I think my final email to Adam sums up the whole experience pretty well, but I will echo what other reviewers have said: he will not take responsibility for his mis-management of the business, he blames the drivers, the computer interface he uses with drivers, the customers, my building manager. He will not say he is sorry for the shoddy pick-up service, bad customer service, late responses. He will also argue with customers over the phone, which included the childish refrain "That's not my name, That's not my name, That's not my name!" After I accidentally called him Andy. He will continue to charge your credit card after you have cancelled service, and not refund the $$$. He comes across as devoid of emotion, empathy, or any real desire to connect on a human level. Like, maybe don't be the one answering the phone???? There are so many reviews on here saying the same thing and he acknowledges them, but doesn't take responsibility or change???? Email sent to Adam: Adam- Acknowledge the statements sent over a week ago below. Jun 12, 2020, 1:09 PM (8 days ago) "Please know I will return the final bucket compost at Urban Greens next week and ask you to end our service. Please also refund the last two months, including the $6 for the bucket. We have literally had ONE pickup this entire time and can't muster any more energy to manage this situation. Please confirm and thanks very much." Adam we have already emailed you what we want and you ignored it. We are not talking about the address, or signs, or updating notes anymore. It's over. Your business is incapable of doing its duties in a fashion that warrants our money. ***** and I have engaged with you and other employees via numerous emails, texts, and phone calls. We are tired of engaging with you and your business. THIS IS TOO MUCH WORK! We have already said this is too much work and you continue to ask us to engage! STOP! We want nothing to do with your company except an acknowledgement that all of our money that we have given City Compost has been refunded including the $6 we spent to buy the initial bucket. After we quit your services the FIRST time you offered ***** a month of free service (which he refused, because we expect to pay for proper compost service)as a way to offer penance for the bad service we had initially received and show us you had turned your business around. Well the bad service is still happening and the business continues to not function properly. Refund the money. We will return the last bucket to Urban Greens. Tell us you have refunded the money, tell us thanks for doing the leg work to get the final bucket back to you, and then stop contacting us. ****This place is straight up horrible! Don't start service with them, use Boot Strap, we only changed service because Boot Strap could not pick up during the initial COVID lockdown and we saw this company being promoted by Urban Greens.***** read more

I was an early adopter of this company, signing on about two years ago, and I really wanted it to succeed. At first service went well, but then beginning in August 2020 it became very sporadic and unreliable. Pickups did not happen as scheduled, and if they were rescheduled it was at very short notice. For example, my service was on Saturday; nothing happened and then I'd get an email at 10am on Tuesday that pickup would happen that day. The owner blamed covid (probably valid) and his staff (not so good). He was unable (or unwilling) to provide timely information about when service would take place, and he was hostile and defensive when I tried to talk to him about it. He said he would make financial adjustments to reflect the problems, but he has never done that. The owner sent an email saying he did not want voicemails, to contact the company through the service email option. However, that email portal does not allow for service cancellation. I sent him two emails at the beginning of January 2021 to cancel the service and he just called me on 2/1/21 to tell me that I should have left a voicemail! The goalposts just kept moving and it was supposedly all my fault because I didn't contact the company in the preferred way. The owner is rude and doesn't respect his customers. read more

Refused to pay me my final paycheck. Just continuously sent me harassing and gas-lighting text messages to my personal phone about why he isn't going to pay me. Unsanitary and unsafe working conditions. Vermin and insects everywhere in the indoor area, no safe place to take breaks or eat food. Scummy person running a shady business. Do not use this "service." read more

This is the most incompetent business I've ever dealt with. Like many other reviewers here, my compost was picked up late most weeks and sometimes not at all. Lots of excuses and blaming other people. I've been trying to cancel my service for three months now. I finally stopped the recurring PayPal charge and filed a claim with the BBB. read more

