Stericycle, Inc.

Revdex.com:
I have reviewed the response made by the business in reference to complaint ID 10927740, and find that this resolution is satisfactory to me.
Sincerely,
Wendy [redacted], Dvm

Complaint: [redacted]
I am rejecting this response because: As of November 1, 2015 Herbert A. [redacted], DMD,LLC is no longer a customer of Stericycle Inc.  The reasons have been communicated in the Termination of Agreement Letter dated 11/1/2015 and in this complaint.
Herbert A [redacted], DMD  12/5/2015

We hereby acknowledge the receipt of Revdex.com Claim# [redacted] response notification for Ms. [redacted].
We have forwarded the consumer’s response to the respective department, and they shall proceed immediately with inquiries in an effort to resolve the consumer’s plea. You will be informed regarding progress...

of procedure.
Please expect to receive written response within 7 days.

Initial Business Response /* (1000, 5, 2015/07/08) */
Our service agreements do allow for periodic price increases and these increases are a standard condition of our service agreement to help cover any cost increases we may face to meet regulatory requirements across local, state, and federal...

standards as well as prepare for investments in our business to keep abreast of needed technology and ensure the protection of our customers as part of our 'cradle to grave' service offering.
However, we are more than willing to work with our customers to find a service program with a rate that works for them. We offer a variety of different program levels and pick-up frequencies and can help to evaluate these options. We will have one of our Managers reach out to [redacted] directly in order to review potential solutions to this matter.
Initial Consumer Rebuttal /* (3000, 7, 2015/07/10) */
(The consumer indicated he/she DID NOT accept the response from the business.)
We have attempted to work with your firm and you have been uncooperative. When we called to complain about the rates you not only would not reduce them, you immediately increased our rate the following month. We have discussed other options and they are too open ended. We have honored the contract twice, only to have your rates increased 495%. This far exceeds any reasonable increases. Please terminate our services and cease invoicing us immediately.
Final Business Response /* (4000, 18, 2015/08/17) */
Please note, the terms and conditions of our service agreement do allow for price increases to address cost escalation. Our price increases are a standard condition of our service agreement to help cover any cost increases we may face to meet regulatory requirements across local, state, and federal standards as well as prepare for investments in our business to keep abreast of needed technology and ensure the protection of our customers as part of our 'cradle to grave' service offering. While we try to absorb most of these costs, at times we must pass them on to our customers. Stericycle uses its business judgment to allocate increases in costs that are incurred on a system-wide basis to individual accounts.
One example of a significant investment made by Stericycle is a massive incinerator improvement project. We are required to upgrade all incinerators nationwide in order to meet 2014 EPA requirements. This is a multi-million dollar investment that Stericycle has made in order to remain complaint with federal guidelines.
Nonetheless, we value[redacted] as a long time Stericycle customer and in the interest of maintaining positive relations we have agreed terminate their account without assessing liquidated damages, also removing August and September invoices.
Final Consumer Response /* (3000, 24, 2015/09/09) */
We requested to terminate services for these locations due to price increases of 18% every six months and not providing a valid contract. We also provided Stericycle with an authorization letter specifically stating who can discuss our contracts. They have continued to solicit employees for contracts against our specific written instructions not to do so. The facilities are independent of each other and have separate agreements and separate Administrators.
Mr.[redacted] (signed these contracts) was solicited by Stericycle for two locations [redacted]he did not work for, nor have authority to sign for. He was an employee in [redacted] He has never worked for the [redacted] facilities. The contract for Riverside was signed by an administrator, further demonstrating that Mr.[redacted] was not even authorized to sign at his own facility.
The contracts were sent to him as an email and were not clearly represented as contracts. They were high pressure solicitations requiring immediate attention and signature. They did not clearly indicate it was a contract nor for a term of 5 years with not restrictions on price adjustments.
We have seen our fees raise 18% every 6 months. When discussed with them that we want to terminate we were threatened with court and a lawsuit for liquidated damages. When we pointed out that they solicited someone that was not even an employee, they still explained they would sue. They did however offer to lock us into a new five year agreement and to minimize the increases if we would resign at current rates. The current rates are way over the market rates. They also recently send another unsolicited contract to a maintenance manager at our [redacted] facility even after we specifically provided them a written notice not to speak to anyone other than our authorized representatives.
We also just received notice from another location that they called to send them a new deal. We have the voice mail saved from this solicitation that was completely initiated by Stericycle, even after we specifically explained to them NOT to contact our sites. This was provided in writing and received and acknowledged by them in late April 2015.
The contracts provided for [redacted] and for [redacted] are the same date, same time, same e signature, and same reference number. We can only assume that they were sent together to Mr.[redacted]. They were sent by Mr. [redacted] Mr.[redacted] has never worked for the [redacted] nor the [redacted] location. These contracts were lumped together, misrepresented, and pushed with a over exaggerated sense of urgency that they must be sent back. They were never represented as five year contracts for facilities this man didn't even work for. Mr.[redacted] is not and has not been an employee of [redacted] nor [redacted]. He was not authorized to sign these contracts. They clearly had his administrator sign the agreement at[redacted], since he wasn't authorized to sign there either. The contracts are not valid. When we asked for a valid contract for [redacted], they provided only that agreement or and agreement they sent UNSOLICIATED to a maintenance manager, AFTER we notified them they can not do that. When asked for a valid contract for [redacted], they only produced a contract signed by Mr.[redacted]. They have not been able to provide a valid contract for either site, yet when we ask to terminate they explain they will take us to court. We want these invalid, overpriced contracts terminated immediately with no liquidated damages. We want all communication to be via the Revdex.com. We do not wish to be contacted about alternatives as when we requested alternatives, the only option was to resign at the current rates to avoid 18% price increases every six months. They even went as far as to say THEIR COSTS increase 36-39% annually. They still haven't provided that to us in writing.
These contracts are not valid, and misrepresented.
As a follow up to these practices, we made reference to Stericycle calling our employees that are not authorized to sign contracts even after we notified them to please utilize the designated point of contact we issued to them which they acknowledged by changing all the billing to the correct address in Late April, Early May of 2015. We specifically requested that they DO NOT contact our employees not authorized to negotiate contracts in writing on April 28th 2015 with the letter dated April 21st. We were then directed to an account representative that made some offers to us, that we refused to accept due to their inability to hold rates and the consistent price increases. Since that time, we have been contacted for NEW CONTRACTS for our locations in [redacted], and [redacted]. These calls ALL initiated by Stericycle to negotiate pricing and contracts. When directed to our appointed representative, they have not contacted him directly. We have been contacted inappropriately and unsolicited as follows:

