Interviewer: Thank you Chris for taking the time to be with us today and to share a little about what it is like to run a hauling and junk removal business. Today we are going to look at your junk removal services near me, in St. Helena, CA.

Can you tell us about a recent hauling job that you did in St. Helena, CA, that you would like to share with us?

Chris: Sure David. Well, we actually just completed a job today that we had started last Saturday and this gentleman, he’s a winery owner and he just purchased this nice house on a big property in St. Helena, CA. With this property came a lot of work. There were piles of wood and piles of firewood, giant logs, you name it. You know, a little bit of concrete here and there, which we can handle a little bit. He had junk and debris all over the place and he just expressed to me how relieved and how happy he was to see it gone. He can now walk around his beautiful property and enjoy it now. He feels he can appreciate his house now a little more because the house is beautiful but everything around it, all the debris and garbage that was left was kind of overwhelming.

We actually did about four and a half loads for him and four and a half dump trucks for him in a matter of four or five days. So I’d say that it was a positive experience. He just felt like his project was moving along and he was happy. [Laughs]

Interviewer: Do you remember how he found you or when he first called you?

Chris: He told me he found me just by searching online, something like “Junk Hauling Services near me” or “St. Helena Hauling”. He’s out of St. Helena, CA, and he just went by the Yelp reviews he saw that I had a high rating and he went with it. He said he had a positive conversation with me, and that the pricing he could understand.

Interviewer: That makes sense. 

Chris: And that was one of the things that he had been worried about because he had so much stuff that he was worried he was going to be ripped off, that it wasn’t going to be affordable, but I explained to him how we operate and we communicated load by load what we were doing and how we were taking care of it. So he was really happy.

Interviewer: And so you just finished that up today?

Chris: We did, yeah. We actually just finished that hauling job today. I had started it. I had made two trips up to his place in St. Helena, CA, and my guys made two other trips and they finished the last of it today, but I checked in with him and he, when I spoke with him, he was very happy.

Interviewer: And did you guys have to break down stuff for him as well or was it all kind of just broken down?

Chris: So we helped him out. We helped him out and we try to customize and help out as much as possible. So he had a unique situation. He had these gigantic logs that we loaded up. He had also some pieces of concrete that were too big to carry. So I actually took a sledgehammer and I broke them up for him and things like that. He had two different areas of the property, so we would drive to different areas and load from there. We tried to make it easy on him, so there were piles of waste and debris that were scattered in different areas. We took care of it. No questions asked, we just got it done and made it easy for him. I didn’t ask him to put it all in one area. We’re happy to help. That’s our job.

Interviewer: I noticed it says on your website that you do not take concrete? Is that true or can you define that more?

Chris: Yeah, so I know I just mentioned concrete. So the thing is, we do deal with general construction debris, yard debris, and various construction material. So I am understanding that there are posts with concrete around them. So that is okay. We can handle small amounts. It’s just I don’t like to advertise that we take concrete, rock, or dirt because we can’t take large amounts of it. Not that we don’t want to do that. It’s great work. It’s just that we are not heavy-duty enough to maybe take twenty yards of concrete. We don’t have 10-wheeler trucks that can handle those loads.

Interviewer: Can you explain that more?

Chris: Sure. So our trucks aren’t heavy enough to handle large amounts of concrete, rock, or dirt. So if I want to provide an efficient service, that’s something that we wouldn’t provide an efficient service for. So that is one of the reasons. Also, another big one is the cities can provide concrete bins or dirt bins for a fraction of the price because they can re-purpose the material and I think that’s great. I think that’s great that that’s something the city offers and we deal with essentially everything else. But a little bit of concrete is fine for us to handle. I went and broke up his concrete because he had a couple of small piles. That’s no problem.

Interviewer: Got it. So a little bit here and there mixed in with other stuff.

Chris: Yeah, a little bit. If someone has to do it. I mean, I say no dirt but this other client — Let’s just say last week, this client had half wine barrels. Those are very popular to put plants in. They were full of dirt. The plants had died and the wood rotted out. I’m not going to tell her that I’m not going to take the dirt. We just went ahead and lifted it and took the whole thing – no problem. So that’s okay with things like that. We’re pretty flexible. I wouldn’t want to leave her with a dirt pile. We want to help when we can.

Interviewer: I understand. So one last question I think I had for you, which was – I believe it says on your website that people don’t always have to be there for you if they can make it clear as to where to pick the debris or trash or garbage or whatever and what specifically you’re picking up.

Chris: Yes.

Interviewer: So for example this client in St. Helena, CA, you said you were there over I think four days. Did he have to be with you the whole time?

Chris: No.

Interviewer: So he just told you what to haul and then you would remove it and maybe every now and then you’d check in with him? How did that work?

Chris: Exactly. So that’s a great question. We live in a day and age where we’re all about convenience. People go online and order stuff regularly and so they expect most services to be the same way. And I can provide convenience for the customer, so I do.

Their life is already busy and they’re having stress with all of the junk and waste they want to be removed. I don’t want to make them more stressed. So to give you an example, the gentleman that we did the large hauling for. When we met the first time, he told me what he wanted and he told them the duration of when he would want to get it done and we went from there and I chatted with him about when it was a good time to come. So together we set the boundaries for when it’s a good time. He gave me the time frames and I said “Great. I have the information I need. You don’t necessarily need to be here for junk removal services unless to want to be, but I’m happy to work and when we finish we’ll send you an invoice”.

Interviewer: That makes sense.

Chris: In fact, there are people that own property in Napa and they live in New York.

Interviewer: ok.

Chris: So we make it easy for them. You can call me up and say “Hey, I’ve got stuff behind the fence or behind the gate” and then it’s no problem. If we have access to it, we’re happy to provide that service and then we can collect payment over the phone. We can also — I can shoot them an invoice and they can pay online. So we have online payments and we hit all forms of payment. So cash, check, or credit card.

Interviewer: It sounds like you provide a very convenient junk removal hauling service for your customers and clients. Thank you so much, Chris. I think that’s good for us today.