Waste Management [WM]
reviews and complaints

in july of 2021, my tenant told me about this

I was with Fds for trash removal waste management purchase the company decided to double the rate that we were paying I called them to see if we can lower the bill because it didn’t make any logical sense they refused to lower the bill it said it was a corporate standard but would refund my $140 and pick up the dumpster and The file would be closed and there would be no additional charges whatsoever this was on a recording with their accounts manager. A week went by no one picked up the dumpster I called again they said it was in the system not to worry about it I will receive a refund and that’s it. After they picked up the dumpster two weeks later I received a bill for $180 for the removal of the dumpster. I called to complain told him that there are not living up to their agreement they didn’t care and said it’s a corporate decision when anybody leaves waste management to charge $250 fee to pick up the dumpster and he refused to fully give me my money back from the 140 some dollars they promised. I told them that FDS was my company I never agreed to be with waste management and if they didn’t increase the price significantly we wouldn’t be having this conversation they understood but refused to illuminate their fees that I never agreed to. They indicated it was in the SDS agreement but they’re omitting a part of the agreement that I signed which specifically said that FDS could not increase their bills more than 5% per year yet they violated that part of the agreement with a significantly increased direct violation of their own agreement. I have called repeatedly times and no one is willing to talk to me at all I get is a runaround about the lousy $25 and my refund. The supervisors refuse to call me or talk to me or address the issues is saying it’s a corporate decision and nothing more. I indicated to them is not fair for them to take a vantage of small businesses but their policy said we enjoy taking vantage of small businesses which I thought was apprehensible and inappropriate. . So obviously we would like to resolve the issue by eliminating their pick up fee which we should not have to pay in any fees associated with it considering we were never with waste management and they violated their own agreement by increasing the rate more than 5% per year after they took over. I can’t believe this isn’t against the law what they’re doing

We live in an area where we used to have a different trash company, and a couple years back we were bought out by waste management. So we continue to pay our bill to them. Prices continued to go up though, and the other local competitor was much cheaper, so we called to cancel with WM and the woman lowered our bill. We paid our invoice for January 2022. Some other factors were at play in our decision too, so we ended up calling back to cancel service completely after all. We cancelled and scheduled for our last pickup to be the last Monday in January 2022. Now they are trying to bill us for more money AND saying we have a $75 “removal fee”?! But guess what? The can belonged to our OLD trash company. It’s not like it’s even their can (yes, I understand it becomes their property upon buying them out, but different than them incurring a cost for bringing us a can in the first place) I said “so we have a charge for ending our service, you illegally rolled us into a contract, without our consent? We weren’t made aware of any fee at the time of cancelling”. He said “oh it’s on your bill and it’s not a “contract” it’s for removing the cart”. Um. What? This is absolutely wrong. We didn’t have a fee for ending service with our old company and never “agreed to terms” or signed anything! They can’t just put people under a contract or “terms” or make us subject to paying fees we wouldn’t have had before. That is called a contract and we would have had to sign and agree to that. In beginning to make forward process on this and next steps, I have come across many many many complaints against WM and them doing this to other customers as well. I will be taking this to the BBB if it isn’t resolved. Very disappointing to see more big businesses with such a lack of honesty/being forthcoming and poor customer service.

I am filing this as my 3rd complaint. I have called three time for the past 4 weeks. for the past 5 weeks (including this week as our trash pickup schedule is set on Mondays) no one has picked up my trash. Everyone on our street have had their trash picked up except for my trash. I have attached two photos which shows my trash has not been picked up this week as well.

On Feb 22, I called and spoke with Ms. Courtney (employee ID#; 262-869). She told me that she has seen the previous complaints and will file another complaint which she gave the complaint #; 9394594.

Ms. Courtney also told me that the Driver's manager was told that my trash was picked up. I told Ms. Courtney that he Driver has lied. She then told me that she will make sure the Driver will come by on Feb 23 to pick up my trash. I left my trash outside until Tuesday night (Feb 23) and no once picked up my trash. I do not understand why my trash has not been picked up for 5 weeks.

