When Audrey Kessler sells her home in Ravenna, Ohio, the $75 monthly bill from Ohio Valley Waste for trash service doesn't stop. Even after she called, emailed, and filled out the company’s online form, the bills keep coming. How can she make them end?
Q: I closed on the sale of my home in Ravenna, Ohio, almost six months ago, but Ohio Valley Waste continues to bill me $75 per month for trash service.
I’ve called the company several times and a representative told me the account would be closed. I emailed three times and the third time, I received an autoreply that said my message was deleted without being read.
I want the billing to stop, my autopay canceled, and a refund for the charges since I sold the property. So far, the company has ignored me. Can you help? -- Audrey Kessler, Kent, Ohio
A: You shouldn’t be paying for garbage pickup at a property you don’t own. Once you notify a utility or trash hauler of a home sale, your account should be closed and any future charges stopped. That’s standard practice in the industry.
But in your case, it looks like something went wrong. Your calls slipped through the cracks. Your emails were ignored. And, in one case, a message was deleted without even being read. That’s more than just frustrating — it’s a basic failure of customer service.
It's rare to see a business ignore a customer so systematically and continue charging for services the customer is trying to cancel. But it's not unprecedented. Generally speaking, businesses make it easy to become a customer but hard to leave (and in some cases, impossible). Today, Ohio Valley Waste is the poster child for this practice. But tomorrow, who knows?
Fortunately, the law is on your side. Under Ohio’s Consumer Sales Practices Act, it’s unlawful for a business to bill you for services you aren’t receiving. And at the federal level, the Electronic Fund Transfer Act protects you from unauthorized withdrawals. Once you revoke permission for autopay, a company must stop pulling money from your account. If it doesn’t, you can file a dispute with your bank and get the charges reversed. (At the very least, you could have told your bank to stop the automatic payments.)
This is why a paper trail matters. Phone calls can be dismissed, but emails and written correspondence are hard evidence. You had some emails between you and Ohio Valley Waste, but no record of the phone conversations.
Emails give advocates like me something to work with when a company won’t respond. When you sell your next house, don’t just rely on a call to Ohio Valley Waste to close your account. Do it in writing, if possible. Notify your bank, cancel the autopay on your end, and keep copies of every message.
After I reached out to Ohio Valley Waste, your case finally got the attention it deserved. The company closed your account and refunded the charges it deducted after your sale.
Christopher Elliott is the founder of Elliott Advocacy (https://elliottadvocacy.org), a nonprofit organization that helps consumers solve their problems. Email him at chris@elliott.org or get help by contacting him at https://elliottadvocacy.org/help/