A dispute has erupted after a customer accused Townsville skip-bin operator Fat Boy Skips of dumping a container filled with commercial waste on private land following a disagreement over an extra charge.
The customer, identified only as Mikaela in an online review, said she had been told she owed an additional overweight fee after the bin was collected. She claimed the figures provided did not match the amount she was being asked to pay and said she requested a weighbridge receipt.
According to the review, the customer refused to provide credit-card details over the phone and offered to pay through a secure alternative. She alleged that, two days later, a skip filled with commercial rubbish was left on her property without warning or consent, causing damage she was then left to deal with.
Other reviews published on the same business listing contain similar allegations. One customer claimed rubbish had been emptied into a driveway after a dispute over additional charges, while another said they had been threatened with having waste tipped into their front garden.
Fat Boy Skips, which operates in and around Townsville, advertises skip-bin hire and rubbish removal for households, businesses and construction projects. Its website says collected material is taken to a transfer station for disposal.
The company’s sole director, Barry Edward Shonhan, was also issued with an environmental enforcement order by Queensland’s Department of the Environment, Tourism, Science and Innovation in August 2025.
The order required Mr Shonhan to stop disposing of, burning, receiving, sorting and storing waste at a property in Nome, near Townsville. Officials said an inspection had identified seven waste stockpiles, including burnt material, while aerial imagery indicated waste had been delivered to the site since at least August 2022.
The department said trucks carrying loaded skips bearing Fat Boy Skips signage had delivered waste to the property. It ordered the removal of the material to a lawful facility and warned that failing to comply with the order would be an offence.
Fat Boy Skips promotes itself as providing responsible waste disposal and says it follows local council requirements and Australian environmental standards. The allegations made in customer reviews have not been independently proven.
