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Sunday, June 09, 2019

A viewer writes....Chesapeake Waste Industries Losing Customers & Good Will

Chesapeake Waste has been raising residential trash pick up prices by as much as 35 % and appear to be losing customers right and left according to many Facebook posts. They have no website, no online presence with their policies and poor customer service when you call. They will not allow me to speak to a supervisor or owner. They have no agreements or policies I can find, and my paper bill indicated just an annual renewal amount for contract renewal on June 1 - no cancel policies, no notice of authorized credit card payment, no other details about service or changes in policies were noted on the bill.

On May 15, a full 2 weeks before the end of my current annual contract, they charged my credit card $ 392 without any authorization to do so. (I assume they have my credit card on file from a previous year when I listed it on the bill or called in to pay with it.) They received my notice of cancellation on the same day they charged my account but will not honor the cancellation with a refund OF ANY PORTION even though my current contract had not expired, and they charged me for a full year from June 1, 2019 - May 30, 2020.

Can anyone share their dealings or familiarity with Chesapeake Waste Industries on Brick Kiln Road in SBY? Any insight, experiences or ownership info anyone can share? I think Chesapeake Waste Industries was started after buying it from Waste Management in recent years. Can anyone provide background? I have no complaint with the service, just the large increase in price. Otherwise I would have remained a customer.

I am not looking to "trash" any company (pun intended!), but I'm not feeling good about this local company's desire to use fair business practices. I hope they will reconsider soon. It is currently in credit card dispute, but I would like to resolve it locally. Thanks, Joe, and thanks to your readers!

33 comments:

Anonymous said...

We have had all sorts of problems--no pick up 2 weeks in a row--talking to them is ridiculous--they think they are doing you a favor. We need competition. There is minimal to none--

Garbage company--pun intended

Anonymous said...

Increasing rates by 35% allows them to lose quite a lot of customers and still be profitable.

Anonymous said...

I believe this guy went to jail many years ago on a federal case of fraud where they were lying about weight when retrieving dumpsters and charging people more than they should have

I googled the owner after I had a job interview there, because I wasn't overly comfortable with the office atmosphere.

Call your credit card company and dispute the charge and they will wipe it out.



Anonymous said...

I know one thing. They have their drivers go thru the trash and throw out alot of items they won't take. You never know what they will and won't accept as trash.
The street has stuff on it left behind they don't take every week. Really sad. They need to let customers know what they refuse.
We dumped them years ago.
Never a problem pone wit Republic services. They even bring our garbage dumpster back up the hill, part way, for us.

Anonymous said...

Oh, Republic is a month to month. No contract cancel anytime.
At least ours is.

Anonymous said...

I canceled 6 or 7 years ago because of two years of major increase. Company stated due to increasing fuel but when fuel went down they raise the price again. I bought a dump sticker and never looked back. They are shady and just want your money. Dump is open every day until 7? Easy.

Anonymous said...

They surely haven't invested any of the extra income from the price increases back into their equipment...

Anonymous said...

There is no customer service. I remember this past winter when they missed a week, they gave no credit for the missed week. They continually raise rates even though the landfill doesn't raise their fees. They have a fuel surcharge even when the price of fuel goes down. They seem to model their business after Comcast

Anonymous said...

We had them a few years back & they would leave half the trash in the bottom of the container. When you call, they do not care about your problem. They cancelled us...came & got the containers, dumping the trash on the ground. No refund but luckily we were only owed 2 weeks of pick up. File a complaint with the Better Business Bureau...they will help resolve it.

Anonymous said...

Thought their prices were getting out of control years ago. Cancelled them and now get a dump sticker for $60 a year. They are open almost every day of the year with decent hours and have easy drop off and recycling. Yes, you have to take the trash yourself, but the cost savings and convenience of going whenever you need (not having to wait until next week for pick up!) makes it well worth it.

Anonymous said...

Chesapeake Waste ... where to begin!

Doesn't collect my trash and their answer was "we don't take that stuff" ... next week rolls around, and this time they DUMP my trash can upside down into the middle of the street, and now there is trash all over the road!!! I contacted them, yet again to inquire as to WHY they are not picking up my trash, and now dumping the contents all over the street. Their response again, " we don't take that stuff". I said, 'stuff'? As in TRASH? Isn't that what I pay you to do???

I felt this was done in retaliation of me sending in a prior cancellation for another property that I own.

This company is completely unprofessional and a disgrace to the industry. I demanded a refund (for both properties) and was told, well, it will take 6-8 weeks to process. I said, so when you send me a bill and I have 10 days to pay it, how is that different? No response from them.

When I originally cancelled the service they asked me if I was serious about that. What???? Incompetent people working the email and speaking on the phone. So needless to say, a month later and their trash can is STILL on my property.

What a joke of a company. I'm so happy that I left and went elsewhere where I don't get attitude or have my trash dumped all over the street.

Anonymous said...

Sounds to me like you are getting ripped off. I have Republic as my collector and the cost is about $62.00 per quarter with 2 pick ups a week. They furnish a container and one is for trash and the other is for recycle material which is picked up once a week. Great equipment and caring personnel. Had Chesapeake Waste sometime back and their equipment was old, dirty and smelling. Where ever they stopped fluid from the trash would be leaking and leave a smelly mess in the street. They simply should close up shop and go out of business.

