A Winnipeg business owner is fuming after being overcharged by a private garbage operation for something he says he didn’t do.
Brad Wallin, president of Wallin Industries, a local metal fabrication business, told 680 CJOB’s The Start that a recent bill for garbage pickup from Waste Management of Canada Corporation was a whopping six times higher than usual.
The company issued Wallin Industries an additional overage charge for what the company said was an overflowing bin, but Wallin alleges was deliberately staged by the Waste Management employee — and Wallin said he has video evidence.
Wallin said he knew the bin wasn’t overflowing, so when he received a photo of it, along with the unexpected bill, he checked his own security footage.
Global News has obtained the security footage, which Wallin said shows the Waste Management driver altering the appearance of the bin for photo “proof” that it was overfilled.
“It shows the driver pulling up, he gets out of the truck, he unlocks the bin, he reaches into the dumpster, starts pulling out a little bit of cardboard, hangs it over the edges,” Wallin said.
“He then takes a little bit more debris, positions it so the lid’s a little bit propped up. He then returns to his truck, the truck takes a photo of this. … The photo goes through to the billing department, who then sends me a bill for this overage charge.”
The bill, around $350, was far greater than the usual $60 or so the company pays for waste removal.
Wallin said he contacted the company to complain, but was given the runaround until finally hearing from an executive at Waste Management’s Toronto headquarters.
“She was very apologetic, saying they would look into it. I haven’t heard any more of what they’ve done,” he said.
“They have offered to credit my invoice. Basically what they’re saying is, ‘We tried to get some money out of you, we got caught, so here, we’ll give it back.’
“In my eyes, it’s just not acceptable.”
In a statement Waste Management sent to Global News Wednesday morning, the company attributed the incident to driver error.
“Waste Management of Canada Corporation (WM) has investigated the situation raised by a customer in Winnipeg and determined that the driver made an error in process, causing the overage charge,” a company spokesperson said.
“This was unintentional, and WM reacted quickly to resolve the matter by apologizing to its customer and reversing the overage charges that were made in error.
“A core value at WM is success with integrity and WM will further coach drivers on proper protocols.”