That hardly makes it a good business practice.

After six years of using Waste Management and seeing their prices climb steadily, we discovered that some of their well-regarded competitors charging $40 per quarter less. In addition, when we called to get a quote for new service from Waste Management, they quoted us $20 per quarter less than what we were paying. Seems like price gouging to me, so we cancelled them.

Waste Management bought the company we were doing business with for 35 years. I called customer service for a small issue and they asked where Minneapolis was! I told them I was a customer and asked if there was someone local I could talk to, they informed me that they were as local as I could get. When I asked to talk to a supervisor our our sales person, they gave me to another woman who was equally disconnected. These people do not care about "green" or their customers. Yuck. I'm not spending my money on such bad service, there is too much competition and better companies to do business with. Thankfully.

On May 2011, Waste Management drafted an amount of $90.92 from my credit card for services for May, June, and July 2011. In reviewing my account, I noticed that WM had a record of increasing fees consistently. In fact, my cost of doing business with them rose over 6.5% over a one year period.

On June 30, 2011, I notified WM that I was discontinuing their service. I was told there would be a $25.00 fee for picking up their containers (information provided only after I inquired. My neighbor had warned me of that charge. I was not told there would be additional fees involved. I was outraged to find they had tacked on an additional $16.56 in fees. I am not outraged at the $16.56, I am outraged at the methodology they used.

For example:
A fee for Nontaxable fuel/enviro Charge was $3.90 for three months ($1.30/month) was billed at $7.00 for the month of July when I had no service. The only reason I can fathom for the fee is for them to come out and pick up the containers for which I was charged $25.00.

An administration fee of $3.00 for three months ($1.00 per month) was billed for July at $3.00

 A fee for Mn Solid Waste mgt fee was billed at $5.91 Quarterly ($1.97/month) was charged for July when no service was provided at $3.41.

A fee for Henepin Cty mt fee was billed at $5.46 Quarterly ($1.82/month) was charged for July at $3.15

The prorated credit I was due of some $31 turned into a bill of $41.56.

Again, may I reiterate two things:
1.  I was informed of no charges other than a $25 fee to reclaim the containers;
2. I received no pick up service from Waste Management other than their retrieval of their containers.

My opinion is that I was unjustly charged for these fees and the money should be refunded. I believe the charges are unethical because they were not presented to the customer up front, and at best borderline Consumer Fraud. I would have to check with an attorney on that topic.

This behavior is unacceptable to me, and I want a refund of all monies other than the agreed upon $25 pick up fee.

Stuart H Walker  

I would rate them high overall. They are excellent. The people who come out are really nice. I would continue to use them in the future.