Sudden closure of NC trash service leaves customer refunds in limbo, as owner apologizes

Some Wayne County residents are still awaiting refunds after a trash collection company unexpectedly shuttered, and now its owner is apologizing for the customer confusion following its sudden closure.

Trash Police, a trash collection service based out of Dudley, announced this May it would stop operations. 

"We were never a big corporation and were basically running on a day to day basis. Fuel prices, dump fees, truck break downs, and people not paying their bills on time or at all, not having enough help ran us out of business," its owner told WRAL News on Friday. 

The business' closure came as customers had recently taken to social media, questioning the lack of garbage pickup last month. The biggest frustration among former customers who spoke to WRAL was the closure's timing: announced days after Trash Police had just charged customers for monthly and yearly subscriptions. 

"Some people were on auto pay. A lot of people got invoices and then paid it and then they went out of service. If you knew you were going out of service why did you send the invoice," Pikeville resident Courtney Dawn Thomas. 

The biggest question among customers: what happened to their payments for services that were no longer being offered?

Some customers have successfully disputed the charges to their banks and had their payments returned, however, that is not the case for every Trash Police customer. 

"My parents received a letter from their bank today that the charge reversal was denied," shared one former Trash Police customer. 

WRAL polled a local Facebook group, finding approximately 100 people in one group alone who claimed they were owed or were going through refund issues with the company. 

For those that have found new garbage collection companies, their Trash Police bins still sit on the side of the road. 

 Initial attempts to reach Trash Police through its listed number were unsuccessful. Its owner confirmed to WRAL the line was disconnected, "due to people accusing me of still trying to sign people up along with our Facebook page."

While some people have been able to receive refunds through their banks, others are waiting, and even some are bringing on legal assistance.

"They have this unjust enrichment," Goldsboro area attorney Tonya Davis Barber said. "They received money for no services completed. All these people, individually out a little money, but it does add up."

Barber issued a demand letter to the company, on behalf of a client who is a former customer, demanding $175 in return for the "abrupt" end in trash collection service, as well as information on when the company expects to pick up the trash can it left at the house. 

"I hate that people believe we took their money and ran because there is no money," the Trash Police owner told WRAL. 

When asked when refunds are expected to be returned, she said the company is "still trying to figure things out on that. But most people have won their chargebacks with their banks as I did not fight any of them."

"These people are my neighbors I never intended for this to happen," she added.