Turnaround: WM achieves Better Business
Bureau A+ rating

WM lost accreditation in 2013 due to poor service

Houston – There were a lot of reasons why Waste Management lost its accreditation with the
Better Business Bureau (BBB) in 2013. However, on Feb. 28, after several months of improving
the way it manages customer service issues reported to the organization, WM has had its revocation
removed and has even earned an “A+” business rating on the BBB website.

“We start all of our staff meetings with a customer story,” said Bryant Dobbs, senior director for
customer and employee experience. “It was nice to hear that Waste Management was the customer
story at the BBB board meeting last month, telling our success story and our commitment to
our customers.”

Following WM’s accreditation loss, WM Cares and the Customer Experience team came together with
a plan to turn things around that involved:

• Centrally managing all BBB escalations, rather than having different parts of the country
  handling different incidents
• Treating every escalation as a corporate escalation, regardless of the line of business
• Improving the time it takes to resolve a problem

As a result of these efforts, complaints to the BBB were reduced by 58 percent between Aug. and Dec. of
last year. In addition, escalated cases are now consistently resolved in less than 24 hours, which is an
enormous improvement.

The BBB was so impressed with the quick turnaround – normally it takes over a year to see such positive
results – that they’ve awarded Waste Management an “A+” rating and have given the company a chance
to seek reaccreditation, which it will do later  this year.

“Just keep doing the things that you are doing,” said Susan Schade, senior director for the Houston BBB.
“We are seeing the great results.”

Employee Interview: Maria Lara

What do you do in Customer Experience?

I am Maria Lara, supervisor for WM Cares, overseeing the BBB escalations and WM Cares team.

How does it feel to earn an A+ rating?

It feels great! We have worked very hard to create processes to be consistent in addressing our BBB
customer escalations. We are thankful for our internal WM partners who have helped us when we
reached out for assistance. 

Message to other employees?

Everyone has the opportunity to create a positive customer experience!

Photo: The WM Cares team (L-R): Natalie Murano, Roseanne Pontes, Victoria Romero, Nancy Giblin,
Marisa Alvarez, Rosemary Chayrez, Tracy Gonzales, Maria Lara, Adriana Ramirez, and Bryant Dobbs.