Checking Out My Scrapyard Receipt

I'm not sure where to post this question but I feel as if my scrapyard has been ripping me off. A little quick background is that our yard pays out ferrous & non ferrous on the same ticket when you go to cash it out and first you go over the scale get weighed and then drop off your shred feed then get weighed for your tare weight and what's missing obviously is what you dropped off. Then you go inside to a different area and turn in whatever you have for ferrous items & the weight of each type of metal is called in and then you go to the office to get your receipt and get paid. Fairly simple.. Ok so here is how my receipt displays.

Gross Weight (Upon Entering The Yard) - 8240 lbs
Tare Weight (Upon Leaving The Ferrous Side) - 6192 lbs
Net Weight (Total Ferrous Sold/Dropped Off) - 2048 lbs

Then I went to the other side of the yard and received:

Clean Brass - 70 lbs @ 1.50 per lb, #2 Copper - 24 lbs @ 2.00 per lb, 139 lbs Extruded Aluminum @ .2518 per lb, #2 Wire @ .64 per lb,
And Misc Shred Feed 1800 lbs @ .04 per lb

For a grand total of 269.60

Is anyone else seeing an issue with this?

Please someone help! I brought the issue up with the scrapyard and was told that if I felt like they were ripping me off then I didn't have to go there anymore. They tried to give me an explanation for why they do this the way they do and to me it just does not make any sense whatsoever. Who would one call or go to??

Thank you so much in advance!
NinjaGal

Just tell me what is wrong don't have time to try to figure out your riddle

The weight of my ferrous is different than what I threw off. They subtracted the weight of my non ferrous items from my ferrous total & said that how it's supposed to be. My question wasn't to be a riddle I was wondering if I am wrong or does that hard owe me $.

This is usually to avoid having to weigh in between going from ferrous/non-ferrous. Do not weigh in until you are done with everything. That's at least how it works in my yard. For example,

Say I drive up on the scale when I enter, at 5000lbs... Then i go to the shred pile and dump 900 lbs, then I go to the non-ferrous scale and weigh out and get a receipt for 100 lbs. Then I drive back on the scale. At that point it reads 4000lbs. So that is a difference of 1000lbs, however, 100 of the 1000 lbs is accounted for in my non-ferrous receipt, and infact not shred so they subtract out the non-ferrous weight, which they should, as it is accurate.

So either you need to tell the yard, no don't subtract the non-ferrous, I kept it in the truck while weighing both in and out and then went over to the non-ferrous, or, just only weigh in with the truck at the very end after dumping both ferrous and non

First, I'm pretty sure you meant to say: Then you go inside to a different area and turn in whatever you have for non ferrous items...

Second, you listed #2 wire, but didn't give a quantity, so it's hard to know exactly why the sum of the non-ferrous goods doesn't quite total up to the difference between what they paid you for shred and what your net weight was.

It sounds like they subtracted the weight of the non-ferrous stuff (presumably 248 lbs.), from the Net Weight, and paid you for 1800 lbs., even though the scale said you had dropped off 2048 lbs.

So, they beat you out of $9.92.

They're either dishonest or incompetent.

Everywhere I've ever gone, I've unloaded the non-ferrous first, before going across the big scale.

They have you go thru ferrous first at this yard. That's the amount I came up with too that I was ripped off. They said if I feel like they ripped me off that i don't have to go back there.

Correct. Agreed 100%. Except at this yard you only go over the big scale once upon entering and once when done with ferrous. You go to separate hand scales to get non ferrous items weighed then into the office to get paid.

I think I understand now.........standard procedure at all yards I have ever been to is ferrous and non-ferrous is weighed separate........As the list of scrap yards that actually are still in business dwindles we are kinda at the mercy of the one's which are in our vicinity

One simple solution is to ask to be weighed after dropping off the non-ferrous as well. This figure gives the total weight of all materials and would be easy to highlight their mistake. I always get a total weight because the platform scale could be different than the truck scale. This provides bargaining material and hard figures to negotiate.

I know scales are supposed to certified in most states at least once a year. Did you know there is a margin of error that is acceptable to the DOT. A platform scale for example could be zeroed in at 100 lbs. but a lb. off at 175 lbs. An old trick was to jam pennies under the platform after certification. Prior to the next certification the pennies would be removed ensuring the scale weighed light during the interim. If there are a bunch of pennies on the ground by the non-ferrous scale, I would question the honesty of the business. Without a total load weight it is easy to manipulate figures to make them fit.

As far as their attitude I think dropping a hint about calling the DOT and the BBB might change their perspective as to your value as a customer especially if the weight totals do not match.

They won't let you go over the big scale if you have no ferrous shred to sell. If I do non ferrous first it just goes to hand scale but I've been going thru all my old receipts and seeing my tare weights being in an odd # weight when I bring in for both sides. Every scale I've been over goes by 20lbs incremints so it's hard for me to understand how my tare weight can be ie. 6237 lbs. When I just bring in ferrous it's always ends in 0 but not when I go to both. I'm contemplating calling weights and measures Dept of the state, also like your ideas on who else I could contact. Thanks.