I've been using City Compost for about five years now. I've changed addresses a few times and have always appreciated the service enough to take them along and continue using them. I see a lot of very negative reviews and I think a lot of it comes down to the perception of the business. Adam is someone who has started a company that does good for the world and our community. He prevents food waste from going into landfills, provides good jobs to people, and has managed to keep his operations running through the pandemic and the most challenging labor market in a generation. I will agree that service is not always consistent. Adam tries to communicate when this will be the case, but the company moved facilities, has had some trouble keeping drivers on, and had a lot of people out due to covid among his staff when a lot of these reviews are from. I do understand feeling frustrated that your compost remains at your house, but some humility & perspective is due because of the nature of the situation. I have never perceived Adam's emails as rude. Sometimes they are short and to the point, and yes he did ask people to hold off on emailing him during one of the delays, but that seemed to me to be trying to head off more delays and I didn't mind. My advice to potential subscribers is that if you are able to keep your bucket outside in general and are happy to do good for the world and support a local small business, this is a great one. If you have to put your bucket out yourself on pickup days or if you're in a place where you cannot miss a pickup, this may not be the best fit. read more

Adam is either a scam artist or the most uninterested, incompetent small business owner in America. Not only did he never pick up any compost from us, he never even dropped off the bin despite promising to do so over the course of many weeks and many emails (mostly unanswered). Meanwhile, we start getting charged for "service". Naturally, Adam didn't respond to our requests to cancel service and refund us. We had to file a dispute with Paypal, who thankfully ruled on our favor after several more weeks of waiting. I hope that this guy realizes that small business ownership clearly isn't for him and finds a profession more suited to his disposition. read more

Do not use this service. Composting is important! and this business was discouraging. Originally, I was interested in City Compost because of the great price, but a great price is exorbitant when you get NOTHING. I am reviewing as poor quality and poor value because I was charged a bucket fee and pickup fee and never received pickup. I paid bucket fee and service fee via Paypal. The night before first pickup day, I put my compost of service right at my front gate, very clearly marked, exactly where I had said I'd put it in my registration form. I kept checking on it throughout the day and was not picked up. So I left it out there another night and then called City Compost in the morning. Adam did not apologize, said that these things happened, and said they'd come sometime the next day. I then went and looked up City Compost, saw many reviews detailing a similar experience, and decided to try other options. I called Adam back and said I wanted to cancel and asked for confirmation via email of cancellation. He said he was on the road so couldn't send me one then, but would send me one as soon as he was out of the car. I never received a confirmation but sent a follow-up email to Adam, reminding him of our conversation, and that I wanted confirmation of my cancellation, and then I asked him to refund my bucket fee (since I never got a bucket) and my first service fee (since I never got pickup). He never responded. Three weeks later, Adam sent me an email saying could I please pay my bucket fee since he hadn't received yet? On my Paypal account, it clearly shows that I paid both a bucket fee and first service fee. I emailed him back reminding him that I'd cancelled my service and had asked for a refund. I told him I'd post reviews if I didn't hear back. I never heard back, so here I am! I cancelled the recurring fee on PayPal just in case City Compost continues to try to bill me, and would recommend the same for anybody who is trying to cancel services and gets ghosted. read more

I've been using City Compost for a couple of months now. We have only had one missed pick-up and I got an email (due to a staffing issue) and it was picked up the next day. We're moving otherwise I would be staying with the service. read more

I do not believe that this is a legitimate business. I was supposed to get soil as promised by the owner, and never received any. I do not think they actually create compost. Many people who use this company have asked for compost and did not receive any dirt when requested. They have been charging me for service that I reduced many months ago. I have also not been able to get in touch with them for over a month, I am already using another service and they have yet to reply to me. I am getting desperate. Do not use this company. read more

Definitely pay more for one of the other local companies. I so badly wanted this company to be good and work, but it is truly the lowest quality home composting service that you could find. I stayed with city compost for almost three years and the service was terrible the entire time so really, by not switching to a different company sooner, I'm partly at fault for enabling them. Service was late, by up to a full week, many many times. Responses to emails were sparse and full of excuses, often blaming individual employees by name (the issue is clearly with management, because there's no way this one company just so happened to hire all of the most unreliable employees in MA). Everything money related is also sketchy here -- you pay in advance for your service and when service is late or doesn't happen, all requests for refunds or prorating are completely ignored. This review is current to July 2020, despite the promises from management that things have improved recently. TL/DR: They eagerly take your money but only occasionally provide the service you paid for. Don't hire this company. read more

