We liked our garbage man. You could count on him to be on schedule. Every Christmas we would give him a little something for the great service, As a result, he always made sure our empty can was placed where it was safe and not blowing down the street in the wind. And he would pick up everything we left out on the curb. I think we could have left a body of a neighbor from hell rolled up in a carpet and he would have taken it. That was why we always gave him a nice tip.

The problem was his employer. We live maybe 5 miles out of town, but we weren't their only customer out there. Every time they raised the price of gas our bill was increased, yet they never lowered it when it went down again. For a few months during the winter there was a weight restriction for our country roads so we would have to drive about 10 miles to the nearest location to drop off our garbage. Then we heard of a new company.

The price for this service was the same price for folks in town. So we signed up. My wife went to cancel our old service and was on hold for some 25 minutes! This in itself should be illegal. I mean, if you want to sign up for something you can call a toll free number two minutes to midnight on New Year's Eve with no problem, but if you want to cancel it takes an Act of Congress! Luckily for us, the bill was in my wife's name or she would have had to call back and after waiting for 25 minutes handing the phone to me so I could say, "Yes, cancel our service!"

When they found out the reason for my wife's phone call they asked her to reconsider if they lowered our bill by $100 dollars! I am glad my wife said no way. I mean, why didn't they do that to begin with? Why do they only do it when you threaten to terminate business? And what happens next time she tries to call them, will she be on hold for 45 minutes?

As it is, our new service is great and we are saving over $900 a year!