I told Ms. Courtney, that our association will hand a hefty fine if the residence do not remove their bins from the curb after the scheduled trash pickup.

I am a 75 year old woman with severe chronic health issues that has been getting worse as this subject (picking up my trash) keeps causing me stress.

Why is the Driver not picking up my trash?

Why has two managers I have spoken with over the past 4 weeks have not solve this very SIMPLE problem...picking up my trash.

I look forward to resolving this matter quickly before Friday and to avoid going to court. Since the previous mangers were unable to resolve this matter, I want to have the highest supervisor at W. M. to contact me and guarantee that this matter will officially be resolved this week.

My number : [protected] call 10am--8pm.

I found new body damage to my car after the my yard waste was picked up on my street. (although other Waste Managements trucks do go down my street that are not picking up my waste). My garbage had not yet been picked up. I found the new damage at about 10 AM on 2/28/22. It is a tight street and the trucks sometimes have to turn onto it and often have to back up to make the turn. I often find my driver's side mirror fold down (which is fine) to help the trucks get by.

Garbage pick up was conducted on 2/25/2022. The garbage truck has left very large (approximately 6 feet wide) oil stains in front of every home in the neighborhood.

We have been Waste Management Customers for many years. We have noticed competitors to Waste Management trucks on our street. We called a competitor for a quote and they returned a call and quoted $54.24 per quarter. We checked our current invoice from Waste Management and it was for $285.00 for 3 months service. I subsequently called Waste Management to confirm that we were being billed the correct rate. The representative took our address and confirmed that the $285.00 is correct. She then looked at our account and related that we had been customers since 2003. She also related that we had never received a roll-back. The rep told us the they could cut the charge to a fourth ($71.25) per quarter. We feel we have been taken advantage off for many years because we were not aware that we periodically needed to request a roll-back. I estimate we have paid thousands of dollars more than what we could have paid. She made this offer because I told her to cancel our service. We decided that we no longer want to do business with Waste Management because we feel their practices are predatory. We subsequently place an order for service with the competitor. Having a new provider we called Waste Management to cancel our service. We called the number and received a message that the "wait time" would be over 30 minutes. At the time of this post we have been on hold for 1 hour 11 minutes.

My town went to a single service provider starting 1/1/22 so I called to cancel my service with Waste Management. The customer service rep said they’d charge me $15 plus tax to pick up the container (that I had for well over a decade and had routinely tried to get replaced) which I thought was dumb but agreed to.

Of course, they never picked it up when they originally said they would so I called again and they said they’d have someone eventually come out, just leave it in the front yard. So it sat for another week or 2 before it was finally gone.

Then, all of a sudden I start getting robo calls that my bill was past due, which made no sense considering I paid my final statement for the pickup and was no longer a customer.

So, I sent an email telling them to stop calling me and to void whatever charges they were issuing since I was no longer with them.

Then I get this gem as a response:

Thank you for contacting WM regarding our communications to you. I understand your frustration with the communications. However, it is to make you aware of the balance due. I appreciate the opportunity to clarify the charge.

We are contacting your regarding the Cart Removal charge. This is a one-time charge, per cart, that is applied to the customers last invoice after a customer cancels. Cart Removal charge covers administrative and operational costs to process and perform the request, including: Accurately coordinating, processing and routing the request.

o Potential repair or refurbishing of the container such as, lids, decals, and wheels after removal

o Operation of a special vehicle and drive time to/from the customer’s location

The following message is on each invoice –

This invoice constitutes an offer by WM to provide service to you for a specified period. By paying this, you agree to continue service during the specified service period and to the terms of service at www.wm.com/OMR, with no refund (whole or partial) for early cancellation, unless such refund is required by law, regulation or contract. If you cancel services, you will be assessed a Cart Removal charge of up to $75 plus applicable taxes and charges including fuel surcharge, environmental charge and regulatory cost recovery charge.

If you have any additional questions, please feel free to respond to this email or use our WM live chat at www.wm.com.

Thanks again for contacting WM. We really do appreciate your business.