Like many people here, I wanted to give City Compost the benefit of the doubt in spite of the bad reviews -- especially where they're competitively priced -- but I had my final straw today, and created this Yelp account to share my experience, since it's reviews like these that I frankly should have listened to before I signed up. Funny enough, when I first called this past summer while researching service providers, I had no trouble getting Adam on the phone, who was at the time straightforward and friendly. That all changed once things actually got started: the bucket arrived on the wrong day. Okay, not a big deal. A few days later -- a request from Adam by email to pay for the bucket that I'm essentially renting, despite having clarified all of the costs up front (there's no mention of this on their site when you go to sign up, by the way). Fine, I did that. Then, pickups on the wrong days. No pickups. Two buckets left behind. No emails replied to, and then ones that are/were, full of incredibly rude replies. Even ruder telephone etiquette. A request for wood chips that was never fulfilled. And, as another reviewer mentioned, a recent email sent to all customers about law enforcement being a reason for another delay in service. A few other Google searches into City Compost reveals that they had issues with the Town of Gardener (where they're headquartered), as well as warnings from the Better Business Bureau. But, it's reviews like these that should really serve as the buyer beware. I'm actually disappointed that things couldn't/didn't work out simply because I care about the environment -- I've composted for years, and will likely return to Bootstrap Compost. But, $7.50 a month is not worth the constant headaches. I believe deep down that Adam probably means well, but he has no business acumen and poor people skills. I can't speculate on how successful City Compost is or not, but I've seen issues like these with other businesses before and it's my experience that getting out before things go off the rails is probably for the best. read more

Wow. Let me preface by saying that I help small businesses grow their business, and have worked in customer service for years. I would 100% not be writing this negative review, had Adam showed even the SLIGHTEST bit of accountability, and even appreciation as a customer. I was so excited to have found City Compost. They were affordable, and seem to really care about making a difference in the world. Plus (again), I love helping small (especially local), businesses grow! We get our bucket just fine and signed up for the monthly pick up. Filled up our bucket, and then the pick up date rolls around and no pick up. No biggie. It happens, it's a new business, totally understand. Email Adam that day to say that they hadn't picked it up that morning, and just wanted to confirm that I put it out in the right spot. No response. Tuesday, no response, finally Wednesday, I emailed again and I get a response confirming that I had put it in the right spot, and he asked whether I could wait for the next pick up. I said no...I'm on the monthly and this thing is full to the brim (I even had some extra). He said he'd have someone come Friday to drop off a new bucket. Friday comes. Get my bucket...no wood chips at the bottom like last time (it helps keep it from smelling). So I emailed...asking whether this is something I have to ask for every time, to which he responds no, they're supposed to put some in there, I'll have another one dropped off. He didn't tell me to leave a bucket out, so I didn't, and of course no one came...emailed again...he said if there's no bucket they can't swap it out. Fine. Then I get an email saying they're switching the pick ups to Tuesday. Get my new bucket on Tuesday. At this point, I'm just so baffled (and frankly weirded out), by this guys lack of ownership of the mistakes his company is making. No, "Ugh, I'm so sorry. Forgive us. We're a new business and just working out the kinks..." or "So sorry, I know this must be frustrating for you..." etc. He's just very cold, to the point and that's it. So at this point I go onto a FB group made for Zero Waste, and ask the folks whether they've had any experience with City Compost. Some said yes, and they're affordable, but fine...and a few others said, yes and they ended up switching because it was awful and listed a few different options. Upon seeing the diff options, I emailed Adam and said, I'd like to cancel my service. He actually called me (which I appreciated...), but once again...DIDN'T EVEN APOLOGIZE or address the fact that I wanted to cancel, just confirmed that they'd send someone on Monday. I even went so far as to say, I just want to make things easy for you...where SHOULD I put the bucket out? So we decided on a new location, and that's that. I then go back into the FB group, and say that Adam actually called me and again was still cold, but hey at least they're going to come on Monday. Adam then (I didn't realize he was in the group heh...) commented on my feed and apologized for his coldness, and said something about sorry if I'm not as excited as I was in the beginning...it's been stressful starting a new business something along those lines. Which again, I not only appreciated, but 100% understand! Starting a new business is so hard, and stressful! So I said that I love what he's doing and want to support his business and look forward to our continued service. We get our bucket. The lid is completely broken, and the bucket was filled halfway with wood chips! With a monthly service, we'd probably have that thing filled within a week or so. So I emailed and asked whether this was normal, because last time it was only 1/4 filled with the stuff. He said no, and that it's supposed to only be 1/4 filled, and we'll send someone on Monday. Put our bucket out (I even kept our compost in separate bags, so that we didn't waste all those clean wood chips) Sunday night...and there it's sat since then. It's gotten the point where people are putting trash on top! At this point I emailed Mon night and said, they never picked it up, and I'd like to cancel my service. Tues rolls around didn't hear from him so I emailed asking to confirm our cancelation. Wednesday nothing, and then that night I get a general email to everyone saying there are pick up delays. I replied back to that email, saying can you please confirm that my service is canceled. This bucket has been sitting outside since Monday. Somerville also tickets if you put your trash out on non-trash days and so this needs to be picked up as soon as possible. His response: "Can you share when you have been placing this out?". Again NO, I'm so sorry we'll send someone asap...or sorry to hear that this isn't working out, just that. I'm baffled. All and all don't use them. read more

