Marin Sanitary Service

I would normally give them 4 stars but for the fact the geniuses at route patrol have decided it’s a good idea to block the bottom of Redwood rd. at Yolanda station for 20 minutes at 7:45 rush hour. Mind you, redwood rd is possibly the narrowest 2 way road in all of Marin County with no way to pass. God Forbid you might design the routes so that 19 cars aren’t backed up trapped at the absolute single busiest time of the day?
Dear Mr. Responder – believe me, I’ve called. This is a last resort not a first. And I’d like to apologize here on your behalf to the driver for the stress he faces being thrown into that ridiculous circumstance.

We take our trash seriously here in Marin County boasting one of the highest recycle rates in the US. Marin Sanitary is helping Marin County to reach the goal of zero waste. Four times a year I make a trip to the recycled center to riot our garage of unused items. I also take used paint cans, electronics and batteries here for proper disposal. Recently I need a large amount of clean cardboard for a project my son was working on. The cardboard area had more than enough. Recycle. Re-​use. Responsible.

My mother had a somewhat overfilled residential green waste container that the regular guy couldn’t do. I called the office and Jessica handled it in what seemed like 15 minutes. Thank you.

Once again I need NEGATIVE STARS, Unilocal.This is quite possibly the worst part of living in Marin… having to deal with this obviously inept and disappointing group of morons who wouldn’t know customer service or work ethic if it came up and bit them in the ass.
This week marks the tenth time, YES, THE TENTH TIME, we have had to call to get these morons to do their job. Even when we call and complain, it takes them two or three days to come and do THEIR JOB… PICK UP THE DAMN GARBAGE!!! I want you all to understand that whomever has posted a positive review for Marin Sanitary either has NO TRASH to pick up or they’ve been paid to post their bullshit review.
This is quite possibly the worst customer service I’ve ever received in my entire 49 years on this planet. So, here’s my story:
We live in a duplex with four other duplexes surrounding us. We all place our recycling bins at the same spot on the curb. We can’t be responsible for everyone’s garbage but we have spoken to all of our neighbors who are VERY careful about recycling properly. The driver, we have been told by the morons in the office, has been telling the office that the recycling bins are overflowing with non-​recyclable stuff. This is a load of HORSESHIT. I personally went outside and dumpster dove and checked to make sure that EVERY SINGLE PIECE of recycling was indeed in the correct bin. Yet the driver — FOR THE TENTH WEEK IN A ROW — has not picked up the recycling. I’m assuming we are now being punished for having called and complained. So ya know what, you idiots? I believe I’ll begin taking all of the recycling bins myself and dumping them ON YOUR PROPERTY.
Yours truly,
A disappointed and now WAAAAAAAAYYYYYYYY PAST angry customer.

If it was possible to select zero stars, I would have. Tried to set up service 3 times with the latest attempt being Friday ⁹⁄₂₆ and was told each time that I couldn’t because service was already connected. Today, the bins were removed. When I called to find out why, I was rudely told it is because service was stopped — also on Friday. Huh? When I went to compleat setting up the new account for collection, I had to endure serious rudeness from an agent called Ruben. And they are the only game in town. Frustrating.

Unfortunately there is not a zero star rating for this service.
As new home owners in San Rafael I have had the unfortunate experience of calling this place twice.
Once again to day they did not fail to exceed themselves in awful customer service over the phone. Today I simply called to state our bin had disappeared after the garbage truck left.
Good old «cut you off, never friendly, could not give fig» Greg in the customer dept basically states «Ok done» and cuts me off with no mention of when the new bin will arrive etc. This guy infuriates me to the point I want to go over there and let him and the firm know in person they did a dud hire here. Awful, curt, rude, I could go on.
I can only hope someone commences and alternative, friendly and thoughtful service and I would switch in an instant.
Not to mention the constant rip off rises in rates and we have only been here just over a year. What a scam.

