When Arnold Maresca rented a trash container from “The Home Depot Dumpster Rentals,” he assumed he was renting from the Home Depot. He wasn’t. Although the big box home improvement store promotes dumpster rentals in its stores and on its website, third party companies administer the service. And contrary to what Maresca believed-and never noticed on the company’s website–”the Home Depot does not warrant any products or services” consumers purchase from such vendors.

So Maresca didn’t realize he was actually contracting for service with Oakleaf Waste Management, an East Hartford, CT waste outsourcing company. Nor did he fully understand the terms and conditions of the rental.

Although dumpsters can be filled to capacity in some locations, in the densely populated northeast the cost to rent a dumpster depends on its weight. Each rental includes a designated base weight. Any excess weight costs more.

Maresca paid more than $400 to rent a 20-yard container. The price included disposal of three tons of trash. The problem is it’s virtually impossible to predict what a dumpster weighs until it gets to the landfill. Very few trucks have built in scales, so homeowners are rarely told how much they owe for extra weight charges when the driver returns to pick up the container.

The weight depends entirely on what the renter discards. A load of roof shingles or sheetrock might weigh five to eight tons. A load of household items, however, might weigh as little as a half a ton.

Maresca used his dumpster for roofing materials. So it was relatively heavy, Oakleaf Waste records show. But Maresca apparently didn’t know that that until he found an unexpected charge of more than $500 on his credit card statement. The rental company automatically billed him for the total cost of the extra weight in the dumpster, explained. Marc Okrant, vice president of Oakleaf Waste.

Okrant concedes many consumers get confused when they rent a dumpster. “The average person rents one only once in a lifetime,” he said. “It’s not something they know much about.”

Because of the misunderstanding, Okrant agreed to give Maresca the service at cost. He said he’ll refund $121 to Maresca-the difference between the company’s cost to pick up and dispose of the trash and the total the customer was billed for the service. “I don’t want to lose money on this, but I’m willing to give up my profit,” Okrant said. Before you rent a trash container, review the basics.

• Find out whether the total rental cost is based on volume or weight. If you can fill a container for a flat fee, then you have far less potential variability on price than if the cost depends on the total weight.
• Ask if there are any extra charges for environmental fees, transportation surcharges or any other items.
• Find out what kinds of materials you can toss in the dumpster. Most companies charge extra to dispose of appliances, including refrigerators, for instance.

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