ComplaintsforWalter's Recycling & Refuse

• Initial Complaint

  07/15/2024

  Complaint Type:

  Product Issues

  Status:

  Answered

  More info

  Walters has been raising prices without any notification, I find out when my credit card is charged and email stating they have charged me for service. When I went to cancel the service, after shopping around for a more competitive rate, they said because I had already paid for the three month term there was no refunds. I originally contacted them three months prior, when the last price increase occurred; they told me they would adjust the price to be halfway between the prior rate and the new one (meeting in the middle, I agreed to this). For this most recent billing not only did they not adjust the price down as agreed, they actual increased it even higher!This is outrageous. If they want to increase prices and test the market of their customers for elasticity, fine, good luck to you. But to refuse the refunds for cancelled contracts is borderline theft. If you cancel a cell phone, cable, internet, utility etc. service they have to refund you the prorated time (for services where you pay ahead of time, rather than after). Why does this company think they have the right to raise prices (with no communication or time to address) and then refuse to refund you? This is a very shady business practice, and one I believe should be investigated for the public good.

  

  Business response

  07/15/2024

  **************,

  We suspect you left us for a competitor who if we are correct, you will likely find provides poor service along with other issues that you may find. We would love to have you back as a customer someday so we'd like to part ways on a positive note and will put your requested refund through on your credit card. You should see that in the next 3-4 days. 

  Thanks for being a customer and we hope you will consider us again in the future.

• Initial Complaint

  02/23/2024

  Complaint Type:

  Service or Repair Issues

  Status:

  Resolved

  More info

  Failure to perform duty of collecting recycling even though I have called the past four days and each time the company said they would get someone out there that day.

  

  Business response

  02/23/2024

  We are very sorry for the hassle this has caused you. We were in your townhome development on pick up day and it looks like we simply missed your cart. Our system shows a driver was there at 11:04 today (Friday) and picked your recycling cart. If that is not accurate let us know.  Again, sorry for the hassle.

  Customer response

  02/23/2024

   Better Business Bureau:
  
  I have reviewed the response made by the business in reference to complaint ID ********, and find that this resolution is satisfactory to me.

• Initial Complaint

  06/06/2023

  Complaint Type:

  Customer Service Issues

  Status:

  Resolved

  More info

  We have not received yard waste pick up service for a couple of weeks now. I spoke with a manager, but don't have his name last week. He didn't resolve the issue, but said he would keep an eye out for any problems the next couple of weeks. This never happened. They missed ** again. I tried calling the business today, and I've discovered in the past few weeks that they don't even answer the phone. I cannot leave a message since their mailbox is full.We are paying for a service that we are not getting, and I can't get in touch with them.We need help getting this resolved.

  

  Business response

  06/06/2023

  *****, we apologize for the service issue you recently had. No excuses but the perfect storm formed here a few weeks ago with a few newly trained drivers leaving shortly after launching yard waste season and 2 new customer service reps starting, who have been working with 2 experienced reps and clogging up our phone system, at times making it so customers can't get through and we can't even call out. We are adding additional phone lines this week to allow for leaving more voice messages if we can't answer and are one day behind on a few yard waste routes. We do go-backs in Osseo on Wednesdays and you are scheduled for yard waste pick up tomorrow.

  We have given you a month credit on your entire bill which will be shown on your next invoice in July.  Again, we are sorry for the hassles this is new to us as well and we are asking for some ***** from customers as we scramble to hire and train new team members. We are talking to our competitors as well and our whole industry is struggling like never before to find and retain good drivers. We've gone as far as to stop taking on new yard waste customers and have heard others are doing the same.  Given that it is a seasonal service, and we try to retain drivers even in the off season, most want to drive vs doing other projects so leave and we all then struggle to ramp up for the next season.

  Again, no excuses just trying to explain our situation. Thanks for your patience and understanding. 
  

  Customer response

  06/06/2023

   Better Business Bureau:
  
  I have reviewed the response made by the business in reference to complaint ID ********, and find that this resolution is satisfactory to me.

• Initial Complaint

  12/08/2022

  Complaint Type:

  Service or Repair Issues

  Status:

  Resolved

  More info

  On 3 occasions in the past year (most recently today), the ******** Truck has picked up trash at neighbors on both sides of our property, but has skipped our trash removal. We have called 2 complain on 2 occasions. The remedy offer is to return on the following day. This does not explain why, when our trash is placed by the road in a company provided bin, that they have skipped our house.