Coming from So Cal, I find this facility extremely convenient for the various needs I have as a homeowner who has to dispose of electronic, hazardous, and general waste that doesn’t fit into our bins. The shredding service is also very convenient for large volumes of material that I don’t want to slave over a personal shredder to dispose of. The only thing making it less than a 5 star is the wait for the shredding service person to come out for gathering and to take payment.

I’ve been so frustrated with my recent move and finding so much garage left behind was yet another thing to deal with. After hauling endless bags and 4 cans to the curb, as my lease hadn’t even officially started, it was still there that afternoon. Trying hard to control my anger/​frustration, I called MSS-​Marin Sanitary Service and wanted to know what was going on and let them know how upset I was. Well, rather than a sassy remark or giving me the «it’s not MY problem» attitude, Susan, the lovely representative was calm, empathic, understanding and HELPFUL the entire time, trying to figure out what was going on and how to FIX it… quickly and efficiently. Which she did. In about 10 minutes, she had explained it all, answered all my questions, set up my new account and when I got off the phone, I was calm. I even received a follow up call from Susan to remind me to place my cans out the night before and to give them a call if I had extra bags so they’d know what to expect. Dealing with MSS was by far the easiest part of my move.

Thank you Marin Sanitary service team, for working on Thanksgiving day, our normal pick up day. Until I checked the schedule on Wednesday, I was anxious that we would be hosting a full house on Thanksgiving, a full week after our last pick up. I was so relieved to see the schedule on the Marin Sanitary website, showing that garbage would be picked up on the regular schedule. Thanks for working on the holiday, and for making our day a little less stressful.

Week 3 recycling can no pick up! This has happened so many times before! When i call, they offer no assistance! When i tell them, i will start filling up my garbage can, they say they will charge us for the cost! If i put next to can they say it needs to be put in squares with rope! Let me get this straight… you dont pick up for three weeks and then your advice is to charge me or give me work! What a joke! Oh and the kicker last time i called vs fixing problem they sent me a how to recycle brochure ! Maybe a little less sarcasm and some actual work! Or we all to zero waste so we dont need them anymore !!!

I ordered a new garbage can last Friday, they told me I’d have it by this Tuesday. It’s Wednesday — no garbage can. I call about it and they tell me I’ll get it the 23^rd… I’m seriously trying to figure out how to start my own Sanitary Service… based on how shitty a job these guys do, I bet I could get tons of customers.

I’m only rating the actual yard and not their garbage collection service. As far as the yard goes you can get rid of pretty much anything here, and for some strange reason it’s a lot cheaper than taking it to the landfill in Novato, despite the fact that they have to transport their garbage from here to a landfill. They recycle all kinds of materials also hazardous waste.

Don’t be fooled by the two or three people on this site who have had «good experiences» with this company. Read the room and discover just how many 1 star reviews this company has comparatively speaking. The truth is this is quite possibly the worst aspect of living in the City of San Rafael. The sheer lack of any customer service (or concern at all for that matter) is what really makes this company awful to do business with (really I should say forced to do business with since they hold a monopoly on trash service in San Rafael). While it may not be a «restaurant», they should be at a minimum courteous towards their customers and uphold their end of their contract with the City of San Rafael, monopoly or not. Read all of the reviews here and you’ll see that they don’t.
Virtually every week they damage another piece of my property in an attempt to save themselves money. Their trucks now implement an electronic arm that grabs your can and violently throws it upside down so that half of your trash ends up in the truck and the other half in the street. Then the can is flung back towards your home with the same level of force. Since I live on a hill, this process means that my car gets dented and my fence gets cracked and broken as a direct result of the driver’s carelessness. While I have called to complain many times, the people who answer the phone could frankly care less. They act in a rude and condescending manner because you had the nerve to call and complain about what frankly amounts to institutionalized vandalism. I can’t encourage enough of my neighbors to contact your respective City official and lodge a formal complaint because that is the only way this company is going to clean up its act or, if not, lose their City contracts.
NOT RECOMMENDED (but since its a City sanctioned monopoly, what choice do we have?!)