I love City Compost! As a young person living in an apartment, it's so hard to find affordable ways to be environmentally friendly. With this easy and cheap compost service (I pay for bi-weekly pickup), my roommates and I hardly fill one trash bag per week. We keep the 5 gallon bucket right outside our kitchen door and even during the summer we never had any issues with smell or flies! Adam is really great at communicating! With Covid and the number of bad snowstorms this winter, there were a few instances of delayed service due to drivers being sick or unsafe road conditions. We always got a transparent and apologetic email from Adam, and would have our compost picked up in the next few days. It's clear that the whole team is working hard to keep this service alive, and I think it's well worth it to have some patience for the sake of our planet. Happy Earth Day!! read more

I payed for two months and never got their service. I contacted two separate emails about my discontent and neither addressed my concerns. Very disappointed, would not recommend read more

I had read negative views for City Compost, but I thought it was worth a shot considering Bootstrap Compost was more than two times the price. However, I'd recommend that you save yourself the trouble because in the three weeks of our service, the City Compost team didn't show up on the days/times that they said they would and I had to send in service management requests each time. Black Earth Compost just started in my neighborhood as well as many other neighborhoods in Greater Boston - I'm switching to them. It's just a few dollars more per month ($17.99) and they have already been more responsive to questions that I've had. Save yourself the hassle and try a different company! read more

had an interesting phone call from adam yesterday. last july, i signed up, prepaying 6 months. wish i had read the reviews first (i know, i know:), because the problems began immediately. by november, after only two pickups, i was fed up and sent adam an email cancelling my service. i didn't even bother asking for a refund, and not surprisingly, adam never replied -- until saturday. he said he was just following up, and asked if i wanted a refund. i wondered to myself if he was calling because he had tried to charge my card for another round of non-existent service and the charge didn't go through (after reading the reviews, i had taken the precaution of replacing my card before cancelling). since he would need my current card # to issue a refund, i said don't bother. i'd like to think he's finally gotten his shit together, however... btw: very happy with black earth compost! read more

Terrible. We've been with them for 4 years and tried to be patient as we support small businesses and we liked their model and mission statement. But it is the worst run business ever. Once again, as has happened numerous times over the years, we are swimming in compost due to lack of pick up. It's always a new barrage of excuses. Save yourself the aggravation and stay away. read more