Im still maybe not understanding if/how you got ripped off....


Did it happen in this order:

Truck Scale (get weight)
Dump ferrous from truck
Go to small non-ferrous scale and unload non-ferrous and get pay ticket for an amount of non-ferrous
Truck Scale (final tare weight)
Initial Truck Scale weight - Final tare truck tare weight - non-ferrous = final amount to be paid for ferrous


If it happened like that, then that seems correct to me. However if it went:


Truck Scale (get weight)
Dump ferrous from truck
Truck Scale (final tare weight)
Go to small non-ferrous scale and unload non-ferrous and get pay ticket for an amount of non-ferrous

And THEN they subtracted out the non-ferrous, then yes, they shorted you.

Yeah, sounds like they're ripping you.

A word to the yard manager to fix it or you'll contact your state's weights & measures (whatever it's called in your state) should get their attention.

EDIT:

https://mn.gov/commerce/consumers/file-a-complaint/wm/

Quote:

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Originally Posted by NinjaGal

I'm not sure where to post this question but I feel as if my scrapyard has been ripping me off. A little quick background is that our yard pays out ferrous & non ferrous on the same ticket when you go to cash it out and first you go over the scale get weighed and then drop off your shred feed then get weighed for your tare weight and what's missing obviously is what you dropped off. Then you go inside to a different area and turn in whatever you have for ferrous items & the weight of each type of metal is called in and then you go to the office to get your receipt and get paid. Fairly simple.. Ok so here is how my receipt displays.

Gross Weight (Upon Entering The Yard) - 8240 lbs
Tare Weight (Upon Leaving The Ferrous Side) - 6192 lbs
Net Weight (Total Ferrous Sold/Dropped Off) - 2048 lbs

Then I went to the other side of the yard and received:

Clean Brass - 70 lbs @ 1.50 per lb, #2 Copper - 24 lbs @ 2.00 per lb, 139 lbs Extruded Aluminum @ .2518 per lb, #2 Wire @ .64 per lb,
And Misc Shred Feed 1800 lbs @ .04 per lb

For a grand total of 269.60

Is anyone else seeing an issue with this?

Please someone help! I brought the issue up with the scrapyard and was told that if I felt like they were ripping me off then I didn't have to go there anymore. They tried to give me an explanation for why they do this the way they do and to me it just does not make any sense whatsoever. Who would one call or go to??

Thank you so much in advance!
NinjaGal

---

I think they deducted the weight of your non ferrous off you ferrous load.

Excluding the .6 off you non ferrous ( for rounding sake) and working backwards

269 non ferrous + 2048 ferrous + 6192 truck / car weight = 8509
8509 - 8240 gross weight = 269 difference

there is an error but on lunch at work and cant quite work out where it is... to avoid drama usually go over weigh bridge get gross weight, drop of non ferrous
go back over weighbridge get tare weight then work out net weight. then weight non ferrous individually. easy and no mistakes.. dont think they are intentionally ripping you off
maybe their just idiots..

Go over scale . Drop off ferrous. Go back over scale . Get paid for ferrous . Leave.
Drive around block . Go in and sell non-ferrous .

Gross ton = 2240 lbs
Net Ton = 2000
Difference = 240 lbs

Sounds like the yard is purchasing the ferrous metals using the gross ton weight (2240). And purchasing the non-ferrous on using lbs (2000 - Net ton). This would explain the missing 248 lbs?????? (give or take a few lbs)

If you drove on the scale and weighed in, drove to the drop off and unloaded your shred/tin only, and then drove back onto the scale and weighed out, they screwed you. No convoluted math needed, they just shook you down for $10. Go back and tell them they got it wrong and if they don't make it right you're going to the BBB to complain, you're going to contact the departmental head of weights and measures and send them documentation of the discrepancy(Department of Agriculture regulates weights and measuring devices in many states), and will also be posting on Facebook and/or Yelp about your experience, honestly, and the scrap yard's response to your complaint. If they raise their voice or move into your personal space immediately walk out and go home and do those things I listed. The scrap game is full of scammers and low-rent hustles and getting rolled for a few dollars here and there will really add up over time--which is why they do that kind of crap.

It's up to you whether you feel it's worth doing all that for little return, as none of it is likely to amount to much, if anything. But for me it's the principle of the matter. I don't go to the scrap yard for fun and friendship as I am not addicted to methamphetamine, so I get in and get out with as little chit-chat and interaction as possible. I'm cordial and polite, and all I ask is that if I don't screw them over, they won't screw me over. It's a very simple relationship, and if they try and make it more complicated for me I'm going to return the favor.

Tell them you're going to call them out by name on Scrap Metal Forums.com. That'll persuade them.