There is a basic rule of thumb for successful businesses — excel at customer service and all else may be forgiven. Marin Sanitary does NOT excel at customer service. When you promise to do something — do it. Don’t put it off for two weeks; don’t get snarky with us (the customer) who has to follow up with you; and then it still doesn’t get done? Really? While Marin Sanitary provides a valuable community service, their customer service leaves a lot to be desired. This can be easily fixed with training, training, training, and better communications amongst their own team and with their customers. You can do a lot better.

MSS, this seems to be the only place where a customer may voice a complaint. There is no link on your website «Contact Us.» I would have been more private about this, otherwise. Two weeks ago, our green bin was mangled by the auto-​pickup device on the MSS service truck. We have been calling Customer Service (9 calls) ever since, to have it replaced. We leave the damaged bin by the curb each morning and WAIT. No pick up. I call in the afternoon to report it, and a new request is issued to replace the bin. There seems to be no followup, no communication between MSS and their driver, and no Manager input. Again, we have been promised a new bin next week. If the definition of insanity is repeating the same behavior and expecting a different outcome, then MSS Customer Service, we are there.

I realize being a garbage man sucks. That being said, it’s your job and we pay for this service. We live in Fairfax and have to pay extra due to where our house is located and we can’t leave cans on the street. Multiple times the Fairfax garbage guys have drug trash all down our stairs and now for the 4^th time in a row, they have left a rotting bag of garbage in the bottom of our can. I have called customer service 5X this month alone and this is still happening. I feel like the garbage guys are doing it on purpose at this point as an «F you» for telling on them. What I am wondering though, is why do these idiots still have a job?! This is terrible business and super frustrating. I hope these guys start doing what they are being paid for or the get fired. Ridiculous.

I was in a bind as the «other» debris box company who had told me 8am would not be a problem, informed me they never quote times and to expect it between 12 and 4. I had 5 guys staring at me. I called Anitah and begged for mercy. She had a box there in under an hour. 5 boxes later all went well and they are great there! It’s nice to know there are dependable companies in Marin. I will not use anyone else.

So, this whole operation looks like a racket to me. You know who controls the «garbage» business or «carting» business don’t you? Now, I am not saying that these guys have crooked noses but I think their racket has an even greater edge. So on one hand, they charge folks to pick up their garbage (fair enough) but on the other hand they charge people to pick up the recycling and then re-​sell the stuff too and make money again. That is like a bank charging you to come over to your house to pick up your money, they take it from you and charge you for it and then they put it in their own account. Yes, very fishy.
So, today I went to drop off all these water bottles that a member of my family has used over the past few months. It is a trunk full. Now, if I left it in the recycling bin I would be charged for something they go ahead and resell as discussed, yet when you drop it off they actually pay you. I am thinking $ 15 or so and I would donate that money along with some other things to the local shelter’s for Thanksgiving. Well, the place I was to drop it off is closed on Monday. Say what!!! In fact, they are only open 8−−4 Tues-​Sat. I mean 40 hours is all they are open to accept goods to recycle, which is a good thing I believe, and you get paid .for it but they don’t make it easy Yet the stuff they pick up themselves, charge you for and pocket all the profits seem to operate all the time. Yet, there is something smelly at this dump and it is not the garbage.

They are great. They do what you need. We even rented a big Debris Box once and they delivered it and picked it up on time. I’m uncertain why people don’t like the office staff. I’ve always found them to be polite and helpful. Charlene and Ryan have always been helpful. People it’s a trash service, not a restaurant, what kind of service do you expect? They pick up on schedule and handle billing and office stuff (ordering a debris box, website questions etc) well.
Recommended

They pick up my trash, they aren’t loud in the morning when they do it either.
There are 2 people who at Christmas get my homemade goodies as a gift. The trash guys are one of those people. The other is the mailman, both know everything about you.