Of course, I never saw this fine print or thought to look, considering it’s their trash can, why would I have to pay to have it picked up? I also never actually agreed to it (their little ploy that I agreed to it by paying my bill is nonsense) I responded and immediately said that I had spoken with a rep and paid the fee they mentioned.

I’m still waiting to hear back but this is a garbage policy, no pun intended, and will be fighting this.

To Whom It May Concern,

This is in regards to an order placed on January 18, 2022, for a residential dumpster at 30597 N. 77th Place, Scottsdale, AZ 85266. I am an interior designer and was assisting my client to get her home ready for the new owner to take possession of her home.

It was ordered online and the charge of $504 was immediately debited from my account the same day, January 18th.

I specifically requested the dumpster to be delivered on Thursday, January 20th and the pick-up date agreed upon was Thursday, January 27th. This was confirmed in writing by your company.

On Thursday a driver with a much too big dumpster showed up at my client's gate and since it was way too large to make it up the hill, and not what I had originally ordered, he was not able to deliver.

We were then told another smaller dumpster would be delivered the next day. However, it was not delivered until Saturday, January 22nd. To make this happen, we had to make several calls, sent emails, and then finally I got in touch with one of your managers, Eddie, Friday, Jan. 21st in the afternoon, who promised to have it delivered Saturday morning, which was 2 days too late and at 6 am in the morning waking up the whole neighborhood while trying to get up the hill to my client's residence.

Then the dumpster was not picked up until February 2nd; 6 days too late. Since my client was getting ready to sell her house and the new owner was to take possession, the time frame was crucial.

Overall, the service that your company provided was very unprofessional and, unresponsive (I was ignored by your manager several times after reaching out to him via text), not to mention the aggravation, inconvenience, and wasted time that it caused both me and my client. I cannot believe that a big company like yours operates in this fashion. Then, to make it worse, I sent an email via your website trying to work this out. I received a confirmation on Feb. 2nd stating that someone would get back to me in 1-2 business days. This also never happened. To really top it off, another $60.68 was debited from my account on February 18th

Since I returned to Germany, I have also tried to call numerous times, but can never get through to anyone. I ended up having a friend in Phoenix call your customer service explaining the situation and she was told that someone would get in touch with me via email, but no one ever got back to me. After a second phone call yesterday, I finally got an email address. I sent a long email explaining the situation, but also never received any response.

This is not so much about the money but much more about the bad service, the principle of the matter, and the stress it caused my client. I also usually never take this much time to complain about something but this transaction warrants it. Unless I receive credit for the 2 days we did not have the dumpster, plus the $60.68 that was charged for additional days we did not need or want the dumpster, I will go on every website that I can think of and write a review about my first experience with Waste Management, which was very unsatisfactory.

I am attaching receipts for your review.

Best Regards,

Christine M. Mettler

Calls to your service four times, promised a return of over charge. It has been almost two months, no response. I don't want to take them to small claims court but if I don't get the return soon, I will.

My service was ended Dec. 27, 2021. Trash cans were taken Jan. 2, 2022.

I was charged again 01/21/2022. Calls have promised me refund. No refund sent.

Larry Jurgensmeier

My trash service was cancelled by Waste Management in January. My last service was in January 2th. I had already paid ahead for the full quarter of service thru March. The company refuses to reimburse me for the two months of February and March that I have already paid for. What is the problem with not refunding me the service that I paid for and the company did not provide. They decided to CANCEL me, and came and got their bin.

Our farm has used Waste Management dumpster service for over 20 years. After many years of increases, we researched other companies and realized how much we were overpaying. With the use of an attorney, we got Waste Management to drop their rate in line but still more expensive than the competition.

Once again, Waste Management has started increasing their rates over what their competition is charging. We received notice of a rate increase in January 2022. Because of this rate increase, I had the right to cancel my contract. But because I have already paid the January bill, the company says I have consented to the price increase and are therefore under contract until 2024.

So disappointed that they treat loyal customers like this. I wish to cancel my service.

