Action News Troubleshooters: Missing Money and Talking Trash

Help Getting Refund Check:

The Action News Troubleshooters went on the hunt for missing money after getting a call from Patricia Waites of Woodbury, New Jersey.

After a long illness, Waites' husband, the father of their two children, passed away.

"He stopped talking. He couldn't feed himself," explained Waites. "It's still hard. It's just six months today," she said.

Shortly after his passing, Waites and her children moved into a new home and ordered brand new furniture to get a fresh start. But the bedroom set wouldn't fit up the stairs.

"They took it back and they told me they would give me a refund," she said.

Waites says she was promised her $1,700 refund within 10 to 16 days.

After a month, she still had not received a refund check. So Waites contacted the Troubleshooters via Call for Action.

"A week later, I got the check in the mail. I was so happy and so excited," she said. "My family thanks them. I thank them."

Waites went on to say, "It was just so much on my plate and to know the Action News volunteers jump in on my behalf, it was just a great relief."

Fee Angers Trash Company Customers:

Last summer, Action News warned you about a fee being charged by Republic Services. The trash collection company bills former customers to pick up their garbage bins after service is cancelled. And some of those consumers contacted the Troubleshooters for help.

"About an hour and a half later, I got a phone call from Republic. I got a zero bill," said Jay Cohen of Collegeville, Pennsylvania.

After that story aired, the Troubleshooters got more complaints about the same fee.

Suzanne Zellers of Warrington, Pennsylvania tells us she was ultimately double billed for it a total of $132.

"I looked on their website under all their fees and there are no fees for removing trash cans," she explained.

But Republic Services says the fee is "written into their customer agreements" and "is the cost of doing business." It also says it will look at complaints on a "case by case basis."

And here's the good news: Once again, the company has waived the fee for many of the customers the Troubleshooters brought to their attention.

"Your folks were wonderful they were very persistent and stopped all of the collections calls because they had put us in collections. It was wonderful that you guys were there to help us out," said Zellers.

"Thank Channel 6, their effort, their determination and their support," said Nick Martorana of Blue Bell, Pennsylvania.

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