If you expect a smooth-running and reliable service, GO ELSEWHERE. EVERYTHING with this company takes repeated follow-ups and phone-calls and months of waiting for them to follow through on their commitments. I canceled my service yesterday, after a year of tolerating a complete lack of reliability and responsibility. I was willing to overlook some of the hick-ups, and had done so for a while. However, when my expressing concern about the latest hick-up resulted in Adam taking no responsibility for his oversight, suggesting that I had not in fact provided updated information about my payment method (when I did so repeatedly, on the phone and in email format), and outright lying and attempting to blame-shift about the reasons for previous hick-ups, I had had enough. I will be returning to Bootstrap Compost--an extra $10 a month in exchange for peace of mind?? SO WORTH IT!! The following is the exchange that led to the cancellation. Redundancies and email addresses redacted. Adam: It appears the updated card did not go through. Can you verify the card you provided is active? I have amount due of $60.67. Anna I used the card all day today. I am baffled at what you're putting in. City Compost Service Team Hi Anna, The card ends in 2014 exp 10/21. Is this not correct? Anna As we discussed on the phone last week, the expiration date has changed while the card number remained the same. The new expiration date is 11/22. I continue to be baffled at what is happening. So far, my experience with you has been: 1. Approximately 2-3 months to just get into a routine of your staff picking up the bucket on the date agreed upon and in the correct location. 2. Committing to picking up a Christmas tree and wreaths and charging me for this service; staff taking over two months to do so, and not taking all the material. 3. When I asked for Compost, it took close to a month and several phone calls to get it delivered; I am still uncertain as to what your procedure is (am I just entitled to it any time I ask? am I charged for it additionally (not what was represented to me when I signed up, btw)? how are the amounts allocated?). 4. Having a specific conversation about updating credit card, explaining the situation, providing the new card expiration date, only to continue to have the wrong information put in repeatedly while claiming to be using the updated information. I am at a loss. City Compost Service Team 1.--During the winter months things tend to back up with the weather. 2. --If not all the material was taken I should have been notified. Given the request was outside of the normal schedule tree service it did become challenging to fit this into our normal bucket service. 3. --The compost is scheduled to be delivered every month, [starting 6 months after sign up]. *Compost procedures here--not relevant to review* 4. --The card was intended to be updated with the information provided. Perhaps the card itself was out of date more than the expiration date. I have that the card ends in x2014. Perhaps other digits are different. I do not have visibility into the entire card. Anna: 1. I signed up with you in May of 2018, specifically at Wake Up The Earth in JP, for service to begin in July. Exactly what winter months are you referring to? 2. I feel like I should have you on speed dial at this rate! I am calling you with some issue more often than I should be. I already called at least twice to get my damn tree picked up, and frankly was sick of the lack of follow through. 3. This is the first compost delivery I have had since I signed up for the service. I was never told I need to ask for it until I called you several weeks ago and was delivered half a bucket, even though I have been submitting non-minimal (and sometimes overflowing) buckets for a year. Even then I had to follow up several times for this to happen, because with your company, nothing ever seems to happen on the first try. Thanks for the information, I will keep it in mind, but honestly, imho, part of paying for and having an automatic compost pick up every week is not having to worry about things running smoothly. In this case, I should be surprised if something does in fact run smoothly. 4. The card number is not out of date--it still ends in 2014 The expiration was, and you were told it was. I find it....refreshing...how you feel the need to mansplain to me what the problem with MY card--the one I use on a daily basis--could have been when you yourself confirmed that you were using the wrong information. 5. All that you had to do was say, "wow, we did run into quite a few problems here, didn't we? I am sorry about your experience with us, let me make it up to you by *insert plan of action here*" You know, the whole taking responsibility thing? Tends to be good PR if you're running a business. But as with most things that I have experienced from this company, your customer service is similarly incompetent. *inform of end of service* read more

After using Bootstrap Compost for a few years, I switched to City Compost to save some money and show support for a smaller local business. A stuck with City Compost for 6 months or so and won't be returning - or recommending them. In communication with Adam, I quickly learned that there would be no pardoning of mistakes: on my first pick-up day I planned to take my bucket out at 6am, but it turns out that they pick up in the middle of the night and will charge for a missed service, even if the mistake only happens one time. To retain customers, I'd suggest they give first-time customers a pardon if they miss that first pick-up. They could also easily avoid customers forgetting to leave out buckets by sending an automated reminder email the day before a neighborhood's pick-up. In my time using the service, I am also convinced that City Compost has a culture of blame and a tense working environment. Adam is never willing to take responsibility for an oversight or error, has not once said "I'm sorry" or "we're sorry," and is quick to place blame on other members of the team if something goes wrong. If it is your company, YOU need to take responsibility. This morning's email showed the culture of blame as well, as a short "announcement" email made it clear that Adam is unhappy with - and has fired - a team member. Your internal issues are not something that your customers need to know about, and publicly shaming your former staff is not appropriate. City Compost has potential, but needs to acknowledge its flaws and the work it has to do to gain and retain customers. All in all, I've already signed back up with Bootstrap and can't wait return to a friendly, helpful, responsive, and forgiving company. read more

