More customers step up to complain against Houston trash company

HOUSTON (KTRK) -- From Spring to Sweeny, Jersey Village to the Galleria, customers of Houston-based Waste Corporation of America, or WCA, say they pay good money for trash pick-up, but they're getting rotten service in return.

Northwest Harris County resident Debbie Flint has waited nearly two weeks for a WCA garbage truck to stop by her home.

"On Wednesday and Thursday, they assured me they'd come yesterday and get it," Flint told ABC13 Investigative Reporter Keli Rabon. "They didn't."

Meanwhile, the trash in her front yard and throughout her neighborhood bakes in the summer sun.

"I don't think they're going to take it Monday, because if they were, they would have taken it last Monday, or the Monday before that," Flint said.

On Thursday, ABC-13 exposed WCA's inconsistent pickups and unresponsive customer service. Of the 38 Houston-area complaints WCA customers filed with the Better Business Bureau in the last year, 23 remain unanswered.

Now, the complaints from unhappy customers just keep piling up.

WCA arrived just before we showed up at Marcus Taliaferro's west Houston home Friday afternoon. He says weeks of spotty trash pickup has created a heap of problems for his neighborhood.

"It's overflowing, plastic bags are laying on the ground, feral cats are digging into them," Taliaferro said.

Like many customers we've talked to, he's tired of paying for a service he can't count on.

"WCA's maximizing their bottom line, at the expense of the customers," Taliaferro said.

Flint says she's already lost hope that WCA will be cleaning up its act anytime soon.

"I'm hoping they lose a lot of business over this and that will make them realize they should have been on the ball," Flint said.

ABC-13 requested another interview with WCA on Friday, but Regional Vice President Matt Graham would only provide a statement:

If you're still having problems with WCA, contact Keli Rabon on Facebook, Twitter, or at Keli.rabon@abc.com