Nisswa Sanitation was better before it was purchased by new owners. I was a customer for 20 years,…read moreand my mother was a customer for over 30. Now, I am sorry to say, they are slimy, and resort to bullying and unethical business practices.
We were in the process of moving my mother, who is beginning to have memory problems and may have the beginnings of dementia, so she could be closer to us. The week before we were coming to MN to get her, she informed us that her garbage had not been picked up. No garbage service would be a problem for us, since we had just sold her house and needed to clean it out. So, I contacted Nisswa Sanitation and I was told that my mother had not paid her bill for two months. I made arrangements to pay it through the end of August, including what she owed, if they would resume pickup. I immediately issued a check to cover the expenses.
The next week, her garbage was not picked up. When I called to ask why, I was told that they had not received my check. Ok, that's entirely possible, so I decided we'd be fine as long as they picked up the next week, which was also the day the movers were moving everything out. I did express my displeasure, because I had told them I was sending them a check. I asked them if they would consider going and getting the garbage, and I was told it was too late that week. I told them that since we were already gone, we would have no choice but to leave the garbage out by the road even if they didn't pick up. So they came and took my mother's can away. Again, we were paid through the end of the month.
Yesterday would have been their last pickup. The movers came and went, and my sister hauled a sizeable load of garbage out to the road hoping that they would still come pick up. When they didn't, my wife called to ask them why. They lied and said I asked them to discontinue service on the 15th. Now I ask you, why would I do that when the whole reason I called in the first place was to make sure there was service until moving day? My wife then asked if they would come out, and texted a picture of the pile to Dave, the manager. He informed her that for the special trip and a pile that size, we would have to pay $50. Not having a choice, we agreed, gave them a credit card number, and they picked up.
This morning, my wife noticed that they charged our card $125. This was not the agreed upon price. My wife called them to question the charges, and they informed her that it took their guy over two hours to load it into the truck, so we were being charged more. I find this hard to believe, considering my sister and a friend of the family hauled it out there, down the driveway, in about a half-hour. At no time did Nisswa Sanitation contact us to tell us it would cost more, nor were they authorized to charge our credit card for more than $50. When she told him she had refuted the charges, Dave threatened to return the garbage and dump it at the end of the driveway. I was then conferenced in and received more rude treatment. I informed him that settlement had already taken place, so he would be dumping it on someone else's property, and that it really didn't affect us. I also told him I would be taking to social media to let the world know about their unethical tactics, and how they treat an aged customer of over 30 years. His response was "oh I'm so scared".
So, here we are. I am a firm believer in the power of social media and word-of-mouth. I have often based my decision to either do business with, or not do business with, a company on reviews I have read. I hope you do too.