Terrible. City Compost provides perpetually late or no-show service and their customer service is very unprofessional and simply terrible. I've been lodging weekly service complaints over the past few months, yet they have never acknowledged or answered them. With all of the months of spotty service (only picking up one of two weeks if that), there has never been an apology for the inconvenience, only an occasional notice of late service combined with which of Adam's service providers was to blame (often individuals by name! good look, guys). It's up to customers to lodge service complaints and if you don't do it within two days of the missed service, you can't get a refund (but let's be real - they don't read the complaints, no one is getting a refund). When I finally got Adam on the phone to cancel (there is no way to cancel online, I finally had to ask one of his employees for his phone number!), I expressed my reasons why as a way of providing useful feedback. Instead of listening, he interrupted and steamrolled me to argue that my compost had indeed been picked up when it had not and to suggest a number of reasons it must be my fault or I had misunderstood. What an a**hole. Then tried to convince me to keep the service going! No, thank you. No one needs to be scammed and gaslit by their compost company. We're switching to Black Earth. To Adam: Be better. We all share some values by wanting to compost! Even if you'd just had spotty service, we'd have stuck with you if you had appeared to give a sh*t. Be humble, admit when you're wrong, and do right by your co-workers and employees. Respect your customers by listening to them. read more

Literally cancelled my terrible service a couple weeks ago.. and they just charged me AGAIN. 50 dollars and they have dropped off 1 bucket and it was a month late and still nothing else, no shavings which are included in the price and now after "granting" it acceptable to refund me, they are ghosting me. three emails I've sent with no response... please don't waste your money or time. At first they say it's covid issues... even if it is, dude should not be charging people, if he can't do the job. I was VERY pleasant and understanding for the first 2 months. It doesn't matter they just sweep you under the rug. Go elsewhere or do it yourself. read more

I read the reviews before signing up. I noticed the business owner had responded to prior complaints about reliability and took him at his word that these were old issues that have since been resolved for the new-ish business. I was wrong. We gave them 6 weeks, in that time they showed up on the allotted day exactly 1 time (the first week). After that they were between 1-5 days late and required multiple follow-up emails to come at all. As of this writing on a Thursday, my bucket has been on the street since Sunday night. I have been assured that they're coming to get it every day since. It's still there. It is cheaper, I'll give them that. The concept is also great. I wish them the best in sorting out the reliability issues, but either they grew too fast, or they just don't prioritize consistency. I'd also cosign previous reviews that pointed out the lack of accountability. I've asked a couple times whether the delays are normal and whether I can/should expect the unreliable pick-ups to improve. No responses. If you enjoy having to send several emails per week to get the service you're paying for and your neighbors/town are cool with your rotting food waste sitting in a bucket on the curb all-week, have at it with these guys, otherwise, I'd pass. read more

I switched to City Compost from the competition months ago, the offer was cheaper for presumably the same service. I have cancelled since this company is unreliable. I had my bucket picked up on an inconsistent basis. Cheaper is not always the right choice! Check for yourself the number of reviews stating the same experience and think twice before choosing this company... read more

It's been impossible to get consistent pick ups after signing up for this service. One week they leave no bins behind, the next week they leave two kitchen bins but not the outdoor bin. Then two weeks of no pick ups at all. We had to buy an extra bucket to store the extra kitchen scraps. I'm not sure where the disconnect is... if there are constantly new drivers? why they would be skipping stops and not using the same routine each time they do a pick up. Will look elsewhere to donate compost, the customer service is too inconsistent to make it worth it. Mistakes happen but over a couple months of service we've only had 1 or 2 pick ups go smoothly. read more

