Procrastination doesn't pay

Stopped by a local hotel to ask about getting any broken appliances they might occasionally discard. The lady at the desk said "you just missed out - we swapped out all of our TVs". ;( . I asked if they just dumped them and she said they did. I gave her a card and a flyer and told her I was local and could pick up on an as-needed basis going forward.

I'm kicking myself for not going by there sooner :mad: as I should have some time back. I'm staying positive on this one, though, because it appears no one else has been by there and asked, so maybe it will pay off down the road.

Now to hit several other stops I've been putting off for no good reason .....

Did you ask where they dumped them? My wife's hotel, used to take theirs to local thrift stores. I say used to, cause now I get it all. ;)

Good luck an stay on top of them, an check others in your area. Hotels are a good source.

Sirscrapalot - All my life, I always wanted to be somebody. Now I see that I should have been more specific. - Jane Wagner

I did a clean out of old crt tvs for a hotel last year. It was a nice chunk of change!! not to mention some of the looks you get from driving down the road with a truckload of tvs! the thing I hate about tvs is what the heck do ya do with all the old glass afterwards!!??

good source of scrap them hotels
I don't know what ones you tried but some large hotels have a maintenance dept. These guys have all the good stuff;)

Every hotel I deal with has a maintenance dept. An yep they got the good stuff. It's who you should be talking to get stuff when dealing with hotels. Front desk clerks are like a hostess..they want to be important, act like it, but in reality the only say they have is whether or not you get your 10% discount with aaa..haha!

Find the lead Maintenance guy, ask him. Only other person(s) with say is the AGM, or GM of the hotel. Usually the chief guy with a tool belt knows the policy an will give you the yay or nay. When I got the tvs from my hotel, I of course used the mini-van to carry them home. Took several trips as they were big crts. I didn't get funny looks till I got back to the house, an pulled into the yard, an started unloading. lol.

An the glass Jenni, find a local goodwill, best buy, or other place that accepts the glass. My dump down here now takes glass due to a rule change last year, which works for me as..Me an my local GW don't like each other, an Best Buy is a hour away.

Edit: The only thing my hotels don't give me is the ac's. An that's cause they save the broken ones for parts. Now an then I get them, when they have stripped them of all they can use. They also give me all their stuff from projects. I got almost a bunch of metal when they redid the lobby ceiling, door area, etc. Hotels are a good source for stuff if you can get in with them.

Sirscrapalot - I cut my teeth on tv's.

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Originally Posted by Sirscrapalot

Sirscrapalot - I cut my teeth on tv's.

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If you cut your teeth on TVs, you are scrapping them wrong. At least you didn't zap your p p.

Parrot you should know by now I do things different...some take a bite out of crime, I take a bite out of tv's. ;)

Sirscrapalot - Normal is boring.

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Originally Posted by Swampy

The lady at the desk said "you just missed out - we swapped out all of our TVs". ;(

I'm kicking myself for not going by there sooner
.

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Lets say the real question is, how can I become known?

How can you reach everyone possible so that they have heard of you?

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Originally Posted by Sirscrapalot

Edit: The only thing my hotels don't give me is the ac's. An that's cause they save the broken ones for parts.

Hotels are a good source for stuff if you can get in with them.

Sirscrapalot - I cut my teeth on tv's.

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My scrappy senses say, there's a golden nugget here. ;)

They don't sell the parts. They literally use them for the broken ones. Not a big deal to me, I get enough out of them the lack of the AC's doesn't bother me. Plus no need to worry about capturing freon, etc. Plus, the corporate big wigs get upset if they get rid of them before they are stripped for useable parts. I see the broken units everyday. My wife works there after all as the AGM. ;) An I'm friends with the head Maintenance guy. I do side work for them when the big storms roll through, an they need an extra hand.