[redacted]: May 22 ([redacted] - Sent a new 5 year contract without clarifying it was such, and was unsolicited, contract shows call initiated by Ms.[redacted] notice for points of contact received by them on April 27th), September 2, Female caller, hung up once told to contact our POC.

[redacted]: - Aug 24th, solicited to offer Pharmaceutical waste and a new service agreement

[redacted]: Voice mails saved, contacted to negotiate a new contract August 24th, September 2nd, and today, September 9th

All after they have been REPEATEDLY informed on who to contact for ALL of our accounts. Clearly they just continuously be raid our sites for new contracts. We want released from all of our contracts immediately. They have had 4 and a half months to correct this and have not. They corrected the billing immediately, so why can' this be corrected. Their practices are deceitful and the intention is to get us into long perpetual contracts with prices that increase by 18% every six months. Our account numbers are as follow:

[redacted]
[redacted]
[redacted]
[redacted]

[redacted]


We need a company that can work with us in a professional manner and not work to lock us into agreements that are one sided and intentionally set up to take advantage of our company

While we regret Ms. [redacted]’s dissatisfaction, we believe we have acted in full accordance with the service agreement signed by Ms. [redacted] that does not expire until June 1, 2020. We have offered to work with Ms. [redacted] on potential resolutions to this matter, however they have insisted upon proceeding with termination of their service agreement.Nonetheless, we value [redacted] as a Stericycle customer and in the interest of maintaining positive relations we have agreed to waive half the liquidated damages charge, leaving the balance due $4,344.17. Should Ms. [redacted] wish to resume discussions around continuing services with Stericycle and finishing out the remainder of their agreement, we would be happy to continue that dialogue.

