Company Response
9/9/2024
Customer has been a client of Mountain State Waste since April 9, 2024. Upon initiating service, she made her first payment over the phone with one of our customer service representatives. On April 30, 2024, Ms. Church was invoiced for services covering May, June, and July. Shortly thereafter, she contacted our office and made an additional payment of $80.00, leaving a remaining balance of $78.93. This balance included a $65 leasing fee for a trash container that was delivered on April 10, 2024 (photo attached).
During a call on May 9, 2024, Ms. Church requested to enroll in our auto-pay service using her PNC bank account ending in 1276. As is standard, our representatives are only able to view the last four digits of the account number, unless the full information is provided by the customer. Ms. Church was informed that she could choose the auto-pay date, with many customers opting to have payments processed at the time of billing. Every customer of Mountain State Waste is billed quarterly, and this information is provided during the initial contact. Ms. Church's next invoice, for services covering August through October, was generated on July 20, 2024. At that time, an auto-pay batch was created and sent to our accounting department to be processed on the last business day of the billing month. The total amount due on this invoice was $193.69, which included both the new billing and a carried-forward balance of $78.93.
On July 23, 2024, Ms. Church contacted our office again and made a manual payment of $193.69. She mentioned receiving a late notice and, despite the scheduled auto-pay, requested that we update her banking information and process the payment manually, which we did. However, as the manual payment did not cancel the auto-pay, the scheduled transaction for $193.69 was processed on July 31, 2024.
On August 1, 2024, Ms. Church contacted us, expressing her dissatisfaction and requesting a refund for the auto-pay transaction. A refund in the amount of $193.69 was processed the same day (receipt attached). We advised Ms. Church that, once a refund is issued on our end, the timing of the funds being returned to her account is dependent on her bank. She called again on August 5, 2024, and was informed that the refund had been processed.
On August 8, 2024, Ms. Church called again, speaking in an unprofessional manner towards our staff and accusing our company of misconduct. She requested to speak with a supervisor. I attempted to contact her at the phone number listed on her account (743-222-9211), but there was no option to leave a message. In the meantime, Ms. Church also sent an email (attached), and I responded accordingly, reiterating that the refund process is managed by her bank.
As a result of these interactions, I have removed auto-pay from Ms. Church's account. Going forward, she will be responsible for making manual payments. We will no longer accept phone payments from her; she may submit her payments either by mailing a check or through our online portal. I will not tolerate further unprofessional behavior towards our staff, and if such behavior continues, her account will be subject to closure.
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