(NEW PHILADELPHIA, Ohio)—Ohio Attorney General Mike DeWine today announced a lawsuit against the operators of a waste removal company accused of failing to deliver promised services to consumers in eastern Ohio.
The Attorney General’s lawsuit accuses Firebird Waste & Recycling’s operators, Michael Lohr and Shirley Bennett-Lohr, of collecting deposits from consumers but failing to provide promised trash removal services and failing to provide refunds.
According to the lawsuit, Firebird Waste & Recycling’s principal place of business was 121 S. Romig St. in Uhrichsville, but it reportedly stopped operating in late 2016 and filed for bankruptcy in February 2017.
Consumers in multiple Ohio counties, including Tuscarawas, Carroll, Harrison, Columbiana, and Guernsey, filed complaints with the Ohio Attorney General’s Office or Better Business Bureau saying they paid Firebird about $30 to $60 each but that the company did not pick up their trash. Among 37 complaints, estimated consumer losses currently total about $1,850, but additional consumers likely have been affected.
In the lawsuit, filed in the Tuscarawas County Common Pleas Court, the Attorney General seeks damages for consumers and an injunction to prohibit the defendants from engaging in other consumer transactions in Ohio until they have repaid consumers in this case.
Affected consumers should file a complaint with the Ohio Attorney General’s Office at www.OhioProtects.org or 800-282-0515.