Bay Area Bin Support: Success Stories

Morgado manages more than 150 units at seven residential properties (serviced by Bay Area Bin Support), so the extra fees for push/pull service charged by the area’s two largest waste disposal companies would have been a major financial hit. Turning over Independent Planning properties push/pull to Bay Area Bin Support meant Morgado lowered his push/pull fees by 50 percent. BABS’ style of customer service was another important benefit. “I have their phone number and anytime I have special needs or any concerns, they respond right away. I don’t have to chase anyone down,” Morgado said. With his previous provider, “I’d never get a call back.” BABS has also ramped up its team to cover Independent Management’s property growth. “They have increased their work force to maintain their performance,” Morgado said. “They get the job done—and I have money I would have had to pay out. Instead, I have it available to pay my operating costs. BABS is really helping me.”

Patel faced the standard extra fees for push/pull—and additional charges because his property’s bins were located beyond his previous waste disposal provider’s base distance. Nor was there space in the street to leave the bins for curbside pick-up. It was not a good situation. “We were having a hard time with those extra charges,” Patel said. Patel then made a lucky discovery: He read about Bay Area Bin Support in a property association magazine and called. Now, Patel ‘s bins can remain at the back of his buildings—the most convenient location for his tenants. He pays much, much less to BABS than he did to his previous provider. And BABS’ service is extraordinary. “They are so reliable,” Patel said. “I noticed the other day they had to wait hours for waste disposal pick up before they could pull the bins back in, but they did. That’s when I decided to give them another property to service. I am happy with them!”

As the property manager of more than 400 apartments, condos and houses in the Central East Bay Area, Jonathan Weldon understands the value of a reliable vendor for special services. When Weldon saw the cost of the added push/pull fees in the 2015 Waste Management contract, he quickly looked for alternatives. “The new fees are so exorbitant,” he said. At properties with bins set far back from a curb, the differential between the old costs and the new was huge, he said. With Bay Area Bin Support, he pays about half as much—and the professionalism of BABS has impressed him. “I am so happy they are doing what they are doing,” he said. “I’m very thankful.”

The coffee grounds, cartons, cups, lids, and napkins customers leave behind quickly fill the standard trash receptacles at a typical Starbucks or Peet’s coffee shop. It is a never-ending stream of material that must be cleared and disposed to maintain each location’s operations. When Waste Management added new fees to push bins to the street and return them, Nicholas Cress went looking for another option. Oakland city officials recommended he consider a small, independent company for the job. He found Bay Area Bin Support to be just what the Starbucks and Peet’s locations needed. “BABS’ pricing was the most reasonable,” Cress said, “and they are reliable and responsive. The service is also great—there’s not much more you can ask for.”

Working with Bay Area Bin Support, said Deborah Pimentel, “has been a miracle in my world.” She’s been a property manager for 30 years and now manages the homeowners association for a 60-unit condo complex in Oakland. The new push/pull fees mortified her. She Googled for help and found BABS. The homeowners association is now paying less than half what it would have to Waste Management and Pimentel, who never receives compliments, now has board members telling her that hiring BABS is the best thing she’s ever done. “The dumpster areas are immaculate now,” she said, “and you know how excited boards get when you tell boards they are saving money.”

Louise Lewis had 15 years of experience as a rental property owner in Oakland, but she was shocked when she saw the increase in costs that the new push/pull fees from Waste Management. “My bill went from $350 to nearly $1,000,” she said. When she called Waste Management, they suggested she could have her tenants move the bins. That was not a great suggestion: Her building is on a hill, up a private road—not a roadway she would want her tenants to have to negotiate. But, with a call to the East Bay Rental Housing Association, she found Bay Area Bin Support. “They have saved me hundreds and hundreds of dollars and been absolutely, positively wonderful. “

“For our location in Oakland we were having large overage fees due to the fact that after the trash bin was emptied people would put their garbage into it. Nations employees were pushing the bin to the side street and when it took them awhile to put it back that, it got filled up by others dumping into our bins. The overage fees were $140 – $150 and sometimes the fees showed up several times a month. The lock fee was $56. With the organic bin now having to be pushed out to Broadway it was another chore we decided not to add to the Nation’s crew. Bay Area Bin Support has been a great addition for Nations. The hassle for our Nation’s crew to push the bins out has gone away We have also added another location for their services. We feel that since adding on Bay Area Bin Support the locations and us in the office don’t have issues like we did before.”

Dave Gregory’s reaction to the push/pull fees that appeared in October 2015 was like many others—“They were ridiculous!” Some condo owners at his Oakland property, preferring not to hire a service as a substitute to paying the new fees to Waste Management, tried to do the push/pull themselves. But two of those owners were absentee and immediately problems arose, Gregory said. Because the bins sat out for many hours before pick-up, can scavengers came and “it was a mess,” he said. Then, a pick-up was missed and that, Gregory said, “was a nightmare. I had enough.” He called Bay Area Bin Support. “We’ve had no problem since,” he said. “They put them out in the morning. The bins are out for a couple of hours instead of a couple of days. We’ve been very happy—and it’s all for a reasonable fee. And if something goes out of whack, BABS knows how to fix it.”