Auto part store policies. Who makes these stupid decisions?

[michaelluscher]

FWIW I have a bunch of scrap parts upstairs I need to spend a day going through and either throwing away or put in the metal scrap pile. Anything over 12 months on hand is considered idle inventory and counts against a dealer for money we get from the manufacturer. That is why we don't keep random old parts in stock.

...got anything for my "vintage" Fords?
I'm noticing month by month my Villager and Taurus are getting harder and harder to get parts for

 

[PandaBear]

This is also true. In my example above, the store I worked at had a policy. Glass jars of spaghetti sauce or baby food or anything - if any glass broke the entire tray (generally 12 or 24 jars) had to be thrown out. They were worried of the liability of ANY glass shard on the bottle or getting under the lip of the lid, which would in turn kill someone and they'd be sued. Yes, it's absurd. Yes, an employee could just wash off the bottles to eliminate any chance of this.

From a purely financial standpoint of the grocery store, 12 jars of baby food isn't food. It's $12. They're not going to risk a $1 million lawsuit over $12, which is probably a writeoff anyway. And they're not going to pay an employee $10 for an hour to wash off $12 worth of food, which would be a net $2 win. Not worth it. From the store's perspective, resources are unlimited but they cannot risk legal exposure to be sued. So it goes to the trash.

Now, I've often thought these stores could just have a donation section, and you sign a liability waiver. But then that's not "free" for the store either. That involves lawyers, and documenting and inventorying waivers just to give stuff away. And when you give a customer a gallon of motor oil, he doesn't need to buy a gallon of motor oil. So now the generosity is competing against the business model...

There really should be a "good Samaritan" law protecting businesses that act in good faith to donate stuff, so they cannot be sued.

Capitalism is twisted in many ways.

My understanding is a lot of baby products are that cost because of liability lawsuits.

Say if you have a car seat, probably only cost $30 to make and $50 to insure, you can buy a policy that will only pay the insurer $50 each seat that was sold and not returned / destroyed. So they would rather destroy the car seat people returned just to make sure they are not wasting $50 to save $30.

The expiration date of carseat also means the insurance of this is OVER, you are on your own if you get into an accident and the car seat is at fault. They will not cover it.

Also I think infant formula is the only food that has expiration date instead of best by date. That $1 baby food jar is probably only 25c of food and 50c of insurance, so you don't want to risk screwing around the insurance company and you should just toss it if something suspicious goes on. If you get sue and lost your 50c insurance will then becomes $1, basically force you to exit the whole business.

Oh, charity that accepts your donation needs to buy insurance too. What an absurd concept only happens in the developed world.

 

[mbres2000]

I've been to countless part stores due to a busy deal week. During this week of store visits, I've seen two policies that I just cannot wrap my head around.

Policy #1 - O'Reilly. Whenever a product (in my scenario, a 2.5 gallon jug of 15W-40) has even the *tiniest* leak (was leaking through the foil seal at the top, barely a few drops), it must be immediately removed from the floor and disposed of (poured into the used oil container). It cannot be cleaned up and sold, cannot be sold at a discount, cannot be given to a commercial account/customer, cannot be even be donated to a good cause. Just disposed. This is what I was told from a manager who I know for sure bends rules and hates waste.

Policy #2 - Advance. Whenever a product goes on clearance and doesn't move (seen oil before, but this time it was oil filters), it is disposed of and/or destroyed. Same as above, cannot be sold, cannot be given to a commercial account, cannot even be donated to a non-profit. Advance takes it a step further and makes it well known that anyone who does not needlessly and wastefully destroy the items will be terminated on the spot. There have been several times I've offered to pay a very fair price (several dollars when an item is marked for their infamous 5 cents), offered to pay retail, even offered to take them to a known legit non-profit auto repair place for them with proof. Nope. So I got to watch an employee destroy about 75 oil filters with a hammer... It was actually somewhat rage-inducing knowing that someone in real need could have used one. A simple thing like a free oil filter so they could get to work to better themselves could have made their entire week brighter. Or when AAP recently got rid of all of their Carquest brand oils. Instead of destroying both, you could have donated both the oil and filters that didn't sell to a willing local garage and done free oil changes. Could have been to seniors, college students, people in tough places...pick a demographic. Not only would it not be wasteful, but the publicity could have been amazing for business.

Instead, it's destroy it or you're fired. Nice. Am I the only one who gets extremely irritated with stupid policies like these?

Similar situation with restaurants. In some cities/states, they can't take leftover food to a homeless center. Go figure.