  

  Business response

  12/09/2022

  We are sorry for the sporadic misses. After reviewing your history, we can find no reason for this happening other than our driver for some odd reason not seeing your cart and flagging your cart in our system as "cart not out". We have put notes in our system that the driver will see and will be talking to him to have him focus on locating your cart. Our customer experience manager has reached out to you, and we are crediting your account for a free month for the hassle of you having to call us for a go back.

   

  We apologize again and hope these steps will get the issue resolved moving forward.

   

  Customer response

  12/09/2022

   Better Business Bureau:
  
  I have reviewed the response made by the business in reference to complaint ID ********, and find that this resolution is satisfactory to me.

• Initial Complaint

  09/13/2022

  Complaint Type:

  Product Issues

  Status:

  Answered

  More info

  Arbitrarily charge $55 for the disposal of a patio umbrella that was fully collapsed and fit in the trash container. this is more than the cost of the item itself. When I called to enquire about the charge I was told that it couldn't be adjusted and when I asked for a list of items that can be disposed of and how much it would cost, I was told no such list exists. This is nothing more than a money grab with no explanation as to how they arrive at such charges and there is no way for the consumer to know what the charge will be.

  

  Business response

  09/14/2022

  Hello,

  Our records show that you called us on Monday. In addition to the patio umbrella you also had another unidentified bulk item not intended for inclusion in the cart that we charged you for. After the call we credited your account for that charge. However, we can't credit your account for the umbrella. Our $55 charge for patio umbrellas is not arbitrary and is, in fact, on a list of over 100 "bulky" items with specific corresponding prices for each. We do not advertise this list to the public but the price is available when a customer calls to ask for the price of a bulky item pickup. Just because the item "fits in the cart" does not mean it is included in the monthly price for the cart service. If that were the case, our entire industry would be overwhelmed with people cramming items into the carts like tires, microwaves, air conditioners, etc. The carts are intended specifically for bagged municipal solid waste and standard household waste, not bulky items like patio umbrellas.

  We are sorry if you aren't happy but we, along with any other service provider, can't take these types of items for free. The system would end up being tremendously abused. If you decide to switch providers we are sorry to see you go and wish you well.

  Customer response

  09/15/2022

   I am rejecting this response because:
  
  
  

  Customer response

  09/16/2022

   I am rejecting this response because:
  
  It is unfair and unethical to impose a fine on a customer without providing actual documentation as to how the fine was determined.  ON the phone we were told that there is no list; however, in the companys response, the representative made mention of some elusive list with over a hundred items on it.  We dont think it is unreasonable for a customer to request such a list for their own reference and protection from money grabs such as this.
  
  Further, the representative states that they issued a refund for another unsubstantiated charge in the amount of 38 dollars as if to imply, we should be grateful that we only got ripped off once and not twice.
  
  The representative clearly cares nothing about customer loyalty or retention and our residual on-time payments have no value so we will be exploring alternative options.  In the mean time, we will be walking on egg shells wondering what else we can or cant put in the trash, its really anybodys guess because they dont want people to have this magical list that the representative keeps referring to but refuses to make available to the consumer.
  
  I will share my experience with my neighbors to make them aware of Walters Recyclings unethical business practices and even though the company has chosen not even to meet us part of the way, it does my heart good to know that this information will be posted on the BBB site for 36 months.  You cant buy this kind of advertising for $55.
  
  Sincerely,
  
  ***** and ***************************
  

  
  

  
  

  

  Business response

  09/19/2022

  We are again sorry that you are unhappy but stand by our response. We used to publish our Bulky item list online and at customer request but it turned into a complete disaster. For example, too many people simply want to try to get a low price so they would state they had a dining chair and that's what they were charged for only to have the driver find a large upholstered lounge chair at the curb. Or people don't understand the county and state tax that needs to be charged and argue that the tax wasn't quoted to them or they mistakenly looked at a price sheet from a different county than where they live. We've found it much simpler and less confusing to have customers ask for the price either through a call or at our transfer station when dropping it off themselves. Obviously this was not the case for you and that is unfortunate.

  We are sorry to see you go but understand and wish you well in the future.

*Some consumers may elect to not publish the details of their complaints, some complaints may not meet BBB's standards for publication, or BBB may display a portion of complaints when a high volume is received for a particular business. ↩