Our service agreements do allow for periodic price increases and these increases are a standard condition of our service agreement to help cover any cost increases we may face to meet regulatory requirements across local, state, and federal standards as well as prepare for investments in our...

business to keep abreast of needed technology and ensure the protection of our customers as part of our 'cradle to grave' service offering.
However, we are more than willing to work with our customers to find a service program with a rate that works for them. We offer a variety of different program levels and pick-up frequencies and can help to evaluate these options. We will have one of our Managers reach out to Ms. [redacted] directly in order to review potential solutions to this matter.

Please note that the terms and conditions of our agreement does state in section 2a; “This agreement shall automatically renew for successive terms equal to the original term unless either party has given 60 days’ notice in writing during the six month period prior to the renewal date of its’ desire...

to terminate this agreement”. One of the primary reasons our agreements are set to automatically renew is so that the medical waste removal continues as scheduled, reducing the risk of non-compliance with state regulations.
This particular agreement was signed in April of 2015, and did automatically renew in April of 2016. We continued to provide service as scheduled until we were requested to cancel the account in October of 2016. At the time of the cancellation request we did offer to work with [redacted] on a modified service agreement that could be adjusted to suit any changes in their medical waste needs, however she declined our offers.
In closing, although we believe our contract to be entirely valid, in the interest of maintaining positive customer relations we will agree to accept your offer of $2,500.00.
We truly appreciate the opportunity we have had to serve [redacted] Animal Emergency Clinic over the years and wish continued success for the business.

We believe our agreement to be entirely valid and enforceable; ** [redacted] & [redacted] has been a good customer to us over the years. In the interests of maintaining positive relations we will cancel account # [redacted] without penalty, removing fees billed after cancellation, leaving the balance due $2,294.66.
We truly appreciate the opportunity we have had to serve ** [redacted] & [redacted] over the years and wish continued success for the business.

We are more than willing to work with our customers to find a service program with a rate that works for them. We offer a variety of different program levels and pick-up frequencies and can help to evaluate these options. We will have one of our Managers reach out to [redacted] directly in order to...

review potential solutions to this matter.

While we regret Ms. [redacted] dissatisfaction, we believe we have acted in full accordance with the service agreement signed by [redacted] K. [redacted] II DDS. We have offered to work with Mr. [redacted] on potential resolutions to this matter, however they have insisted upon proceeding with the early...

termination of a service agreement still within its’ initial term therefore we feel the liquidated damages provision outlined in section 2c is valid. Should Ms. [redacted] wish to resume discussions around continuing services with Stericycle and finishing out the remainder of their agreement, we would be happy to continue that dialogue.

While we regret Ms. [redacted] dissatisfaction, we believe we have acted in full accordance with the service agreement signed by [redacted] that does not expire until July 1, 2018.  We have offered to work with [redacted] on potential resolutions to this matter, however...

they have insisted upon proceeding with the early termination of a service agreement still within its' initial term therefore we feel the liquidated damages provision outlined in section 2c is valid. Should Ms. [redacted] wish to resume discussions around continuing services with Stericycle and finishing out the remainder of their agreement, we would be happy to continue that dialogue.

Initial Business Response /* (1000, 6, 2015/07/31) */
Our service agreements do allow for periodic price increases and these increases are a standard condition of our service agreement to help cover any cost increases we may face to meet regulatory requirements across local, state, and federal...

standards as well as prepare for investments in our business to keep abreast of needed technology and ensure the protection of our customers as part of our 'cradle to grave' service offering.
However, we are more than willing to work with our customers to find a service program with a rate that works for them. We offer a variety of different program levels and pick-up frequencies and can help to evaluate these options. We will have one of our Managers reach out to Ms.[redacted] directly in order to review potential solutions to this matter.

