I'm a little surprised by how low the reviews are for Groot because I have nothing but nice things to say about them. I didn't have any opinion AT ALL about waste management companies. They pick up garbage. The end. But being on a condo board from 2020 to 2022 made me pay way more attention to which ones were on schedule, efficient and had great customer service. Although when I came onto the board, Groot was already hired, I fully understood WHY after my interaction with them. Rita is absolutely amazing! I think she's in a management level, but I'm not totally clear. (She's been super informative since the day I was introduced to Groot during the renewal process. We also both gripe about involuntary exercise picking up scattered dog toys.) Rosette (although I've only talked to her a couple times) is also super efficient when it comes to updating records. Although I interacted with Rita about 95% of the time, the other 5% of the people I talked to were equally professional and friendly. Even when I was outside walking my dog, the garbage men waved and were always really nice. I don't have one bad thing to say about the entire company. Highly recommended. read more

Update: 6/10/26 I contacted Groot through their website. They responded with an email stating "We have received your request and will look into it soon. It is now 6/10/26 and they never contacted me (no surprise). There email said to call customer service. Sure, let's get on the merry-go-round again. Original Review: 6/2/26 Beware of "auto-extras" for $80 each from Groot trucks taking AI/UN-Intelligent pictures from the trucks of your dumpsters, garbage cans, possibly people, etc. and add "auto-extras" charges of $80 each time. No warning/heads up of AI picture-taking. I am the Treasurer for the Condo Association and pay all of the bills. May 2026 invoice had 4 "auto-extras" (extra pickups) for garbage over the top of our dumpster which is ridiculous in the first place because residential garbage cans always have garbage over the top. It's bad enough we pay $112 for dumpster plus $38 Environmental Fee. Now we were overcharged $320 for 4 "auto-extras" for a total invoice of $467. Groot's autopay took the $467 out of our checking account right away. I stopped autopay. My apartment building's parking lot is shared with another building, and each building has its own Condo Association and invoicing for everything. The landlord at the other building had made arrangements for each 3 extra pickups and pre-paid $29 for each one. He was there when Groot trucks picked up their furniture and garbage because renters moved out. AI took pictures and charged us 4 "auto-extra" pickups. The Groot truck driver(s) put the neighbor's furniture and boxes in our dumpster after they emptied our dumpster. Then AI/Unintelligence took pictures and charged us. The landlord looked at his video recordings and saw that the Groot truck driver(s) put their couch from on the ground on top of our empty dumpster. AI/Unintelligence took a picture and charged us again. Called Groot but the rep did not believe me even though the previous rep emailed me their AI pictures. Landlord next door called Groot and told them the 3 separate extra pickup days were his, including the couch the driver(s) put on top of our dumpster. Just got invoice for June 2026. We only got a $240 credit. Then they charged us $5 in administrative fees to correct their own mistake. So, now I have to call Groot again. Of course, I fully expect them to deny our 4th $80 credit. Below are the 4 Artificial Un-Intelligence pictures. Groot needs to get rid of their stupid AI/UN-Intelligent pictures or watch the whole video. Better yet, have the driver(s) do their job, put the extra pickup items in the right dumpster, and take the pictures manually! Horrific customer service from Groot.... again! read more

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When you sign up for service, the don't mention that you are signing up for a 5 year contract that you cant get out of. If you want to cancel, you must do so in writing and can't put it in writing unless it falls withing a short window. I tried to cancel and they said it was too early to file. You have to wait to a few months prior before you cancel. I can't cancel for another 4 years and i can't notify them now. I must wait. By the way, when you call them, prepare to wait. Right now I've been waiting 30 minutes and still no one to pick up the phone. I would never hire them again. read more

we have 5 years contract with the company still existing to 09/2024 The contract said $42 a month one pick up time, over year ago they start charging $115 a month same service ! When we asked why you broke contract? No answers! When we want to cancel the contract they said $700 penalty! who going to broke the contract? No More Groot. THE GUY FROM PLANO OFFICE IS VERY NOT HELPFULLY! HI NEVER ANSWERED TO AS QUESTIONS. And now hi send new contract to another 5 years.!:) No Way! also I have tenants they put in side to the dumpster mattress and they not want to pick up its! read more

we have been using Groot ever since we moved here 10 years ago and we have always paid them electronically. then one week they don't pick up the trash and say we haven't paid since december. well we have confirmation numbers from our bank sayiing we did pay them. when my wife told this to the customer service rep, the rep was rude as f*ck and told my wife that they don't take electronic payments. which is bullshit, they have for the past 10 years and if they stopped then maybe they should have mailed out letters informing customers. I was employed in the solid waste industry for over 30 years and have never experience such rude and condescending customer service. Call Waste or Lakeshore for you waste hauling needs. customer service there doesn't treat you like shit. read more

I just moved from Hanover Park I have lived there for 32 years I have multiple garbage companies and groot has been the best I think the driver name was ben always willing to help us out on garbage day we now live in st charles and groot is still my garbage company they are a 5 stars keep up the good work read more

This service is by far the best...they are reliable respectful and efficient.. it must be a difficult job but they always show up and do their work perfectly read more

We have had Groot Service since they took over the contract in our village. I have been asking each year to purchase the garbage can (aka tote) as the rental fee is ridiculous and adds up. I was always told that was not something they offered. 5 years ago I asked why it was not an option when I purchased the Recycle Tote. I was told they did not offer this for the Garbage Tote. In August when I called and asked, I was told it was ALWAYS something that they offered. I have been irate as I have paid so much in rental fees that I could have purchased several Garbage Totes. When I asked if my rental fees could be credited towards the Tote purchase they said that was not an option. When I asked if I could just keep the Tote I have been using for 7+ years and remove the rental they said that was not an option because they don't sell used Totes. This sounds like a scam. The Customer Service department has a lack of integrity, untrustworthy, and each person you speak with gives you a different answer. When the village contracted with Waste Management we never had such problems or bad customer service. SHOUTOUT - The individuals who pickup garbage every week are AWESOME!! They could teach the main office and customer service a thing or two!! read more

