Complaints

• Initial Complaint

  10/10/2024

  Complaint Type:

  Service or Repair Issues

  Status:

  Answered

  More info

  On October 8, 2024 I went to Ben Weizmann of Syracuse to sell some scrap because the other company in this area is robbing people. I called this location to get a current quote on the steel that I was bringing in and was told just over $200 a gross ton. When I get to the facility, after driving over 15 miles further, is when i am told that the steel I had is only $75 a gross ton because it has led joints. When I called in it was never mentioned that any such thing would lower the payout value. The employees at this location are very rude and didn’t seem to care about what I was told on the phone. At this point then as I was leaving my vehicle broke down in the entrance to the facility and wouldn’t start so I took this time to call there corporate office and was connected with Steve I believe his name was. While talking to Steve I, out of respect for Steve helping me, got my vehicle started and moved it to a lot across the street so as to not cause anymore issues at there location. The “manager” of this location followed me to the lot “acting” like he wasn’t and was on the phone with who I believe to be the police. Steve from corporate gave me his word that this would be fixed as he just had to wait for the owner to get out of a meeting. This callback never happened and I called to speak to him and a women told me that she would be sure to give him the message. The man from the location eventually came to where we were after being pulled over by the police due to there call telling them that he is the “manager” at this location today and that he is refusing to do any business with me today. This is where things stand at the moment but I will be calling there corporate office at ************* So I was false misled on payout price, treated poorly, discriminated against and treated like a straight crackhead.

  Business response

  10/22/2024

  Mr. ******* called our location asking for the price of “short steel,” a trade term for clean ferrous material which fits a certain specification.  Mr. ********* ferrous material had lead joints which resulted in the mixed-material being graded as an unprepared item and consequently our team notified Mr. ******* that the payout price would be lower as a result of the state of the material. At this time Mr. ******* became irate, raised his voice to multiple staff members, using foul language and insulting our team members and business.  Mr. ******* then entered his vehicle, and drove it in a position to barricade the only entrance/exit to our facility by positioning his vehicle longways at the parking lot entrance.  At this time staff at our facility called the police to report the incident and the ongoing blockage of our facility. Mr. ******* called our headquarters and spoke to Operations Manager Steve C who politely urged Mr. ******* to move his vehicle from the entryway, as it was causing not only an interruption to business but a fire hazard as even emergency personnel would have no egress.  Steve was already aware of the ongoing situation as the facility had reported the incident to HQ right away after calling police.  Steve C heard Mr. ******* calling from his vehicle and berating our business and staff to other customers and passersby. Mr. ******* obliged Steve’s request to move his vehicle, and pulled into a parking lot across the street at an adjacent business.  As police vehicles arrived on-scene, Mr. ******* observed their arrival and began to pull out of the neighboring lot to leave the scene, when police pulled Mr. ******* over.  The police and Mr. ******* departed together after a lengthy conversation. Steve C then spoke to our facility manager and instructed him to call Mr. ******* and politely explain the difference in the prices offered, and apologize for the misunderstanding.  Mr. ******* has brought material of various grades to us in the past including both short steel and mixed-metals, which were paid at their correct grades, indicating to us that Mr. ******* was aware his material was not “clean short steel,” but rather a leaden mix of metals which we believe he understands is bought for a significantly lower price due to processing costs.  When we pointed out this distinction which we believe he was aware of, he became enraged and we were unfortunately not able to de-escalate his frustrations, leading us to allow law enforcement to address Mr. *******.

  Customer response

  10/25/2024

  I have reviewed the response made by the business in reference to complaint ID ********, and have determined that this does not resolve my complaint.  When I made my initial call into the business about pricing it was not for short steel it was actually for Cast Iron Pipe. So, I would like to hope that if they are going to try and respond to do so professionally and honestly not starting with lies. In regard to my vehicle in the entrance way yes as I was leaving my truck stalled in their gate area and due to the fact that I was towing a trailer it did take up most of the entrance way and at the time I was on the phone with the corporate office being connected to Steve C. In speaking to Steve and his, what seemed to be, compassion and understanding I tried starting it a couple times and it started so I decided to move somewhere close as to check to see what was wrong with the van and to resolve the issue with corporate on the phone. I was never approached in the lot across the street by the business which operated out of it but decided on my own since the manager of the Ben Weitsmann lot had followed me over there walking and talking on his phone, so I was not comfortable. When I departed the lot, I had not seen any police at this time as it wasn't until I was driving away down the street, I saw a police car coming towards me from over the bridge. I chose on my own to pull over even before they tried to pull me over so I could speak to them about the issue. Also, when we finally were don't speaking to the police, we did not leave together I left before they did and this was from a business 2 doors down not across the street. It also says in here that Steve C told the manager to call me and apologize and explain and this never happened. Actually, the only reason I was hanging around was because I was waiting for the exact same call promised to me from Steve C which, of course, NEVER HAPPENED. They are good at blowing smoke up the customers wear to get them to seem happy but then they have no follow through or concern to actually address the customers problem. They should also not assume they know people as I have never heard of or dealt with lead joints with Cast Iron Pipe before this day. I would not say I had been there several times either since I visited their Binghamton location once and the Syracuse location I think only 2 times so please do not act like I have some history to know things you THINK I do. The fact of the matter is when you have someone call in for pricing in this category your phone people should mention something about if they have lead joints.  Regards, ****** *******

*Some consumers may elect to not publish the details of their complaints, some complaints may not meet BBB's standards for publication, or BBB may display a portion of complaints when a high volume is received for a particular business. ↩