got junk?

June 20, 2005 12:20 PM

Have you used 1-800-got-junk, or a similar trash pick-up service? Did you tip?

If so, how much/what percentage? If you work in a similar industry, what kind of tip would you expect?

posted by peep to Work & Money (7 answers total)

I have used 1800-GOT-JUNK, and I don't believe they're allowed to accept tips, though I may be misremembering. I don't see anything about it in their FAQ.

Generally when someone does this type of work for me, I tip $10/person.
posted by frykitty at 12:37 PM on June 20, 2005

I used them once, more than a year ago. I did not tip. I too think there was a 'no tipping' policy on their site at one time.

They're expensive, so if I thought I had to tip in addition to paying for the service, I never would have used them.
posted by sageleaf at 12:42 PM on June 20, 2005

Some advice...... (though not about tipping)
I have used them in the past, and they will not give a price over the phone. They say that they need to come out and have a look prior to giving a quote.
You can use this to your advantage (as I did) because by the time they get to your place, they have invested time and money.
I had them show up while I was at work, and so the central office called me with the quote for approval while the guys were there. The figure that the gave was ridiculous... I said forget it (not a tactic... just common sense) and she immediately said "Well, let me call them back and see if it is really going to take as long as they estimated.." The phone rang 2 minutes later, and the price this time was more than 30% less.
Your mileage may vary.....
posted by TheFeatheredMullet at 2:08 PM on June 20, 2005 [1 favorite]

Best answer: DO NOT USE 1-800-GOT-JUNK. They litter my neighborhood with plastic signs nailed to phone poles and magnets on everyone's mailboxes. They charge exorbiant fees (one of my co-workers used them) and you can usually call your sanitation department for a free pickup or call Salvation Army/Union Mission/Kidney foundation if it's a reusable household item.
posted by Frank Grimes at 4:23 PM on June 20, 2005

Response by poster: OOPS! Didn't mean to mark Frank's response as best answer! They haven't been here to give a quote, so I can't comment on their fees yet. I've never noticed their ads before, I'm using them because a neighbor liked the service. And what we're having hauled away is 100% JUNK! We've pulled out everything that can be sold, given away, or recycled. The dump is a huge pain in the ass to get to and it would take us about a dozen trips. My sanitation company charges $4 per extra trash bag and wouldn't pick up the amount of trash we have here.
posted by peep at 5:40 PM on June 20, 2005

My sister worked for GOT-JUNK for a few years. She hates the company with a vengeance. The staff are paid a pittance and treated terribly, while the management makes a killing and gets featured in the small-cap business press. All the lower-level staff think that the company overcharges for the work that they do. But the fact is that the market will bear what the company charges and it only needs low-skilled commodity labourers, so it will always get away with murder.
posted by randomstriker at 6:15 PM on June 20, 2005

If the junk you need hauled away is something you can throw into a debris box yourself, that's what you need. It gets dropped off, you fill it up, it gets hauled away.

Also check the local shopper papers, which usually have ads for people who do hauling services.
posted by sageleaf at 5:56 AM on June 21, 2005