1) ALWAYS late - not the biggest deal to me, but annoying 2) WEIRD EXTRA BILLS got sent - trying to charge us for the months in 2019 prior to when we even signed up for service. When I wrote the the contact person, Adam, about this, he acknowledged that we did not have service with him during those months but also tried to insist that his bill was valid 3) Very difficult customer service. I tried to cancel my service but they did not acknowledge it and continue to replace my (empty) bucket. I'm switching to black earth compost. Hope it will go better. You would think dealing with a composting company should be easy!! read more

Do not use City Compost unless you want an unreliable service that doesn't come half the time or an uppity defensive owner (who reportedly mistreats his employees) to deny responsibility for the company's (if you can call it a company) shortcomings. I had a truly terrible experience with them and have never gotten so frustrated with any service/product I've used and it was all down to the owner Adam. This guy is more or less a con artist and is not to be trusted. Garbage to Garden has much better customer service and equivalent services (I switched to them and was happy). read more

Updated March 2021- My husband had reached someone besides the owner mid-November, gotten it "confirmed cancelled" with that person, only for the owner to call me a few days later and say "that person doesn't have permission to close accounts". He then tried to say due to their cancellation policy I couldn't cancel for at least a couple more weeks, but backed down when I mentioned all the previous emails. He said someone would come by to get our last empty bucket; no one showed up for a couple of weeks, then when someone eventually did come by they hadn't received proper instructions and grabbed the bucket, felt it was empty, and then left it behind. That was the beginning of December, and I'm still getting sporadic emails from the owner asking if we are willing to return it; I respond each time within ~15 minutes saying "yup, sure, as soon as you give me a date where someone will be by to get it I will agree to put it out on that date", and then the cycle repeats. read more

We've been using City Compost since the fall, and have had nothing but the BEST service! Adam and his crew have been helpful -- even going and finding our bin when I forget to leave it out at the curb (or in the case of a recent snowstorm, when they picked up even with 14 inches of snow!). They've been very easy to work with from start up and including suspensions when we travel. read more

All the reviews are right. I finally had to have my credit card company stop payment to have my payments stop (after they acknowledged via email that my service was cancelled and they did my final pickup). read more

This is a business that makes me wish zero stars was an option. I was a faithful customer for nearly 2.5 years. The inconsistent and unreliable service was annoying and the number of emails I got informing me my pickup was delayed became comical, but it's just me in my house and I rarely fill my bucket to the brim, so I could deal if service was delayed for a few days. For whatever BS reason Adam gave, service was delayed in May 2021. Fine, nothing new there. Two weeks went by and my regular biweekly service was not completed. Three weeks went by. Temperatures reached well into the 90s and the hot sun beat down onto a disgusting bin of rotting food. No pickup. I filed a dispute on PayPal for a refund of half of the previous month's service and received an email from Adam the next day asking me to please not dispute with PayPal in the future and to contact him directly instead (sure, that doesn't seem shady at all). The next day, I emailed him asking when I could expect to see the refund. No response. Three days later I emailed him following up on the refund and informing him that it has been a month since my bin was picked up. No response. Five days later I emailed him following up and telling him that if I did not hear from him by the end of the week, I would be canceling my service and throwing my compost and his bin in the garbage. No response. SEVEN DAYS LATER (today) I emailed him informing him I was canceling my service, throwing out my compost and bin, disputing my monthly charge on PayPal, and notifying the BBB. I don't expect to receive a response and if I do, judging from the rest of the reviews for this company I expect it to be some condescending response where Adam takes no responsibility for the company that HE runs not functioning properly. I preemptively canceled my auto payment through PayPal (seriously, thank god for PayPal) since judging by other reviews (again), Adam never cancels auto payments. I signed up with Bootstrap Compost and while it's double the price, I'm willing to pay more to actually receive reliable service. Good riddance. read more

DO NOT do business with these people. Not only is the service CONSTANTLY unpredictable but they kept charging my card even after I canceled service and emailed them to ask for payments to stop. They didn't respond to any of my emails and ultimately I had to take it up with my credit card company. There are good compost providers in the Boston area so do not choose City Compost! read more