Anonymous said...

Use actually never really had a problem with them but did cancel because we moved and are much closer to a drop off center. $60 a year is a no brainer

Anonymous said...

We've never had a problem with Bennett.

Anonymous said...

canceled them many years ago after they kept skipping out on trash pickup! wouldn't know you paid them to do it the way they acted like they was doing me a favor!
quit crying and spent your money somewhere else. waste management is around or better yet. dump passes are a lot cheaper and less hassle!

Anonymous said...

Read your contract, and cancel according to the terms specified in the contract. Quit badmouthing them here. You initially agreed to their terms. It's a legal contract. Do your due diligence and abide by the terms. Chesapeake Waste does. If you want out, the contract tells you how. You don't set their prices, they do. Nobody is making you use them.

Anonymous said...

Dumped Chesapeake about 3 years ago. Exorbitent price increases, missed pickups, terrible customer service. Went with Republic, very satisfied.

Anonymous said...

Left Chesapeake due to high increase. Patrick's Trash Removal is a wonderful Company. Change now you will not be sorry.

Anonymous said...

Hmmm, we have not had any problems at all with Chesapeake. Not saying any of the posts here are untrue, just saying we are very happy with them. Never have they not picked up or not taken all the trash we set out. They even replaced their trash can promptly when the lid broke. I do wish that recycling was picked up as well.

Anonymous said...

i had patricks for about 2 years great guy then he started coming once every 3 weeks not good

Anonymous said...

Chesapeake leaves more trash on the roads than they pick up! They should do a little research on their employees out drinking out on the routes

Anonymous said...

I’m in west ocean city and we have never had a problem with Chesapeake. $420 per year. Is there anything cheaper for pick up?

Anonymous said...

I called Chesapeake about the increase back in January. Their comment, "you do what you have to do and we'll do what we have to do". I started with a new outfit on March 1st. Chesapeake can kiss my donkey!!!!

Anonymous said...

I received the new and increased bill this past January. Since I live less than 10 miles from the Brick Kiln landfill I decided to not renew the trash pick up and got the $60.00 sticker from the landfill and chose to take my trash there.

Best think I ever did and regret not doing it many years ago. PS. the people that work in the landfill office are extremely helpful and very pleasant!

Anonymous said...

10:24 - Do you have a contract to share? We have never had one. We were with Waste Management for 20 +years before they were bought by Chesapeake Waste . I have no complaints about their service, but their policies are vague at best and the price increase is why I am cancelling. In the past, we just paid the bill, but ours increased 25 % from last year.

Can you help us understand the cancel policy? I don't think anyone here is bad mouthing, simply stating their experiences. I like to deal locally and want to continue trash service pick up.

Anonymous said...

He comes to me 1 time a week and calls if he is late or something happened. He is a 1 man business and very professional. Small and independent.. I recommend anyone that has trash issues
To call them directly... They call you back and are very personable...

Anonymous said...

Patrick’s...

Anonymous said...

9:20 June 6 .... to continue my story, I just received another email from this joke of a company. They now tell me that it is suggested I don’t cancel and stay they the end of the quarter because they don’t issue refunds. WTF! I was promised a refund a month ago when I cancelled my service and now they are telling me to keep the service with no refunds. Yea, like I want to spend another more before work picking up my trash out of the street. Good riddance to this awful company!

Chesapeake Waste has become the nightmare that is on repeat all the time. What a joke of a company.

I signed on with Republic a month ago, cheaper, customer service is pleasant to deal with, and no hassle

Anonymous said...

9:20 June 6 continued update: An email from Chesapeake waste in regard to my cancellation submitted over a month ago:

>" You will be staying until the end of your quarter, we do not refund.
> But I can have the can removed tomorrow
>
>
> Chesapeake Waste Industries"

Anonymous said...

Lesson learned.

NEVER give anyone access to your checking or credit card info.
With a citi card you can get one time virtual #'s to pay your bills with, you can limit how much is on this one time card.

I also have a separate free checking account that only has a few bucks in it if I need to pay for something online.

With a little effort you can control what businesses are trying to do to you.

Everyone wants carte blanche access to your financials and my answer is always no.

Even the urgent care on the curve has you sign a "release" if you use a credit card or check that if there is a balance they will just "take it" at will without consulting you or even verifying it is correct. Then you have to fight to get your money back.

Such an ugly world we live in.

Anonymous said...

Yep. Bought me a dump sticker recently. Tired of the rate increases and the 1 can per week limit. Then if they run behind on pickups they'll leave any excess trash behind. Good riddance.

Anonymous said...

Chesapeake is the worst. And, When is the county going to fine them for the mess they make on our streets from all the stuff that drips out of their trucks?!

Anonymous said...

I started using Chesapeake waste in the summer of 1994 and just cancelled them this past March when they raised my bill by 25% of which I thought was excessive. I called and they said we got a notice back in November of a price increase. I did not receive this notice however I just politely cancelled them and they came and got their can the next day. I never had a problem with them at all over the 25 years but I did feel as being a loyal customer since he started the business the increase could have been done in smaller increments. Bad thing is they still have to come by my house every week and this is one customer they could have kept.