Williams says that he pursued the matter and then received information that contradicted the terms of his contract with GFL. The suit further claims that although Waste Connections maintains that it may increase rates to adjust for increases in the Consumer Price Index (CPI), the defendants have deliberately and repeatedly overcharged customers through automated price increases that far outweigh changes in the CPI. The surcharge helps the company cover the fluctuating costs of fuel. Thank you for the Article very helpful. Your Consent Please let everyone know about the Predatory practices of Waste Management in their contracts and Automatic renewal. your claim status, claim form or questions about when payments are Be sure to give your name, telephone number, and the best time to reach you, and an attorney will get back to you soon. failing to reimburse work-related business expenses. I want to know if Sacramento utilities is also part of that since they charge me unbelievable amounts for garbage, recycle and green collection from my home. Dirty Business of Commercial Waste Hauling. gform.initializeOnLoaded( function() {gformInitSpinner( 653, 'https://s40123.pcdn.co/wp-content/plugins/gravityforms/images/spinner.svg' );jQuery('#gform_ajax_frame_653').on('load',function(){var contents = jQuery(this).contents().find('*').html();var is_postback = contents.indexOf('GF_AJAX_POSTBACK') >= 0;if(!is_postback){return;}var form_content = jQuery(this).contents().find('#gform_wrapper_653');var is_confirmation = jQuery(this).contents().find('#gform_confirmation_wrapper_653').length > 0;var is_redirect = contents.indexOf('gformRedirect(){') >= 0;var is_form = form_content.length > 0 && ! However, this can result in some functions no longer being available. It is mandatory to procure user consent prior to running these cookies on your website. While the fuel surcharge may decrease from 20% to 17% of the base rate, that base rate will increase by a much larger percentage as a result of the automatic increases, resulting in a fuel surcharge that is actually much higher than before. info@WasteIndustriesSettlement.com. We believe that these are violations of California's Labor Code, and we also believe that these violations occurred on a systematic basis to Waste Management employees. The structure of the surcharge itself is nearly identical to the surcharge structure used by companies like UPS and Fedex--it increases or decreases in relation to fuel prices, as a percentage of each customer's bill. Upon information and belief, the case says, the price increases are directed by the defendants corporate officers as part of a broad strategy to increase profit. Per the complaint, the amount of the price increases is significant and can result in customers paying 50 percent more than they agreed to by the end of the term of their contract. For years, some large corporations have used fees they call "fuel surcharges," "fuel recovery fees," or "energy surcharges" to unlawfully pad their profits at their customers' expense. Copyright 2006-2015 HustlerMoneyBlog. status of any class action settlement claim. Class action lawsuits have been filed against multiple waste companies in states all around the country. The plaintiffs allege Waste Industries charged and collected unlawful and excessive "fuel surcharges" (also called "energy recovery fees") and "environmental fees." According to the class action lawsuits, Waste Industries breached its contracts with some of its customers and violated state statutory law. According to the lawsuit, Waste Industries LLC allegedly collected unlawful and excessive fuel surcharges and environmental fees and breached its contracts with some of its customers and violated state statutory law. Waste hauling companies that opt to charge a fuel surcharge are usually the same companies engaged in undisclosed, automatic annual or semiannual increases to the initial base contract price.