One star is generous. Yelp should really offer a zero star option because this business deserves it. I'm not sure I've ever encountered as business that was as poorly run as City Compost. Week after week after week there is always some sort of excuse as to why the compost wasn't collected or why they have to skip pickup for some extenuating circumstance. "A driver got a flat tire." "There was a family emergency and our driver couldn't make it out today." Last week the email said that "the authorities had to be called on an employee." Good for the employee. I'm guessing he got tired of Adam's BS, as have I. Worst of all is the response (or lack thereof) when you call or email Adam to report an issue. I often get a bristly attitude, as if I should be grateful for his services. Adam must be independently wealthy because no business that falters this often or treats its customers (and I'm assuming it's help) as badly as he does could manage to stay profitable for any length of time. I'm counting down the days for my contract to end so that I can switch to Black Earth. It seems like they run a legitimate operation. read more

NEVER USE CITY COMPOST!! I have never experienced worse customer service than from City Compost. The service is inconsistent at best, but really now in the last few months, the bucket is just rarely picked up on time if at all (we are talking a week to a week and a half late for a service that happens every two weeks). When there are issues, the person in charge, Adam, responds by gaslighting customers, claiming he his voicemails and emails say the opposite of what he has communicated. Worse, he claims that he can't be held responsible for his team not doing their work and acts like it is the customer's fault that service is not happening. read more

Do not sign up with City Compost. I was with them for three years. In the beginning we received advance notification of delays and the delays were short term. Not so now. Delays came more often with far longer durations. City Compost only sends notifications of service interuptions after the occurrence or not at all. Notifications are full of excuses and empty promises of when to expect service. I cancelled my service after over a month of no pick-ups. They did not respond to my cancellation notice and continue to charge my credit card. I have gone with The Compost Cooperative. They service Franklin County but will be expanding. Their price is just as good and service is phenomenal. read more

Stay away! Read the reviews below for ALL the information you need. Terrible business. Run, do not walk, to another composting source!

Contracted with this company for service. Paid 6mos in advance ($60). They never delivered bucket on date promised (in writing). When contacted, said it was "still out for delivery. Three days later said it would be another week because service wasn't activated properly, though owner blamed me for the issues and became condescending. I canceled service because of his response and the clear signs service was not a priority, and requested a refund. Was told it would be 3-5 days. Now it's 9 days later and no refund; no response to requests. Read the other reviews...this company has an issue with service and refunds. The BBB even has a warning posted about this business now for the similar things happening to others. read more

Composting is great, and it would be fantastic if everyone in the Boston area did it. Hopefully we'll get widespread municipal composting programs soon. In the meantime, we've been using City Compost for about a year now, and I have to say, as far as a basic pick-up-at-your-house service, it's a pretty unimpressive business. I understand that companies can have some issues with employees or logistics from time to time, but Adam, who appears to serve as both the CEO and the Customer Service Rep (what's that all about?) certainly doesn't do a good job in the latter role. He's a bad communicator, he's terrible at keeping up with emails, he's rude on the phone, he acts resentful when customers ask him for credits for missed service, and even when he begrudgingly agrees to give a credit, you find a few weeks later that he never actually applied it, and you have to deal with him all over again. I really hope Adam hires someone competent as a customer service person, because right now I'm really sour on his entire company, and I don't want to stop composting just because Adam is awful to deal with. read more

Any email interaction with City Compost will be short and abrupt. If you tell them you are leaving for a different composting service, Adam will fight back, try to give you a "deal" and be fairly unpleasant. Like, please just cancel my service and refund me pro-rated, right? This is not your ideal compost company. read more

We started with City Compost last February and they were awful. Two major stoppages, missed pick-ups, consistent lack of response to phone calls or emails. When we finally did hear from them, they would tell us when our next pick up would be and then it wouldn't happen. Over and over and over. I tried to cancel my service via several email and phone messages, even telling the delivery person to pass the message on, and I finally got a response two months after I first started trying to cancel, telling me I was all set. A week later, I was charged again for the upcoming quarter. This company is untrustworty, unreliable, and incompetent. Do not use them. read more

Very unreliable service. At one point every other pick up was missed, often with no explanation. There have also been issues with erroneous charges, although they have promptly rectified this. Despite having communicated with Adam on numerous occasions about the issues, I have never once received an apology for missed service or other issues that have occurred. I have once tried to leave the service but was convinced to stay and am definitely once again considering moving to a different service. read more