How To Choose The Best Dumpster Rental Company

Are you looking to rent a dumpster to get rid of old junk? Maybe you just need to clean out your house or garage. A dumpster rental is an affordable, convenient way to do that. Just go to Google, and there is no shortage of dumpster rental companies. In fact, over the last few years, there are more and more dumpster rental companies showing up on Google, especially in maps (or local) listings. With so many choices, how do you decide which is the best dumpster rental company? We think there are four key deciding factors: experience in the industry, transparency of the company, responsiveness, and pricing.

Experience In The Industry

There are typically a large number of dumpster rental companies if you search your local area. It may surprise you to learn that a very large number of them have people answering the phone that have very little experience in the dumpster rental industry. In fact, this is often true even with the largest national dumpster companies as well. Like many other companies, they often hire customer service people at a low hourly wage, or even worse, pay them on commission based on what they "sell". The end result is typically not a good customer experience.

Hiring low wage customer service representatives can lead to customers not being given consistently accurate information regarding their dumpster rental. Commissioned salespeople often will say whatever they have to in order to get the "sale", despite what's best for you (the customer). If the person you speak to when renting a dumpster doesn't know enough about the industry, it could lead to increased costs. For example, let's say the representative doesn't ask what you are putting in the dumpster, or doesn't know what you cannot put in a dumpster. If you end up putting concrete or dirt or something else heavy in the dumpster, your dumpster rental will almost certainly end up costing you more than you thought. Also, if the representative doesn't know to tell you what you cannot put in the dumpster, you could end up getting a fine from the landfill.

The best dumpster rental company will have an experienced team. More importantly, they will have their experienced people answering the phone. This will result in the best experience for the customer, and help keep the cost down.

Transparency

Despite such a large number of dumpster rental companies listed on Google, very few are transparent about who they are. Are they upfront and honest about the owners and employees of the company? The vast majority of websites in the dumpster rental industry say absolutely nothing about the people behind the company. In fact, most say nothing at all - no names, no addresses, nothing. Many are nameless, faceless websites, and you have no idea who you are even dealing with. Most of the sites like this are not local companies. They are often marketing companies with little to no experience in the dumpster rental business.

The best companies of any type will show you who they are, and who their people are. They will also tell you about their level of experience. After all, as the customer, you have a right to know who you are doing business with. Most of these companies hope they can just get you on the line long enough to make a sale. They often are not in the business because they love it, or because they plan to be around long term.

The simplest way to see how transparent a company is will be to look at their "about us" page on their website. Do they have any pictures of their team at all? Do they have bios? The best dumpster rental company will have these things, because every customer deserves to know who they are working with.

Responsiveness

Just like every other factor listed in this article, responsiveness applies to any great company as well. In a service based business like dumpster rental, being responsive to customers is hugely important. It's not enough to just answer the phone. Consider these questions:

1. Is a representative easy to reach without going through a complicated phone system maze?
2. Do you have to sit on hold for an extended period of time to talk to someone?
3. Do you have access to a direct representative, like a direct line or email?
4. Is a manager, supervisor, or owner easy to reach if you have any problem?
5. Can you reach anyone after hours or on Saturday?
6. Can you only reach the company by phone or email, or do they also have live chat?

The best dumpster rental company will answer yes to all these questions!

Pricing

You may notice we list pricing last. We did that because we do believe pricing is the least important factor in looking for the best dumpster rental company. The lowest price does not normally mean the best service. After all, the price is low for a reason. That's not to say that a low price always means bad service. It may just mean a hauler has a lot of inventory at the moment and they need to get it out the door. The best companies will have strong local relationships and policies that will help keep prices affordable. However, in our experience, most of the haulers in one area will all be charging prices very close to each other. This is largely because in the dumpster rental business prices are much more dependent on local economic factors, which affect all haulers in the area. As with any other business, paying a little more for better service can go a long way to making your dumpster rental go smoothly.

So, What's The Best Dumpster Rental Company?

The answer to this question depends on the area in which you live. The best companies will have a team highly experienced in dumpster rental, be very transparent, be ultra responsive, and have good pricing. As surprising as it may seem, in most areas this literally applies to only a handful of companies. We hope this article makes it easier for you to determine the best company to deal with the next time you need to rent a dumpster.