(Posted 9:30 a.m., March 15)
Local 1-800-GOT-JUNK? service gets odd request
By Fred Sherwin
Orléans Online

1-800-GOT-JUNK? workers unload a coffin from their truck after a recent pick-up. Photo supplied

As the operations manager for the Ottawa franchise of 1-800-GOT-JUNK?, John Vorobej has seen a lot of strange things, but nothing stranger than what was awaiting a company crew on a recent call to an east end residence where the owner wanted to get rid of a coffin.

Yes you read right – a coffin.

“When we first got the call I was expecting some guy had played amateur carpenter and made a coffin out of some plywood or something, but when the guys got there they found a real genuine satin lined coffin with silver plated handles,” says Vorobej.

As it turns out the owner had bought the coffin some years ago as a prop for a party and wanted to finally get rid of it. 1-800-GOT-JUNK? obliged the man for the going rate and took it off his hands.

As pick-ups go, the coffin is one of the strangest items the local franchise has had to deal with so far, but Vorobej has heard of other bizarre calls.

For instance, the Vancouver franchise once got a call to pick up 18,000 cans of expired sardines and there was another call to pick up a chest freezer that was filled with bags of dog doo doo. Apparently every time the owner took his dog out for a walk, he disposed of the droppings in his basement freezer rather than the garbage.

Neither one of the items would come under the heading, “One man’s trash is another man’s treasure”, and neither one of the items fall under 1-800-GOT-JUNK?’s policy to recycle 75 per cent of the items they collect. Appliances and furniture are given to local community resources centres and other items are handed over to Habitat for Humanity’s Re-use It Store on Walkley Road.

“We sometimes get the most amazing things, especially from people who are downsizing and are moving into assisted living. If we think it can be reused or recycled we have a network of resource centres we can take it to,” says Vorobej.

1-800-GOT-JUNK?’s pricing schedule is based on volume and weight. Items that are heavier, including gyproc and concrete, have additional weight charges.

For more information about the services 1-800-GOT-JUNK? provides visit www.1800gotjunk.com.

(This story was made possible thanks to the generous support of our local business partners.)

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