Bootstrap Compost

After determining that my location did not meet their policy, the CEO spent the better part of the afternoon harassing me by email (though I have no idea why). Here’s hoping they actually refund my deposit.

I’ve only been a customer for a fairly short time (less than 2 months) but I have been singing Bootstrap’s praises all over the place so far. I love being able to route my food scraps away from the landfill even though I live in a little apartment in the city. My trash doesn’t smell anymore and I rarely have to take it out. I like the weekly reminder emails to make sure I leave my bucket on the curb. I’ve even got some of my neighbors throwing in their scraps. Great idea, and (so far) flawless execution.

We had nothing but positive experiences with Bootstrap compost. I love seeing their bins around Boston. Friendly staff, good customer service, and a «home-​grown, family» feel to the company. Unfortunately we moved away from Boston, but I would recommend Bootstrap to anyone who doesn’t want to throw their food scraps in the trash!

I think I’ve been a bootstrap customer for around three years. It’s hard to remember because I feel like they have just seamless become part of my lifestyle. I love the ease, convenience, and happy conscience that comes with their service! I’ve had to change payment methods, hold service and make other misc requests and found them so chill and helpful. They have made fantastic presentations on composting for my daughter’s school too! Composting rock stars I say!

I’ve used Bootstrap off and on since 2011 and they’ve always provided great service and been communicative when I needed to cancel for a while or clear up where the bucket goes. It’s worth the expense to me to not have stinky garbage and be able to take plastic bags of it out much less often.

I’ve used their services for years now. I’m scratching my head trying to remember any problems whatsoever — grasping at straws maybe they were a day late in pickup during a blizzard, but I’m not sure, I’m thinking aloud, and even if so, it would have been perfectly excusable.

DO NOT USE THIS COMPANY! This is a horrible company run by an unprofessional and abusive owner. I cancelled my service years ago — the service provided at the time was ok but it was not working for me so I chose to stop the service. I sent a check in for the amount on the invoice given to me when I cancelled. I checked in with the company to see if they received the check… they hadn’t so I sent it again and sent an e-​mail asking them to contact me if they did not receive it… I heard nothing from them until over a year later at which point I said as far as I knew, it was paid — however, if they believed it had not been than they should send me an invoice for the amount. They never did though they continued to harass me e-​mailing, calling and texting often several times per day for months… with a simple request to pay an amount — no invoice, no explanation as to why I owed this money a year and a half later. When I finally did get an invoice it included service for after the date of cancellation so, I went back to the original invoice which it did appear that as they never cashed the check that it was still outstanding so I paid it. I sent an e-​mail indicating that I had paid the original invoice; however, as the invoice provided included dates after I cancelled I would not be paying the remaining balance. They changed their tune slightly saying that they had been wrong about the total amount owed and yet I still owed $ 28. Followed by an e-​mail that said that they would begin charging 14/​day in late fees for service that I never received or agreed to pay for! This is when it escalated –the owner continued to send me harassing, insulting and abusive e-​mails to the point that I have been forced to make a report with the AG’s office. It is not on the customer to magically pay a bill — one must first get an invoice or at the very least an explanation as to what

It’s a great idea, and we certainly support the environmental benefits of city folks composting, but Bootstrap’s implementation is not so great. I guess they have so many customers that it’s difficult to provide dependable, friendly service. Good on them, but we’re going to try their competition.

Trying to decide on a Unilocal category for Bootstrap was not easy. Is it food related? Kinda. Is it a local service? Most definitely. But «composting pick up awesomeness» is not one of the subcategories.
Bootstrap is my new favorite company. For a small fee they come and pick up your compost scraps on a weekly or bi-​weekly basis depending on your needs (I’m a biweekly girl– I live by myself, but I cook a lot. And I make jams and pickles and schiz, so I have lots of scraps). Bootstrap is awesome for a number of reasons:
1) Obviously, you are doing awesome earth things and being a good environmentalist by not throwing your food scraps and paper towels (YES! You can compost paper towels! I did not know this before joining Bootstrap! There is so much you can compost!)
2) My trash is greatly reduced and, yes, less stinky. (If only I could train my kitties to use the toilet…)
3) After you’ve been in the program for a while they actually give you some of the beautiful black gold all those food scraps and paper towels make! Mine is currently assisting in growing beets in my garden.
4) They also help supply local community gardens and schools with compost.
Seriously, I cannot say enough good things about this company and all the lovely people that work for them. Local. Community oriented. Good for the earth. Good for everyone.