How to get known? Easy..just walk in an ask for the maintenance man. I live on a sandbar it's easier for me to access hotels, as it's a tourist spot. I get stuff from other hotels to, an that's how I went about it, just like anywhere else. Granted, I can also go visit their bar an have a beer, or soda or something, so they see me more regular then a lot of others. I don't know if this works in a big city, as I don't live in one..lol..I live 2 miles out on a sandbar. You can also just ask for the agm/gm an go from there. Being friendly to the staff works also, they'll tell you who to talk to. Just don't be rude, don't interrupt them if their busy with a guest. I see cab drivers do this a lot then wonder why their business cards get tossed in the trash. ;) The guest comes first. I know this an act accordingly when I go into a hotel. Some of hotels are big names, others are local owned.

An remember while they may not have scrap on hand right then, most hotels do change outs, or work on the hotel. Make a good impression, stop in reguarly so they don't forget you, an you'll be the one they call when they do that kind of work. In my last post I mentioned the ceiling work they did, I got a good 600lbs of scrap. They called, said "Hey we're doing the lobby, can you come by an get this stuff as we drop it?" I said.."Hell yea, see ya in 5." I was there in 3. My sandbar is small, so your time may vary..ha!

Hotels are a great source, but like anything else you just gotta work it. I've gotten away from them of late cause of the ewaste an not much work going on this year on them. This could change after the holidays when they ramp things up before the season, but if not..I'm good. They still call me for old monitors, computer stuff(towers/routers/etc). Matter of fact I'm grabbing some cabinets later this week, to throw in my shop for storage, an one for upstairs in my office to be my fridge holder in my office. Yes I have a fridge in my office..shouldn't surprise you folks who been here awhile..lol.

Good luck to all who try getting in with hotels, it's a good source.

Sirscrapalot - Keeper of the traveling cooler, an has a fridge in his office. :p

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Originally Posted by Sirscrapalot

They don't sell the parts. They literally use them for the broken ones. Not a big deal to me, I get enough out of them the lack of the AC's doesn't bother me. Plus no need to worry about capturing freon, etc. Plus, the corporate big wigs get upset if they get rid of them before they are stripped for useable parts. I see the broken units everyday. My wife works there after all as the AGM. ;) An I'm friends with the head Maintenance guy. I do side work for them when the big storms roll through, an they need an extra hand.

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I can see you don't see what I see.

Q1 How many rooms do you think that hotel has?
Q2 How many rooms have an ac unit inside?
Q3 How many broken ones do they have?

110 rooms
every single room..that's 110 again.
an 7 down that they use for parts.

So that would be..117 ac units altogether.

An...I dont' care what they do with the leftovers after they take parts. I get 80% if their scrap, that's fine with me. As my focus is on ewaste.

I live here, an know what I'm talking about. You can believe me or not, it matters not to me. Just keep in mind your guessing an I'm the guy here who deals with them, I dont' profess to speak for hotels in other areas.

Sirscrapalot - Mmm..bacon.

I can see that you don't see what we see that we saw after we learned what we should've seen. I guess I should've paid more attention to what to see.

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Originally Posted by BigTime

Lets say the real question is, how can I become known?

How can you reach everyone possible so that they have heard of you?

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One word,,, NETWORKING. Just like I always tell the new ones, take some business cards and hand them out to everyone you meet. (family-friends etc.)
You never know when or where they might need your services. 2 years ago I went around to yard sales and passed out cards and 2 weeks ago I get a call from a manager of a Sears store. See, you just never know. And people know people so you have expanded your service area with every card you hand out. And cards are dirt cheap, print them yourself. Cheapest way to advertise I know of.

Next best way is to use that USPS program for delivering your printed flyer around the neighborhood or the county. Hit every home that way.

Got a call today from the same hotel. Long story short, while I missed out on the tv's, I just picked up all the mounts. I'd say easy 150 to 200 pounds (felt like it anyway). Took maybe 10 minutes total & the hotel is on my way to & from work. To top it off, I called the yard on the way home & steel has moved up a $1 to 10/100. Giddyup.

any chance those mounts might could be re-purposed somehow?

Good question....

got a photo of one? maybe temporary mounted and swung side to side? somebody might give you some ideas after looking at it