 

[billt460]

It makes you wonder what their profit margin really is, if they can afford to destroy so much perfectly good product? There has to be a way to put that stuff to good use, without worrying about getting sued on some bogus liability claim. It also makes you wonder about the current state of disrepair our present legal system is in, that allows such idiotic nonsense to occur in courtrooms in the first place.

Perhaps the fact that 168 Congressional House Representatives and 57 Senators have a law degrees, has something to do with it.

 

[tyman]

I worked at Morton Salt for a brief period and they had similar policies. One distinct event was when a batch of iodized table salt had low additives (iodine) in it. The box said, "this salt blah blah 2% iodized." Well, the batch only like 1.2% for it. Since it had additives, we couldn't put it back in the ground and re-slurry it so we had to throw about 10 pallets away into the trash dumpster. Couldn't take it home, couldn't give it to employees, couldn't give it to food banks, etc. because the product was not what was written on the box. I asked my manager about it and he said, they used to do that years ago but something somewhere happened and someone complained and Morton had a lawsuit against them so now, if they aren't able to release it to public for sale, it gets trashed into a dumpster.

 

[wemay]

One of the AAP near me won't allow sales of items clearanced below $7. Why you ask? No one could tell me either.

 

[ekrampitzjr]

It makes you wonder what their profit margin really is, if they can afford to destroy so much perfectly good product?

A big lawsuit will really hurt their bottom line worse than would throwing out that stuff. Better a small loss than a much bigger loss. Even if you prevail in court, the attorneys' fees hurt too.

 

[Hall]

if they can afford to destroy so much perfectly good product?

It's written off as scrap or a loss which reduces their tax burden. Most companies are - or better be - pretty firm about it when they "throw something out". It better go in the dumpster. Now if someone, including an employee, digs it out later, that's not their concern. In fact, some places go an extra step and physically damage or destroy goods just to avoid any questions.

 

[billt460]

I worked at Morton Salt for a brief period and they had similar policies. One distinct event was when a batch of iodized table salt had low additives (iodine) in it. The box said, "this salt blah blah 2% iodized." Well, the batch only like 1.2% for it. Since it had additives, we couldn't put it back in the ground and re-slurry it so we had to throw about 10 pallets away into the trash dumpster. Couldn't take it home, couldn't give it to employees, couldn't give it to food banks, etc. because the product was not what was written on the box. I asked my manager about it and he said, they used to do that years ago but something somewhere happened and someone complained and Morton had a lawsuit against them so now, if they aren't able to release it to public for sale, it gets trashed into a dumpster.

So now salt goes into the landfill, and down into the water table instead.

 

[tyman]

So now salt goes into the landfill, and down into the water table instead.

And into the rivers and fields as runoff.

Yeah, it was ****ing stupid. Just because low additive. I could see high additive with too much but not enough? Gtfoh.

 

[Wolf359]

One of the AAP near me won't allow sales of items clearanced below $7. Why you ask? No one could tell me either.

Probably to protect their market. Once you sell a guy something cheap, he's no longer in the market to buy it and maybe he was willing to pay more than $7. So that's why they'd rather dump it than get a customer accustomed to a lower price and no longer a buyer at a higher price.

Yeah, it was ****ing stupid. Just because low additive. I could see high additive with too much but not enough? Gtfoh.

You would think maybe they could just come up with some labels that said 1.2% instead of 2% or just sell it without the labels. But you do need iodine in your diet so if you had a very regimented diet and had expected getting 2% instead of 1.2%, then you'd have too little iodine in your diet. Rare case though, most people get too much salt in their diet.

 

[Jetronic]

I've been to countless part stores due to a busy deal week. During this week of store visits, I've seen two policies that I just cannot wrap my head around.

Policy #1 - O'Reilly. Whenever a product (in my scenario, a 2.5 gallon jug of 15W-40) has even the *tiniest* leak (was leaking through the foil seal at the top, barely a few drops), it must be immediately removed from the floor and disposed of (poured into the used oil container). It cannot be cleaned up and sold, cannot be sold at a discount, cannot be given to a commercial account/customer, cannot be even be donated to a good cause. Just disposed. This is what I was told from a manager who I know for sure bends rules and hates waste.

