ROCHESTER, Mich. (WXYZ) — The owners of Penn Station East Coast Subs in downtown Rochester are busy enough serving their delicious sandwiches and tasty fries, and the last thing they want to worry about is whether their garbage is getting picked up.
Bernie Marconi took 7 News Detroit reporter Kimberly Craig and photojournalist Brian Schwartz behind the sandwich shop where there is a pile of garbage so big that you can't even see the trash bins that can usually hold a few days garbage.
Sean Marconi, who owns a number of locations with his wife, said they're contracted for two garbage pickups a week but it's been ten days since the shop's garbage has been picked up by Priority Waste. And before that, it had been another ten days.
Sean's father, Bernie, told 7 News Detroit that when they try to call about their missed pickups, they've been stuck on hold with Priority Waste and always promised a call back that never comes.
"I would tell them they took on way too much business because they can't handle it," Bernie said about Priority Waste acquiring GFL contracts earlier this summer.
For weeks, 7 News Detroit has been sharing stories of people's frustration with missed garbage pickups.
Priority Waste said the vast majority of their customers are getting same-day service, but that there are still some delays and those delays could persist for another 60 to 90 days as they work to get more trucks back online.
A spokesperson for Priority Waste blamed the delays in garbage pickups on a broken-down fleet of trucks from GFL. He wasn't immediately aware of why the garbage at the sub shop was getting missed but after looking into the matter, he said a crew would pick up the garbage there by early Monday evening.
Just last week, 7 News Detroit showed you how the Mayor of the City of Dearborn was so frustrated with the delays in garbage pickup that he said they'd be withholding payment to the company.
On Monday, a city spokesman said it's unfortunate that Priority Waste is still behind in trash and recycling collection, and Dearborn residents continue to experience delays.
He added that city crews from the Department of Public Works are trying to help alleviate the issue where they can and they've asked Priority Waste to prioritize garbage pickups before moving on to yard waste and recycling.