Hi

I am a resident of Palmdale. I have scheduled numerous extra pickups with waste management. The extra pick up items continue to be in front of my home on the street. I have to call waste management every week for a service date for pick up. I have paid my bill and my account is current , however the services is horrible.

I have a commercial account with WM. I am cancelling the account as they charge 150 dollars even if there is one extra bag in the dumpster and lid stays open ! I have been talking to their account manager since January and she promised me that the account will be cancelled on 2/7. They have not cancelled the account neither picked up the dumpster, so that i can get another company.

This is just unfair business practices they are known for ! Stay away from this corrupt business.

My recycle bin was out Feb3, pickup was Feb4 and still on the street along with 4 other customers as of Feb 11 . It has been called a numerous times by other customers in the community. I sent email to customer service Feb 6th, response was that the 4th was a snow day so it was picked up Feb 5th. The driver reported that there was very few out. The driver never completely check the rest of the community. We are still waiting for pickup as of today Feb 11.

Last week due to the inclement weather waste Management did not pick up our trash at all.

I called them today; February 8th, 2022 but was told they would not pick up our trash until Friday February 11th, 2022.

That is a full week late.

They also said they would not credit our account because they did not pick up anyone's trash last week of the weather.

Meanwhile our trash piles up out of the trash can and onto the ground as well.

When I called to cancel my service, customer support not only cancelled my automatic billing, and removed my credit card that was on file, they also told me I would be receiving a refund because I had already been billed for the upcoming month. I was told was removing the automated billing and payment info so that I wouldn’t be charged anything else by mistake. Months later I got a notice that I owed a $75.00 cart removal fee and invoice/late fees. I contacted customer service, and they said the fee is listed on “all invoices”. I never agreed to this fee, and this fee was not in place when I signed up for service and received the cart. I would like to waste management to remove the fees that they charged after I cancelled service, and issue me the refund that I was told I would be receiving. I am including an invoice from when I started my service with waste management and received this cart, to show that the cart removal fee was not listed here. I would never have agreed to receive a cart from waste management if their was a removal fee for returning the cart. They cannot charge me for a service that I never agreed to. My customer ID is [protected]. I understand they may have at some point instituted a removal fee for new customers that received carts after this policy was in place, but this does not apply to a customer that received a cart when this policy was not in place. This was not part of my contract for service with waste manaagement, which is why I was told upon cancellation that I would be receiving a refund and no additional charges. If this phone call with customer service was recorded, please review it.

This is not the first time I had problems with erroneous charges from Waste Management. I have also attached an email from customer service that stated there was “some sort of error on our end” on three separate invoices that cause me be charged fees that I should not have been charged. It took months of going back and forth with customer support to have the issue resolved, and I am again dealing with another billing error.

I’ve had waste management since 2014. Every quarter they have consistently raised my price. Right now, they are charging me $208 for 3 months! I have myself on autopay trusting this company to be ethical and didn’t review my charges until recently when they again failed to pickup my recycling. Every quarter my bill increases anywhere from $10 to $20 consistently. I’m trying to find what they originally started me at but back in 2018 I was at $150 per quarter. If you have waste management, DO NOT DO AUTOPAY. Check your bills. They take advantage of you. And the billing department won’t help to make things right. They acted like this was completely normal and that price increases without notice is good business practice.

I have raised an issue. Below is in a nutshell Due to covid many tenants are not continuing the leases and to reduce the cost, we looked into other waste pick up service and found out we are paying you double of what they quote. (We unknowingly signed a 5 yr contract, it was NEVER talked over the phone. You should check the phone recordings. I was asked to talk to the account manager, but the wait time was 40 minutes and still no one answered. Hope somebody will solve my issues.

This message was posted on 10/21/21

Ms. Brooks responded once or twice but never managed to resolve this. Businesses suffering to Covid related issues are REAL and somebody has to understand the pain.

I have forwarded the quote I received, and we are willing to continue your service for 5 years with that rate Or kindly allow us to break your contract after a year.

Again, we signed the contract for 5 years without knowing. Sales NEVER mentioned its 5 years.

I hope someone can resolve this issue for us.