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Posted by Tim Holloway on Saturday, September 20, 2008 at 09:29:59 :
There is a scrap metal dealer about 10 miles from me, where I bring the remains of the Power Wagons I part out. It is owned by 2 brothers, Mark and Jimmie. Jimmie is always in the yard, Mark takes care of the business end. I have always gotten along well with both of them.
About a month ago I called them to check on the price of scrap. $170 a ton for vehicles, $140 a ton for loose scrap.
I had a rusted out Dodge 15 passenger van behind the shop so I dragged it out and loaded it up to the roof with the bones of 2 or 3 Power Wagons.
A couple of weeks went by before I could get it to the scrap yard.
After I got weighed, I drove over to get unloaded. They were going to pick it off with an excavator with a claw but the excavator wouldnt start. Jimmie comes over with a skidsteer with long forks and starts to bull it around to get it off the trailer. In the process, he manages to drag the front wheel over the trailer fender, squashing it right down onto the tires. After he got the van out of the way, he drives back, slides one of his forks under the fender and prys it up off the tires and then drives off. I went back onto the scales and then parked. I walked over to where he was working and asked him if he was going to do anytrhing for me on the fender. He got quite beligerant and said most people dont complain if their stuff got scratched. I guess his definition of a scratch is a bit different than mine! Realizing that this was going nowhere I wished him a good day and went to the office to pick up my check. When I went in, Mark asked how I was doing. I said fine until my fender got squashed unloading. He looked out the window, asked me what happened and said to the secretary to give me an extra $10 per ton. That amounted to $40 which wont get much of a fender, but at least it was an acnowledgement of the issue. The secretary handed me the check, and to add insult to injury the scrap price had dropped $50 a ton in 2 weeks. Damn!
A couple of days ago, I get a letter from the bank, with a copy of the check with "stopped Payment" stamped all over it and a $20 service fee. WTF? Next day I go back and Mark said that his brother was furious that he had paid the $40 extra, and that they would replace the check with one for $40 less. I pointed out that the bank had dinged me $20 so he told the secretary to make it for $20 less. Thats when she pointed out that the bank had charged them $25 to stop the payment. So, they spent $45 to screw me out of $40, and I still have a ruined fender and a really bad taste in my mouth about dealing with them again. Time to find another scrap dealer.
So much for customer service.
Tim
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