Home Depot rental chain policy

[Racerboy832]

I was at the local HD bsing with the guy in the rental dept. I asked what they do about chains when they rent saws. He said every saw gets a new chain. I said what do you do with the old ones? He said we are required to throw them out. He pulled out a new package. They are 3/8 X .050 for 20" bars. They were safety chains. He said it cost around 7 dollars a chain when they buy in bulk. I asked if he could save me some but he said the bosses might frown on that. It was worth a shot.

 

[cobey]

i dont think our HD rents saws

 

[mitch95100]

Why? Would tthey frown on it? Jeez can't let anything go... what a waste

Sent from my USCCADR3305 using Tapatalk 2

 

[Pa Pa Jack]

I asked the same thing at a local hardware store that rents chainsaws. Thye also put a new chain on every time. It turns out that they discard the chains because of liability issues. Someone, somewhere got injured when a chains they had been "given" broke and they sued and won the case.

 

[w8ye]

Do you consider one of those HD Tri-Link chains to be worth $7 new?

 

[Philbert]

So . . . .

A while back I bought a used saw from a Home Depot rental (not all of them have rental departments) and asked the same question. Was told the same thing. Every saw gets a new chain so that customers cannot complain that theirs was dull, or not sharpened correctly. Also said that HD could purchase the Tri-Link chains ('000') cheaper than they could pay someone to sharpen them. Same story on 'not allowed to give them away'.

They were also tossing out bits for demolition hammers that I thought had a lot of life left in them with a little touching up.

Recently, I was in another HD rental and asked the same question (like you said - worth a shot). This guy told me that he was selling the used demolition bits for $1 a piece (still a steal) and that he was sharpening and reusing the chains on rentals (?).

So, it is not clear if there is a blanket policy; if stores have a certain amount of discretion; if some rental managers color outside the lines; etc. Like you said, worth a shot (if you want '000' chains).

But . . . .

There are some rental places that sell 'once-used' STIHL chains on eBay for a pretty attractive price. And you can always try other local rental places to see what they have.

Philbert

 

[67L36Driver]

Freakin lawyers screw up everything.

Our local Home Depot don't rent tools. Some in K.C. do.

 

[makguy]

I've never heard of an HD rental giving away their used chain, BUT if you talk to the right people they can sell you one of their bulk rental chains new for very little mark up without having to rent the saw that goes with it. You just have to find someone that knows how to use a misc tool rental sku.

 

[Opihi59]

Okay, that settles it. I am going dumpster diving at Home Depot this weekend. There is no telling what good stuff I can find in their rubbish pile. I can't stand seeing perfectly good stuff thrown away, it just makes me feel ill. I didn't grow up with limitless assets, I sure don't have them now but everything that broke enough times til we couldn't fix, we stripped to bare parts and saved the good stuff on everything, and no, I am not a hoarder unless you are talking about chainsaws or Jeeps. Maybe add in Vettes too.

Dumpster diving it is. I will submit photos even.

 

[Philbert]

A lot of these 'big box' stores have special return contracts with their vendors; when a customer returns something as 'defective' the store tosses it in the dumpster and gets credit from the vendor. They don't want to deal with or pay for return shipping. You could find all kinds of stuff there.

I did intercept a shopping cart full of power tools going to the dumpster at a home center many years ago. They were the 'old' display models without boxes, etc. The guy was spray painting them orange when I asked. It tool a lot of talking, but we finally found a manager who sold them to us for 25 to 40 cents on the dollar.

Again, I can't say what the policy is at each chain.

Philbert

 

[Eccentric]

When I worked at Sears Service back in the 1990's, they would throw inventory into the dumpster when it was obsoleted. Same with merchandise that was replaced under warranty (that was not repaired and sold as refurbs). We were absolutely PROHIBITED from 'dumpster diving' and saving that stuff for our own use. They didn't want us selling the merchandise to someone.........who would then try to return later for warranty work on it (or sue for some reason). They wanted NO further liability from that merchandise. I destroyed and ####-canned all manner of electronics, garden equipment, and such. Was ORDERED to do so. It was heart breaking at times. We could sometimes rob a few parts from the stuff before it was dumped, but that was it.

Now when they ####-canned several shelves full of NIB lead acid batteries (a MAJOR toxics handling no-no), us shop guys went and took ALL of it out of the dumpster after work. I got several garden tractor, wheelchair, and other small batteries. Still have one or two NOS ones left in unopened boxes with the electrolyte jugs. I never sold any. My dad and I used them for various pieces of equipment. By grabbing those batteries for our own uses, we were looking out for the enviroment and protecting the company from fines.

