Don't Hire Any Shredding Company Until They Have Answered These 10 Revealing Questions
1. What type of shredding services do you offer?
There are two types of shredding services. On-Site Shredding is the most secure because all confidential materials are shredded on-site, at your location. Off-Site Shredding means that all material is brought back to the company's facility for shredding, but not before it has been sorted to maximize its recycling value.
SoCal Shred offers only highly secure, On-Site Shredding.
2. Will any of your employees ever touch my confidential documents?
Off-Site shredding companies get top dollar for recycling your paper, because they separate the white documents (like copy paper and stationary) from the colored documents (such as yellow legal paper and file folders). So if you choose off-site shredding, someone will probably be hand-sorting all your confidential documents. This unwanted access to your confidential information can expose your customers to identity theft and fraud ... and expose your organization to severe fines, bad publicity, and lost business.
SoCal Shred never touches your confidential materials for any reason.
3. Have you earned a "AAA Certified" rating from NAID?
The National Association for Information Destruction (NAID) is the watchdog of the shredding industry. They act as an independent auditor, checking a shredding company's compliance in 22 critical areas, including everything from shred size to employee background checks. NAID awards their highest rating, "AAA Certified," to only a select few shredding companies that offer the highest level of information security. In fact, of all the shredding companies operating in the LA area, only a handful have been AAA Certified by NAID. Just beware - some shredding companies will claim to be AAA NAID Certified just to get your business. Check their website for the NAID AAA Certified logo as proof of their standing.
SoCal Shred is AAA NAID Certified. Click here to verify our standing.
4. Do you offer a free 60-day trial?
Only a handful of shredding companies let you try their service for free and those that do limit their free trial to 30 days.
SoCal Shred offers a free 60 day trial of our on-going route service. Try us free for 60 days. At the end of that trial period if you're not totally satisfied for any reason, just call us to pick up your bins and you won't owe us a penny.
5. Do you have an "On Time or Shred for Free" service guarantee?
You can't afford to hire a shredding company that misses your pickup day, because that means your security containers may be overflowing, putting your confidential information at risk. Insist that your shredding company offers an "On Time or Shred for Free" service guarantee.
SoCal Shred offers an "On-Time or Shred for Free" Service Guarantee. If we miss your regularly scheduled appointment, we'll shred your confidential information for free!
6. Are you a local shredding company?
Large, national shredding companies are usually not very flexible when it comes to adjusting their service schedules to meet your needs. But that's not even the biggest reason why many organizations are making the decision to support locally-owned businesses. It's because doing so means that more money stays here in our community. According to Local Works, 73 cents of every dollar you spend with a local company stays in the local economy, compared to only 43 cents when you buy from a national company.
SoCal Shred is a locally-owned and operated company, that guarantees we will respond to any service request, however big or small, within 24 hours.
7. Can I postpone my regularly scheduled service if I call the day before pickup?
You shouldn't have to pay for a pickup of your security containers inf they're not full enough to require service. Yet most shredding companies will charge you whether you need service or not.
SoCal Shred is different. Just call a day or more ahead of your regularly scheduled pickup and we will postpone service without any charge.
8. Are there any hidden charges?
Some shredding companies will quote you a low, low price and then hit you with hidden fees like fuel surcharges, security fees, and pick-up fees. Other shredding companies charge by the minute to shred your documents. So you're actually paying them to go slow. Get an exact quote in writing and always ask if there are any additional charges.
SoCal Shred provides our shredding services for a low fee, with no hidden charges.
9. Will you guarantee to save us at least 40% over the cost of operating our office shredder?
It's easy for a shredding company to claim that their on-going service will save you money over the cost of operating your office shredder, but few will ever guarantee your savings.
SoCal Shred guarantees that you will save at least 40% with our on-going service ... and we'll even give you the tools to measure your savings. If after 60 days we haven't met your savings expectations, just call to cancel the service and we won't charge you a thing.
10. Do you give your route service customers discounts on their annual purges?
Customers who receive on-going service from their shredding company should get a better price on annual file purges than a one-time customer. Before choosing a shredding company, ask what kind of "purge discount" they give their regular customers.
SoCal Shred gives a 10% purge discount to all their regular customers.
