PROTHE!! Doing illegal stuff I think.

[BillyWillicker]

He is now charging a CORE CHARGE!!!! on NEW chinese cylinder heads.  I am guessing that is illegal in some way. 

It looks like he is trying to collect heads for some reason.  Maybe to sell "rebuilt" heads of the same quality as his "rebuilt" injection pumps.

I am interested to find out if what he is doing is illegal in requiring a core charge/part return on a completely new assembly.

[rs899]

I can't twist this into anything illegal with the information provided.  Depends on what he does with them.

[8v-of-fury]

Maybe he sends them back to China to be melted down? Or maybe he pays for them to be recycled.. who knows. You cant really call him a scammer for it.

[RabbitJockey]

I don't see how this could be illegal in a million years. If you don't want to have to send a core head to get a new one then don't buy from him or just pay th core charge there's nothing illegal about that no ones making anyone do anything maybe you are paranoid because of the governments of the worlds current nanny state

[Luckypabst]

Yup... Parts Place does the same for the new heads they sell. Offensive for sure, but not illegal.

Chris

[Baron VonZeppelin]

I don't know how they regulate the sale of all new parts.
Or how thats governed.

If nothing else - its just unethical and unconventional.
Doubt he wants any cores -
He just wants the core CHARGE.  ($$)

From whats been reported on forums,
you can't use factory/original parts in the valvetrain
and the suppied valvetrain pieces are cheapo junky.

So when the stuff starts failing, your only option is to refresh with the same cheapo junk. Or switch back to another factory head.

His lack of disclosure on things like this is really pitiful.
==================================

I'm gonna guess PartsPlace is selling TopLine heads.

[rs899]

A bit off topic, put my local upullit (LKQ) is even more unethical in some of its "core" charges.

I mean .....a core charge of:

$3.50 for a junk clutch disk?
$1.50 for a junk motor mount?
$4.50 for a junk taillight lens?

Do they really recycle this sort of stuff?  Not in a million years.  Just another way of playing games with pricing.

It is also very hard to believe that some psychic genius can identify the starter, alternator, water pump or whatever possibly rebuildable core I toss in the bin from thousands of possibilities.

Is it illegal?  Of course not.  It is clearly posted, but after all that work, how many pay attention to that until they put the receipt back in the lighter wallet?

[clbanman]

In Ontario you have to pay a "core" charge any time you buy a battery for a car if you don't bring in an old one.   I got caught on this after I bought a car without a battery.  (Even the auto wreckers have to charge it.)   Same with buying new tires.   

Ontario also charges an electronics "recycling" fee on any new electronics you buy.  Pay your money to the government and then you can dispose of anything however you wish.  They recommend that you recycle but it's not mandatory.  Found out when I noticed a lot of monitors going into regular scrap and looked into the legality.

So no, it's not illegal, and in some cases it's not even the vendor that is originating or mandating it - it's your friendly politician who is looking out for your best interests and protecting you from yourself.

[rs899]

In addition to these ridiculous core charges, we also have state mandated environmental fees on batteries and tires that get stuck on your bill, but what I griped about above was just what the JY is trying to steal.

[bajacalal]

Is it illegal for them to charge you $4.50 for a bottle of water at the stadium?

Of course it's not. I really wonder why people would assume a business can't usually charge you whatever they want.

Unethical, perhaps... But unconventional? Expect this sort of thing to become more common. Having been in charge of an auto parts store at one point of my life, I can tell you that 25% of cores, in some cases, just do not get returned, for whatever reason. So, it is a creative way to increase profit without causing a price shock among your customers, since the rational solution is just to return your core, but they can count on that not happening, a significant number of times.

And, with resources becoming more pricey, they (the junkyard or retailer) really wants that 50 pound block of aluminum back that they charged you a $20 core (in addition to the regular price) to buy. Take it to a metal recycler, you might get more money back. I have bought radiators that had a $10 core charge and sold the old one for scrap for $15-20, I'm talking about big brass ones from older cars. But charging a core on obvious garbage, like a tail light lens, that's just gouging you.

Things like batteries and metal items really do get recycled though, lead batteries are almost completely made from recycled materials.

[rs899]

Things like batteries and metal items really do get recycled though, lead batteries are almost completely made from recycled materials.

Granted, and it makes perfect sense to collect a hefty core charge on those, where they really are going to do something with it.

But, that brings up another gripe on batteries.  What is going on there where they must be recycling 75% or more of them, and now are charging almost $100 when the material costs are zilch?

[745 turbogreasel]

A bit off topic, put my local upullit (LKQ) is even more unethical in some of its "core" charges.

I mean .....a core charge of:

$3.50 for a junk clutch disk?
$1.50 for a junk motor mount?
$4.50 for a junk taillight lens?

Do they really recycle this sort of stuff?  Not in a million years.  Just another way of playing games with pricing.

Steel, rubber, and hard plastics are all 100% recyclable.  It gets sorted out when they dump it in a  shredder.  I'm not sure about the friction material, but what exactly are you talking about??

[rs899]

Well, how many guys would bother to make a trip back to upullit to get back $3.50 on a clutch or $1.50 on a motor mount?  An engine or battery, sure.  It's larceny.

I seriously doubt the yards around here have the means or interest to separate and recycle nitpicky stuff like this.

[shwak23]

Why does everyone hate on Prothe? It's not like he's charging top dollar for his products. He sells them for what they are, cheap china made parts.

He's not lying. He's not duping. Frankly I think he's a real honest guy.

It reminds me of my friend selling marijuana cigarettes in my not so distant youth. "My friend" would sell dirt weed for $15 a bag.($10 cheaper than anywhere else for the same product) The price matched the product. My friend was not claiming that it was going to be the highest quality product nor provide the best results.  You get what you pay for. He's just running a business.

Basically...

Don't expect Danks when you pay for merch. 

[Older me does not condone the inhalation of marijuana by younger me.]

[maxfax]

Shwak23, the reason for the hatred on Prothe stems back to his early days of selling rebuilt pumps.. He put a lot of real klinkers out there, and didn't stand behind them as he claimed he would.. Customer service was nada..  At the same time he seemed to change what he went by on the web rather frequently, which is never a good sign.. He actually seems to still do that on occasion.. 

AS far as his customer service, I hear fewer complaints about it now days.. The other part is that more people are aware of the "quality" of his parts now than they were a few years ago.. But there are still many out there still recovering from a bad experience...