It wasn't much, but it was in the way. The first place I called quoted a price that I could live with, and said they could schedule the pickup Thursday.
The second place just had a recording, asked for my number and brief description, and promised to call back automatically. Never did.
The third place was 1-800-GOT-JUNK?, an outfit with a slick, amusing TV commercial (not always a positive, in my opinion). Their number answered with a slightly distorted jingle followed by a brief spiel from the founder, and I thought, "Oh, boy, here we go." But it handed me over to a call-center operator who took the particulars in a businesslike manner, promptly gave me a quote about seventy-five percent of the first junk-remover's price, and then said, "But let me put you on hold and check with our local guys. Since this is small and already at the curb, we can probably give you a better deal."
I was happy to hold. Before very long, the operator came back and said, "If you will be home between four and six this afternoon, we can do the job for fifty dollars." Less than half of the first quote!
It was 3:30 p.m. I assured her I would most certainly be home, she confirmed my address and we said goodbye.
The big, brightly-painted truck stopped by around 5:00 p.m. and with no fuss and bother, picked up the junk and we did an arms-length credit-card transaction for payment.
Easiest professional trash removal I ever had, and the least expensive one this century. They will be my first call next time.
it's always nice to find a professional - at a good price! :)
ReplyDeleteWe used them to remove 4 truck loads of stuff when we sold our home and downsized - great service, nice people and a good price - with a discount for repeat customers.
ReplyDeleteMore than once I've had something to get rid of, and was willing to pay the minimum charge at the "Waste Transfer Facility" in order to get rid of it. I can see why it is worthwhile to a haulier with an under-max load to the waste depot to add even more that is still under-max, as the per-additional-pound cost is way less than what you paid.
ReplyDeleteI had an administrator at work complaining that they didn't know how to get rid of a giant cast-aluminum gas barbecue grill that they needed to dispose of, being even willing to load it into the minivan and take it somewhere but where would one take it?
And I mansplained "Well you have two choices, take it to [region_name] waste transfer facility" at [address], where you will pay $X as the minimum charge, back up to the spot they designate, and add your grill to the pile –– or you go to [bob's] metal recycling at [address], where they will weigh your car coming in, you will back up to the spot that they designate and add your grill to the pile, and they will give you money after weighing your going back out the gate."
They elected for the second, so I gave a bit more detail about scrapyard procedures (as it can be a bit intimidating for first timers and I've never found scrapyard staff to be patient or communicative). The next day they were very evangelistic about it, telling everyone who would listen how you can get $20 for utterly useless stuff.
We used 1-800-GOT-JUNK twice - once to haul away such of my clutter from my old house as (a) I could bear to part with, (b) I couldn't give away, and (c) wasn't HAZMAT; and once to haul away an even greater amount of my father's clutter and outright junk from his house.
ReplyDeleteWasn't exactly cheap (in the Bay Area, not much is), but we were dealing with multiple truckloads, not just a little pile.
Looking at the piles of boxes in the barn, I think maybe we could have shed just a little more clutter before the big move.