Alert Issued About Area Trash Scam
THE FXBG ADVANCE WEDNESDAY 7/29/26 MIDDAY READ
By Hank Silverberg, ADVANCE CORRESPONDENT
Choice Waste Services is sending out warnings to be on the lookout for door-to-door scammers who’ve been hard at work trying to trick customers into canceling with Choice and signing on with a competitor for trash and recycling.
According to the company’s warning, the scam starts when homeowners in some Fredericksburg, Stafford, and Spotsylvania neighborhoods are approached by aggressive sales personnel trying to get them to switch their garbage pickup service from Choice.
When a customer declines, the salesman asks him or her to sign a form saying they heard the solicitation so the salesman can prove to his boss he made the effort. Few take the time to read the form, which turns out to be an authorization to cancel with Choice and sign on with a competitor.
Next thing the customer knows, his or her service with Choice has been cancelled and another company’s trash cans are delivered to his or her driveway.
A spokeswoman for Choice Waste told The Advance the scam has being going on in the area for at least the past last week, and Choice has received a number of unintended cancellation notices.
Choice Waste customers have been getting a taped message on their phone line or emails warning them of the deceit. The spokeswoman wouldn’t name the competing company making the approach to their customers, but there are numerous posts on local social media mentioning GFL, the other major garbage pickup service in the region.
Choice says that if a customer a notice that their trash pickup contract with the company has been cancelled, but the customer didn’t intend to make such a request, they should report it to the Choice immediately.
Customers are also advised not to sign paperwork with a solicitor unless they actually do want to change their trash pickup service.
Rae Pickett, a spokeswoman from the Virginia Attorney General’s Consumer Affairs office, said they haven’t been made aware of the trash scam at the current time, but if a customer did get such a pitch, or if a company claims to have a contract a customer doesn’t remember signing, the customer can file a complaint with the Attorney General’s office HERE.
Local police and consumer advocates in Stafford and Fredericksburg also said they have no reports of the scam either, and aren’t sure if the aggressive sales tactics would be in violation of the law.
GFL did not respond to a request for comment about the sales tactics.
Choice Waste is based in Pompano Beach, Florida and in Virginia primarily serves parts of Fredericksburg, Stafford, Spotsylvania, King George, and Henrico counties. GFL is based in Ontario, Canada and operates in 18 U.S. States.
P.S. Thanks for your article, Mr. Silverberg.
I just texted Matt Yost, one of GFL's door-to-door salesmen, urging GFL to reply to Choice's allegations, and offering to send him this article. Mr. Yost came around on his skateboard in June. He parked his car in our Woodlawn neighborhood, then went door to door on his skateboard, offering what sounded like a better service than Choice. We used to have GFL, so we went back. Our new GFL service starts today, and is half the price for twice the service. Is it too good to be true? I don't know yet, but if its not, we'll go back. If Choice and GFL can sort this out, everyone will have better service at a reasonable price, and without anything perceived to be deceptive sales practices. "Sunlight is the best of disinfectants." - Justice Louis Brandeis, 1913.