Bay Area junk removal service moves junk to neighbor's home

SAN CARLOS, Calif. (KGO) -- You'd think it would be easy to get rid of your old furniture, but it turned into quite an unpleasant experience for a San Carlos woman.

The Bay Area homeowner hired workers to haul away her stuff. They picked it up as planned, but that's when things took an unexpected turn.

"This is all new," Joyce Faulknor told 7 On Your Side as she pointed to her living room furniture.

Her old sofa was so worn, charities wouldn't accept it. So she left it outside waiting for workers to take it to the landfill.

She used Takl, an app that connects residents to home services.

"I've used it before, and the app works well," she explained.

The workers came and Joyce gave them a high rating.

The next day she was driving down this street when she was stunned.

There it was -- her furniture sitting right in front of her neighbor's house just a couple of blocks away.

"I turned to my left and I go, oh, hey, that looks like my furniture. That's my furniture!"

The neighbor, who also spotted the furniture in front of her home, did not like it either.

"We were coming back home with my husband and I saw this furniture and I was like what is that. Who put it there," wondered Julia Kutik.

Julia says she's constantly cleaning her street of garden debris because she wants to be a good neighbor.

"I put the sign that it's free. Please take it away," she said.

Joyce called Takl immediately to complain.

She also contacted her neighbor through the Next Door app to apologize.

A day later, when Takl hadn't picked up her furniture, Joyce grabbed all the stuff and brought it back to her own home.

"I wanted to have a clear conscience. I knew it wasn't her problem. This was my problem," she said.

Her furniture sat in her truck in her driveway for four days while she waited for Takl to take care of her mess.

She finally grew frustrated and contacted 7 On Your Side.

We contacted Takl and it told us its providers go through a vetting process which includes an identity verification, a criminal check and an orientation session.

It said, "Providers must comply with job specific responsibilities and Takl's Terms of Service or risk losing access to the platform."

The furniture was removed the next day.

"Did they return your money?" Julia asked Joyce.

"Yes, they did, because of 7 On Your Side."

"Ohhh," said Julia.

The two neighbors met for the first time when we brought them together for this interview.

"I'm really pleased to meet my neighbor," said Julia as Joyce hugged her. Even if accident was not very pleasing." Both Joyce and Julia laughed.

Joyce says Takl told her the crew that she originally hired has been removed from the Takl platform.

Click here for a look at more stories by Michael Finney and 7 On Your Side.