Is your email inbox clogged with bulky trash this week? You are not alone.
Phoenix Public Works spammed more than 235,000 email users with duplicate messages earlier this week about changes to the city’s bulk waste schedule. According to city spokesperson Spencer Blake, the city sent most recipients between five and six of the same email, for a total of 800,000 duplicate messages.
The problem stemmed from a software problem with the city’s supplier, Greenrope.
Do you want to have your bulky waste transported in Phoenix? You’ll need an appointment soon
On Thursday, the vendor apologized in a statement, saying it had an “internal network issue that caused an interruption in the confirmation that emails had been sent, and that our software did not properly account for that interruption. This resulted in our networks receiving multiple duplicates of the same message, something we know is concerning for everyone involved.”
The supplier said the problem was resolved Wednesday afternoon and that the company has taken steps to prevent the error from happening again.
The city is changing the way it handles bulk waste collection at the end of the summer. On September 30, city residents will be able to schedule their waste collection through an online portal, instead of waiting for quarterly collections.
The change replaces quarterly collection, so residents should schedule appointments if bulk waste collection is needed. The last quarterly collection in the city takes place between July and September; the exact week varies per neighborhood.
Taylor Seely covers Phoenix for The Arizona Republic / azcentral.com. Reach her at tseely@arizonarepublic.com or by phone at 480-476-6116.
This article originally appeared on Arizona Republic: Phoenix bulk trash email spams 235,000 users after outage
