CHARLESTON – The Public Service Commission of West Virginia on Friday directed the state’s largest waste pickup company to make modifications to its operations after complaints about garbage collection failures were filed with the Commission.
Delegate Andy Shamblin, R-Kanawha, sparked the general investigation into Waste Management of West Virginia, Inc. He asked for the inquiry on March 5 after he received numerous customer complaints concerning refuse pickup in the Cross Lanes area.
Customers reported missed and incomplete pickups and poor communications from the company. Shamblin also asked if customers should be given billing credits for missed pickups.
The Commission, in a nine-page order, directed the company to place a toll-free number on its website to which customers can call to reach “a live customer representative.” It also told Waste Management to prorate credits to any customer who was missed more than 12 days of service.
The company must report information about those customers to the PSC. The company must work with the Commission staff to develop a contingency pickup plan if it misses a route and will not attempt a pickup before the next scheduled service.
The Commission told the company to update its contact information yearly; file a plan with the Commission on what it will do if a customer’s scheduled pickup is missed; implement a plan to track customers with service interruptions longer than five days; and not subject customers to an extra bag charge if their bags were left from a pickup missed earlier.
The Commission declined to make the order apply to all similar utilities but said the order should serve notice to all that the Commission may require this or additional service or standards in response to complaints against specific carriers.
More information on this case can be found on the PSC website: www.psc.state.wv.us. Click on
“Case Information” and access Case No. 25-0293-MC-GI.
