Waste Industries Trashes Customers Then Begs for Their Business

Who is laughing now?
Waste Industries is scrambling to save the business they once enjoyed in Gwinnett County. They expected to lose all of their customers after the implementation of a very controversial county waste management plan. Instead of joining in with the two small businesses that challenged this plan, they tried to suck every last dime they could, by charging a deactivation fee. This infuriated many customers including myself.

After the temporary injunction was granted last week by Judge Michael Clark, Waste Industries launched a robo call campaign to inform their customers they would continue to service them in 2009. They said "if you paid the deactivation fee, it would be credited to your next invoice", and they still intended on being my service provider.

I, like many others, decided not to pay this deactivation fee. A fee, as described by their CEO, covering the expenses of closing their branch in Gwinnett. Many of us even filed complaints with the BBB and the Office of Consumer Affairs as well as protest in writing.

So when I received this call that pretended like nothing had happened, I laughed. There is no way I was going to do business with them. After all, they destroyed any trust or sympathy I could possibly have for them and did not deserve my business. The first thing I did was to call one of the small businesses (Southern Sanitation) that actually fought to get this injunction. It took me over three hours of calling to get through because the line was busy. Not only were they very nice and helpful, but they were less expensive than Waste Industries, or my assigned provider under the new plan. Their actions, by challenging this plan and pricing, indicates to me they really appreciated my business and will provide superior service. Of course this will still have to be proved, but I look forward to giving them the chance.


Next, since I had not paid the deactivation fee to Waste Industries, I had to make sure it had been removed from my account. After all, I have protested in writing, have an open case with the BBB, and I do not intend on having an account with them to credit it to. It took me another three hours to get through to them on the phone. Not because the line was busy, but because after ringing off the hook, it would just go to a taped message directing you to their website for information. On the site they only stated what they did in the automated call.
Talk about being rude to your customers. What about those that don't have, or can't use the Internet? Or even worse, what if the caller was a potential new customer? This has to be one of the dumbest business decisions I've seen. With all the mistakes this company has made they deserve to go out of business.

Anyway, they finally answered the phone and I actually spoke to someone. The person I spoke with told me my account did not show any fees. It was like pulling teeth when I asked if they could send me a statement reflecting this. I politely explained that I have received a past due notice on this fee and I needed something to show I had a zero balance. This way I will be able to close my case with the BBB in a more favorable way. It was as though they are not able to send a statement unless you owe something. They finally agreed to send me a printout of my account. Also as a courtesy to them, I wanted to let them know I already switched to a new provider and would not be needing their services.

Let me know your experiences.