 

[D&B Mack]

I asked if he could save me some but he said the bosses might frown on that. It was worth a shot.

Nothing a case of beer couldn't solve.

 

[Philbert]

Now when they ####-canned several shelves full of NIB lead acid batteries (a MAJOR toxics handling no-no), us shop guys went and took ALL of it out of the dumpster after work.

If they are going to dispose of something, they still have to do it 'right'. I like it better when they 'factory refurbish' returns or sell stuff to some consolidator, who puts them on CL or eBay, like the Earthquake saw thread. Exceptions, of course are items that are dangerously defective (e.g. recalled) or as you mention, ones that create a potential, endless, warranty loop (e.g. Craftsman tool that gets 'returned' many times for credit).

Maybe if someone was forced to pay shipping to return defective stuff to the OEM, they would send less crap to begin with. Defects and junk would be more expensive to make.

(Oh, I'm just rambling now . . . )

Philbert

 

[jammin_with_j]

Same thing goes in this neck of the woods, good useful things get dumped because its cheaper to throw it out then to fix it. Got a friend who worked for a garbage disposal company that used to empty dumpsters for Canadian Tire (canadian tool/car parts chain). He didn't work for the garbage company long, but did make a set of keys for the dumpsters he used to unlock and empty into the truck. He brings home good tools all the time from the dumpsters, socket sets missing a few sockets, hand tools, wrenches, almost anything. All painted orange so he can't take em back for money, but that doesn't matter. We're not in it for money, we just don't want to see good tools thrown out that we can use and not have to pay for. Lets just say more than one lost socket has been replaced for nothing this way for family and friends.

 

[Warped5]

The HD Rentals around us discard the chains as well. BITD when you could pry the chains from the reantal guy, my buddy got about 50 for a case of beer.

The really funny thing is that it wasn't even good beer.

I've found a guy at the local flea market that sells once-used chains from a rental outfit. Nice Carlton chain for cheap - $6 for a 16" - $8 for a 20" and $10 for a 32". All of it is 3/8" - .050. Some of them you can hardly tell it's been used at all.

 

[fiasco]

You don't want those Tri-Link chains. They don't stay sharp for very long, even with somebody who knows what they're doing. The old Carlton chains were much better.

There was a "no grinding, no open flame" policy in the rental centers for fire safety reasons. Which sometimes made repairing things interesting. Had a Ditch Witch with a broken lever that was supposed to go to auction...but I couldn't send it if it wasn't functional, but I couldn't order a new lever...I brought my 110 MIG in, ran a cord outside and told the managers to turn around for a minute.

I did sell off old breaker bits for cheap on generic SKUs, even sometimes did some parts sales that way. Chains, the Tri Links weren't worth it. Penny wise, pound foolish.

I do know that about the time I left HD, they were getting much better about recycling metal items, my store had a cage out back that received dead appliances that used to just get sent down the chute and landfilled.

 

[Philbert]

I've found a guy at the local flea market that sells once-used chains from a rental outfit. Nice Carlton chain for cheap . . .

That's a good deal to know about. It's also nice if you have a spinner and breaker, in case the chains aren't exactly the same length loops that you run. Could pay for a set pretty quickly.

Philbert

 

[Philbert]

I do know that about the time I left HD, they were getting much better about recycling metal items, . . .

That goes back to the 'dispose of it properly' thing. If they can't be returned, sold, or given away, at least get them recycled.

Philbert

 

[Opihi59]

Best form of recycling is re-use of the product in its original form.

So that brings to mind a story, and I apologize to the OP since he likely didn't start this thread to see it deteriorate into a buncha anecdotes, but it sure is fun this way. In rural Western KY in the wayback years, there was a problem with illegal dumping out in the remote county reaches so they put two huge open dumpsters out near Niagra and bulldozed a heap of dirt up against them so folks could drive up and drop stuff down if they didn't care to drive all the way to the county landfill. Eventually it became the unwritten code of rubbish etiquette that if you had something potentially of value to someone else, you'd stick it off to the side so that thrifty folks (like me...) didn't have to jump down into the dumpster to wrestle out, say, a washing machine for the motor. This eventually became the default place to go get spare parts, and the site became known as the "Niagra mall."
The conversation would go something like this. "Dern, I busted the wheel on the push-mower, we need to go to town."
"Um, maybe we should try the Niagra Mall first, been meaning to haul off this old sofa for a while anyway."

Yeah, I live in Hawaii, but I sure do miss Western KY along the Ohio River bottoms.

 

[spacemule]

How many new parts would you expect to sell if you give used stuff away for free?