Our service agreements do allow for periodic price increases and these increases are a standard condition of our service agreement to help cover any cost increases we may face to meet regulatory requirements across local, state, and federal standards as well as prepare for investments in our...

business to keep abreast of needed technology and ensure the protection of our customers as part of our 'cradle to grave' service offering.However, we are more than willing to work with our customers to find a service program with a rate that works for them. We offer a variety of different program levels and pick-up frequencies and can help to evaluate these options. We will have one of our Managers reach out to Mr. [redacted] directly in order to review potential solutions to this matter.

Our service agreements do allow for periodic price increases and these increases are a standard condition of our service agreement to help cover any cost increases we may face to meet regulatory requirements across local, state, and federal standards as well as prepare for investments in our...

business to keep abreast of needed technology and ensure the protection of our customers as part of our 'cradle to grave' service offering.
However, we are more than willing to work with our customers to find a service program with a rate that works for them. We offer a variety of different program levels and pick-up frequencies and can help to evaluate these options. We will have one of our Managers reach out to Mr. [redacted] directly in order to review potential solutions to this matter.

Mr. [redacted] and Stericycle have agreed on a resolution; a credit of $900.00 will be issued towards Mr. [redacted] account, which can take anywhere from 7-10 days and Mr. [redacted] will continue their services with Stericycle.

As an attempt to reach a compromise here, Stericycle will accept the settlement amount of $1,000.00. Upon receipt of the amount due we will close the account and no further amounts will be due to Stericycle. We will consider this matter resolved.

We hereby acknowledge the receipt of Revdex.com Claim# [redacted] response notification for Mr. [redacted].We have forwarded the consumer’s response to the respective department, and they shall proceed immediately with inquiries in an effort to resolve the consumer’s plea. You will be informed regarding progress of procedure.
Please expect to receive written response within 7 days.

Our service agreements do allow for periodic price increases and these increases are a standard condition of our service agreement to help cover any cost increases we may face to meet regulatory requirements across local, state, and federal standards as well as prepare for investments in our...

business to keep abreast of needed technology and ensure the protection of our customers as part of our 'cradle to grave' service offering.
However, we are more than willing to work with our customers to find a service program with a rate that works for them. We offer a variety of different program levels and pick-up frequencies and can help to evaluate these options. We will have one of our Managers reach out to Mr. [redacted] directly in order to review potential solutions to this matter.

We preface our signature line with the statement “By signing below I acknowledge that I am the customer’s authorized officer or agent and that I have the authority to bind customer to this agreement…” so that the individual reading the document will verify before signing that they are authorized to...

do so. On our end we have no way of knowing who is or is not authorized to sign an agreement for a particular office. Typically accepting and paying for the service for a significant period of time also serves to ratify the agreement. It is unfortunate that your representative did not read and understand what was signed.
In closing, although we believe our agreement to be entirely valid, in the interest of maintaining positive relations, Stericycle will remove the penalties billed leaving the amount due $0.00.
We truly appreciate the opportunity we have had to serve [redacted] Medical Inc. over the years and wish continued success for the business.

We preface our signature line with the statement “By signing below I acknowledge that I am the customer’s authorized officer or agent and that I have the authority to bind customer to this agreement…” so that the individual reading the document will verify before signing that they are authorized...

to do so.
On our end we have no way of knowing who is or is not authorized to sign an agreement for a particular office. Typically accepting and paying for the service for a significant period of time also serves to ratify the agreement. It is unfortunate that your representative did not read and understand what was signed.
We are more than willing to work with our customers to find a service program with a rate that works for them. We will have one of our Managers reach out to Dr. [redacted] directly in order to review potential solutions to this matter.