I think I pissed off the scale man.

So I went to the usual yard today with my 248lbs of copper. I had it separated into many clear bags. I had tin coated wire, romex, insulated wire, clean pipe, soldered pipe, roof copper that was burned, roof with tiny bit of tar and about 60 foots of copper grounding cable. The usual spanish guy was at lunch so this quiet one comes up and starts throwing my bags into piles on the scale. He says clean pipe, #2 pipes. I agree. Now the rest if funny, he calls the burnt roof #3 and Grounding cable #2 and mixes a bunch of stuff and says #3 lite. He had no personality at all and could not respond to anything other than #3 and #2. I thought the cable would be #2 wire since they don't have a BB category but he called it #2lite. So when I go into pay I say to the american guy can you explain this. He said sure, we went out there and he checked it was ok. He told me they have their own #'s so #3 to them in not junk stuff like at other places. The prices seemed fair so I guess he was right. I just have the feeling I pissed off the spanish guy.

I said to the the american guy I like the other guy cause he will talk to you as he goes through your stuff. He laughed and said yes, the guy today knows his stuff but isn't a people person.

Ive mentioned this before..we live in a diverse culture..pick up a bit of espanol n it can go along way..just sayin

I hate going to the scapper at lunch hour.

I got a degree in Spanish and im glad I did. There are some yards that I wouldnt be able to do business with if I didnt know Spanish. It is a great thing to know especially in this industry.

When I bring stuff to a yard I try not to bring too many items. Im afraid that the guy at the scale might be in a hurry and skip a couple of items. Actually it has happened and I had to sort it all out and explain to them that I had 6 items and not 5 items that were listed on the ticket. Eventually they noticed what I was saying and they changed it but it wasnt easy to make them change it.

I also like to bring few items to the scale because if there has to be some negotiating with the price it is easier with just a couple of items but, if you are trying to get a better price on a lot of items the guy at the scale starts to get irritated.

At the yards I go to the scale guy dose not set the prices, the guy in the office dose. I try and keep all my items seperate on the truck. While unloading it I say what I have as I put it on the scale. I will put aluminum out first before my dirty alum, brass out before my die cast zinc and #1 ins wire out before #2 etc... This way if they start to check an item and say its dirty I will check it with my magnet and if it is one I missed it then can go into the dirty pile! It's funny though some times depending on the scale person they will check everythng othertimes not.

Originally Posted by Mechanic688

Last I checked this is the good ole USA and I think our primary language is still English, If they can't speak it I don't do business with them, Sorry about your luck.

While i do agree, I dont think there is an Official language for the united states, it was voted on in congress/senate a few years ago, but they failed to pass it

Originally Posted by Mechanic688

Last I checked this is the good ole USA and I think our primary language is still English

Not true.

It's American!

Well I gotta tell you. In my main line of business ( landscaping ) it makes sense to speak a little bit of spanish, but I refuse to. If you go to another country, that isnt an english speaking country, do you think they are going to learn english just so they can chat with you? NOPE!! Lol. Anyway, I do try to get along with everyone, still i think everyone that comes to america to live and work should be made to learn our language, instead of making us learn theirs.

On to the subject though. I go WAY out of my way to be nice and polite to the scale man. However, I have never been to any type of scrap yard where you can negotiate on the price. They set the price and that is it. I do wish I could negotiate.

try calling your local yard(s) to see how much quanity of each product you need to move to the next pricing tier. To be able to negotiate you need quanity. Call ahead and talk to the manager tell them approx weight and see what you can work out. With some material you can usually squuze an extra .05 to ,15 per pound

Have you ever traveled electronrecyler??.. every tourist destination in mexico n central american countries have plenty of ppl who speak english as a second language..ive been out of the country dozens of times..ppl who use spanish as their prumary language take the time to learn english..it is taught at most schools as well..spanish is one of the easiest languages to learn as english is one of the most difficult..

Originally Posted by Mechanic688

Last I checked this is the good ole USA and I think our primary language is still English, If they can't speak it I don't do business with them, Sorry about your luck.

Although there is no official language in the USA I do think all should know how to speak English here. Most of the time Spanish speakers that I do business with know English, they just prefer to speak their native language.

I wasnt trying to say that others have to learn Spanish nor that we should be expected to accommodate for Spanish Speaker.

I would like to say though, it is to MY benefit that I know Spanish. I am able to do business with Spanish speakers which gives me access to more clients and other businesses. Its funny, most of the time I will speak Spanish over the phone with Hispanics and when i see them in person we speak in English. Maybe its because they see this big tall white dude and automatically want to speak English.

I lived in Chile for a year teaching English. I ship electronics over there from time to time (prices are about double there). If I didn't know Spanish I wouldn't be able to do international business. Who knows, maybe Ill start buying/selling e-waste from mexico some day.

About the guy at the scale, things just seem to go smoother when I just have only 3-4 items. Not a big deal really.

theelectronrecycler : about the negotiating, I usually do it at a yard where prices are really low. Just about every item I ask them to up the price, and they do. If your yard is already giving you the "going rate" then I wouldn't worry too much about negotiating. At the yards that pay well I just make sure to let them know that I took the time to break everything down, clean it up, and separate it. Many times they will give me a better rate when I tell them this.