Groot is horrible. They pick up what & when they want. The VOW never should of entered a contract w them. There is NO reason they can't pick up our garbage. If a 100lb woman can bring an entertainment center to the curb, with stickers.....hell, hire me..... cuz clearly this female has more braun than they do. Youll take a basketball hoop but can't man up and take a small entertainment center? You guys are a joke. Recycling? " Meh....well pick up one....but not the other? Meh, whatever. Oh....well.... sorry. Youre sol lady"...."oh. You're flagging us down to circle back?. No no... that's not gonna work for me"... ur employees are not worth the hourly pay they get. They're lazy and will find every excuse in the world to NOT to do the job..if you're village is under contract,.don't bother calling groot. Call your village. Oh.... "we threw ur garbage cans in the neighbors yard? Meh....my bad. Youll be ok"......wait.... your recycling is all over the yard? Pffft.... you can pick it up. Youll be ok"... !@#$% scumbags. read more

If I could give these idiots a zero I would this is not the first time this is happened to us but last Friday was our normal pick up day we are on the sticker program and we live in Woodridge Illinois. For some reason our garbage tote was the only one that was not picked up on the entire block when I came home from work at 5 o'clock I called the office to find out why or if our garbage was going to be picked up I spoke to a lady who told me she was sorry to hear that and that she would do a work order because the crew was done for the day and the next day it would be picked up would be Monday but assured me it would definitely be picked up Monday. We took the garbage out Sunday night and as my husband proceeded to do an errand at 2:45 in the afternoon the garbage was still there he called the office and was told again a work order would be put in which should've been already put in the Friday before that and evidently wasn't. I then called their office just as a reinforcement because now I was pretty peeved as it looked like we were starting to be given the runaround I talk to a girl and told her this was the third phone call from this residence and expected the garbage to be picked up that day as we were told on Friday it would she apologized and said she was sorry for the inconvenience and I basically told her I appreciate your being sorry but just get it taken care of it is 90° outside and it was gonna be 90 again the next day we had garbage filled to the top of the tote which would hold no more garbage and we are ready had an extra bag that need to go in and I wasn't going to stand for our garbage not being picked up until our normal pick up day which Would be this Friday one week exactly later she assured me it was going to be picked up. At 5 o'clock when it was still not picked up I called again knowing that the office was going to be closing and the cruise would again be heading home at five spoke to another girl who said it was on the ticket to be picked up and could be picked up as late as 6 o'clock it was definitely going to happen that day and if it didn't to call and leave a message on their voicemail conveniently after they were gone for the day correct. At 6:10 when my husband left again the garbage was still there filled to the rim I called and I left a very strong and nasty message basically demanding that a supervisor call me the next day which would be today and give me an explanation as to why we keep being lied to and reminding them that this was not the first time our garbage had been neglected to be picked up it is now 1:30 in the afternoon and I still have had no phone call from a supervisor I refuse to put the garbage out right now as I'm not going to get a fine or citation from my village because garbage totes cannot be left at the curb unless it is your pick up day I just called Village Of Woodridge Water Dept as we are under contract with Groot to let them know that they are not living up to their contractual obligation's and something to be considered when your contract is up we always had waste management and never had an issue with them this company Groot sucks and it seems like they don't give two shits About their customers and customer relations once they already have their contract so people beware whether you are an individual homeowner or A municipality or village or city you better think twice for your residence before you enter in agreement with these people they don't care we need in Woodridge to go back to waste management. read more

Very dishonest Company! They are skipping pick-ups but the worse part is in the billing. We have a contract and multiple times per year they try to scam you. The Rep will say, o this is a computer error, every time they get caught. Sick business practices! read more

I was out of town for my garbage day so i scheduled a pick up for the day I got home because my garbage had maggots all over it! This service costs $35 which they promptly charged to my credit card and then NEVER came for my garbage!!!! I called the next day over and over, which was a Saturday, however no one ever answered the phone even though they have Saturday office hours. Horrible, horrible service. read more

Woodridge just recently switched from Waste Management to Groot Industries about a year ago. We never had issues with Waste Management, but since Groot took over their have been numerous service issues. They are unreliable and sometimes do not even pick up our garbage or recycling. If you have a voice,I urge you to work with your city to do anything you can to avoid them using Groot. When I called to tell them my recycling was not picked up, the customer service rep, Nate, threatened me that I needed to wait 2 more days and if I did not like that answer I could simply wait to the following week's normal pick up. Incredible rude and poor customer service. AVOID!!!! read more

They are thieves. Kept billing me for garbage pick up for a month after I sold a building despite my calling and requesting the service be stopped before the closing. They claim that the person who answered the phone wasn't authorized to stop the service. Avoid this company if possible! read more

Groot will agee to a rate and then increase it without bothering to explain why. I had an agreed rate for October 1, 2018 and then the next bill comes and it is 5% higher. No explanation was provided in any communication from them as to why my 90 day old rates were increasing. I call them up and they say since new ownership took over there are at least annual increases with NO NOTICE to customers why the rates are increasing. Customers are unaware of billing increases unless they check their bill closely, and then take the time to call customer service. TOTALLY UNETHICAL! read more

Groot has been our waste disposal guys for the last 6 years and they have always had great service and communication. I've only met 2 of the truck drivers while picking up but they are quality people!!! read more