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Published Sunday, May 18, 2008
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Stumble It!May 12, 2008
To the editor:
At the end of December ’07, after receiving my garbage bill from the city of Fairbanks, I wrote them a letter informing them that I was discontinuing my service, stating that I was dissatisfied with the service I was receiving. They wrote back informing me that it was not an optional service and that it was a mandatory fee.
I wrote them back stating that I felt a “service,” as they called it, was optional and I considered the way they were billing was an unrepresented tax. I told them that they should include this into my property tax so that I, as a resident of Fairbanks, would not have to pay taxes on income that has already been taxed. I had no problem paying this bill, but I would rather pay it as a tax — not as a service.
I have waited three months for a response from the city. In that time the only thing I have received is a second bill and a notice stating that they were charging me an additional $40 for “Adjustment Lien Filing Fees” against my property and that they could also garnish against my Permanent Fund Dividend.
The reason for this letter is not to argue whether I am right or wrong, but to ask since when did we as taxpayers start working for the city? No matter what the people at the city clerk’s office think, I feel that if nothing else, it is just good service and common decency to respond to a customer’s letter. I am sure that the over-burdened city clerk’s office staff will give the patented response that they are either too busy or that if you respond to one complaint it could create a snowball effect.
Maybe these public employees should get off their throne and look at how many people who are in the customer service industry would rather do anything but wait on them, but it’s their job. I don’t expect anything from the city, nor do I expect the employees to change, but I would appreciate the city employees to remember that we are customers — not an inconvenience.
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well at least they have someone that speaks english. try calling USAir's customer service, or any other airline customer service, and getting someone that both: isnt in india, and has customer service skills. rare.
people dont understand the importance of the customer. if GCI would realize this, and it werent for the "no one else" monopoly effect, they would have real customers.
the best customer service i recieve is usually some 16 year old kid at the drive-thru. which is also sometimes the worst. heh
It's just a sign of the times. Try getting good customer service most anywhere around town and you simply won't find it. We live in a society where we have become a number or a dollar sign and not human beings. It's my greatest pet peeve when people choose not to respond to things like this. Unfortunately in Fairbanks the way the employment situation is...we all experience it on a regular basis. Good luck in getting an answer. My guess is that with this public letter, you might just get a reply.
I have to agree with the intent of the letter. I purchased property (not a home, property) next to my house last year. The property has an adress so the city sends me a bill for garbage collection. As far as I am concerned, they are picking up one residence's trash not two and I raised the same question to get the same answer back, it is not an option to stop service for that property. I can not stand that I am forced to pay for a service that I dont want, but at the very least I can admit that the fact trash removal is regulated to some degree controls how much they can rape me for each year. (grumble grumble as I bend over and take it)
I have the same complaint as the letter writer. My hubby and I own a home that we do not live in but must pay garbage. Garbage has not been picked up in months because there is none. Why cant garbage be free (like at the dump)??? Why cant it be a property tax thing instead of an extra bill? The city is not at all good with customer service. I tried to cancel it too, and they were VERY rude about it.
This isn't an Alaska problem, nor is it new. The sanitation services for many of the cities out east were controlled by the Mafia for years. It was/is the perfect scam. All you have to do is mandate it for a given area, award the contract to an exclusive company (only they get to collect the trash from that area), and charge people whether they use the service or not. You pay off the garbage men, and the rest of the money goes to wherever.
Its a sweet setup. People have to pay it, and you've got the local government playing collector on those that wish not to use the service. And there is nothing the little guy can do about it, after all, when was the last time you voted on it?
I'm not saying the Mob is alive and well, and running the Sanitation companies up here, but you can see how an enterprising individual can make a bit of extra coin as the money collected above the contract price gets dumped into the "general fund" and goes to wherever.
Very interesting topic, honestly, especially Johns viewpoint on it.
You can always get a voter initative to remove trash collection as a service that the city offers
I've got one better. We convert our property from residential to commercial. We were informed by the City that they ONLY pick up residential garbage and that we would have to get a dumpster from a private garbage contractor which we did. Imagine my surprise when I received a quarterly city garbage bill. When I inquired I was told we HAD to pay for city services even though we are not using them and CANNOT use them as they do not pick up commercial garbage. When I say commercial garbage I mean for our preschool not hazardous waste or anything like that. Now I have two garbage bills, feels a whole lot like extortion to me, don't pay and get a lien against your property. But then again this is on par with all my experiences with the city. The Borough is WAY MORE customer friendly :)
What I think is even funnier is the fact that they refuse to pick up trash that isn't idividually bagged. I am sure that the counter folks at the airlines have requirements for their jobs stating they need to be able to list and carry a certain amount to move baggage around. Yet, our awesome sanitation workers can't bring it upon themselves to lift my empty trash container with a milk carton in the bottom. They prefer to dump my container over and leave whatever loose trash was in the bottom to blow around my yard and neighborhood. I have to agree with the letter writer, their service (at all levels) is below sub-par and it's a sad joke that it is required.
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