Policy #2 - Advance. Whenever a product goes on clearance and doesn't move (seen oil before, but this time it was oil filters), it is disposed of and/or destroyed. Same as above, cannot be sold, cannot be given to a commercial account, cannot even be donated to a non-profit. Advance takes it a step further and makes it well known that anyone who does not needlessly and wastefully destroy the items will be terminated on the spot. There have been several times I've offered to pay a very fair price (several dollars when an item is marked for their infamous 5 cents), offered to pay retail, even offered to take them to a known legit non-profit auto repair place for them with proof. Nope. So I got to watch an employee destroy about 75 oil filters with a hammer... It was actually somewhat rage-inducing knowing that someone in real need could have used one. A simple thing like a free oil filter so they could get to work to better themselves could have made their entire week brighter. Or when AAP recently got rid of all of their Carquest brand oils. Instead of destroying both, you could have donated both the oil and filters that didn't sell to a willing local garage and done free oil changes. Could have been to seniors, college students, people in tough places...pick a demographic. Not only would it not be wasteful, but the publicity could have been amazing for business.

Instead, it's destroy it or you're fired. Nice. Am I the only one who gets extremely irritated with stupid policies like these?

Not so stupid. #1 prevents people damaging goods to get a discount...

#2 prevents employees hiding stock to get freebies...

 

[tyman]

Probably to protect their market. Once you sell a guy something cheap, he's no longer in the market to buy it and maybe he was willing to pay more than $7. So that's why they'd rather dump it than get a customer accustomed to a lower price and no longer a buyer at a higher price.


You would think maybe they could just come up with some labels that said 1.2% instead of 2% or just sell it without the labels. But you do need iodine in your diet so if you had a very regimented diet and had expected getting 2% instead of 1.2%, then you'd have too little iodine in your diet. Rare case though, most people get too much salt in their diet.

Yeah, you could easily print off some labels and put them on the boxes saying, “low additive, does not have 2% or whatever idodized. Only 1.2%!”

 

[ARCOgraphite]

I just saw a news video of the disposal of brand new, unopened ventilators that were produced at the beginning of the Covid 19 scare last year. Dumped in a landfill waiting to be covered over. Link below.

Why are new ventilators being trashed in a Miami-Dade landfill?

A resident who was taking some garbage to the South Dade Landfill was stunned to see pallets full of medical ventilators dumped as bulky trash.

www.local10.com

I didnt read the article, but that sounds like a high crime against humanity. And I thought HOA policy enforcers were the ugliest humans on the planet.

 

[Hall]

Yeah, you could easily print off some labels and put them on the boxes saying, “low additive, does not have 2% or whatever idodized. Only 1.2%!”

Sounds simple but it must not be. Since it's a food or food additive, is it regulated by the FDA ? If so, they'd have to go through that process. Imagine the paperwork and people's time.... Then who do they sell it to ? Same customers as the 2% product ? Now they have to sell a 2nd, very similar product and could get them mixed up.

 

[Wolf359]

I didnt read the article, but that sounds like a high crime against humanity. And I thought HOA policy enforcers were the ugliest humans on the planet.

If you read the article it left out a key piece of info, they weren't FDA approved and I don't think they would have worked the way you think as they were anesthesia models, not ICU models. Basically it boiled down to cost, cheaper to stick them in a landfill than ship them back out. Probably nobody else wanted them or weren't willing to pay for it. I think it was basically the wrong type and not useful anywhere else.

 

[tyman]

Sounds simple but it must not be. Since it's a food or food additive, is it regulated by the FDA ? If so, they'd have to go through that process. Imagine the paperwork and people's time.... Then who do they sell it to ? Same customers as the 2% product ? Now they have to sell a 2nd, very similar product and could get them mixed up.

I already posted suggestions on how to not throw it away. The paperwork? Take 2 seconds in MS word. As a supervisor there, we already typed up labels/pieces of paper for different products where we were doing things out of the norm.

 

[xgmad]

Has anyone ever seen the ridiculous prices for oil at the auto parts stores?? cheapest stuff is always their inhouse brands, like carquest.
5 gallon castrol is like 35 to 40 dollars instead of 24 on amazon. So I guess they make a big profit margin to do this.

 

[Hall]

Has anyone ever seen the ridiculous prices for oil at the auto parts stores??

I think they rely on a captive market with the prices they charge for name-brand oils. There is also the convenience factor in getting in/out of a auto parts store vs buying oil at Walmart, for example. Now, they'll often do oil + filter bundles and if it's a combo you like, it's often competitive with WM. Remember, the average person doesn't over-analyze the oil or filter they use....

 

[97prizm]

I work maintenance for an apartment complex, and according to "Company rules " all items left behind must be thrown out. Thankfully my boss and previous supervisor more or less said take it. I snagged a 58" plasma tv that has a little burn in, that retailed for $4400 10 years ago that someone left, a relatively new Ryobi blower that works, a Sony PS1, with games and recently a 54" Samsung TV left next to a dumpster. And a new 32" led tv still in the box that I gave to a neighbor.