The Recycling Factory - anyone used it?

Nsc.Media

My advice...... Dont use The Recycling Factory.

I sent them 26 x HP57 as they pay out £2.65 per cartridge. (this is the highest on the internet) A few days after sending the carts i got an email at 5.45pm stating that they will only pay me for 15 carts as 11 had failed. They test all cartridges before they pay out.

I rang the next morning at 9am and asked what was wrong with the 11 cartridges. They didnt have an answer, instead they said "we tested them and they were faulty." They have mentioned this in their terms and conditions and they also do not return and faulty cartridges to you. If almost 40% of your cartridges fail then you want a more detailed reason. The HP57 were all virgin and had been packaged carefully. I couldnt see any reason for them to fail any tests. I also asked them to speak to the person who processed my cartridges and see if he/she knew waht the error was. They said that there was no way that the person would remember. TRF do not have a facility in place to give you a breakdown for faults encountered.

I understand there is a chance that cartridges may fail and thus be useless. I sent 26 of which 11 failed. With such a high failure rate i would have expected some explanation. If i had listed these on Ebay i would have got at least £55.00. My advice, collect a few ink cartridges together and list on Ebay. You will recieve more money!

Scudlink

How old were the cartidges? Maybe you've had some of them hanging around for quite some time?

I use TRF and I've found them very good. The only cartridges I've had fail are ones that have been laying around for a while so nowdays I just post them on as soon as they've run out since postage is free.

Nsc.Media

Hi,

they were no more than a few weeks old.

The thing that got me annoyed was that TRF couldnt tell me what was wrong. They just said they failed and that was it. No further explanation. For all i know the person operating the machine could have written 11 instead of 1.

patman99

TRF and their parent company DCI seam to have disappeared. their websites are no longer functioning.

Jenna_Appleseed

^ Looks like they've reappeared - http://www.therecyclingfactory.com/sell-ink-cartridges and still linked at Tescos Greener Living http://www.tesco.com/greenerliving/greener_tesco/ink_cartridge_recycling.page :think:

Has any one used them or recycling via Tescos for points recently?

cpst

I have had no problem with TRF. Empty cartridges sent in old jiffy bag with freepost label printed off with bar code of our account at TRF.
Payment by BACS. Fully itemised returns.

Set up a second account with your bank to receive these payments. Set a rule that the account cannot go into the red. Nat West have been helpful here. Set yourself a limit for how much you want to keep in this account (Say £200 max). Once you have reached the limit transfer the money to a savings account. This way your main account is not known to suppliers. Use this for Amazon and other similar schemes too.

ed.balll

In reply to Nsc.Media's comments. I am a well established ink re-filler and buyer, and your cartridges failing could have been down to an number of reasons. I don't know what cartridges you have, but most accepted on TRF are HP. These have small chips around them, and these can often be the problem to the failures. Ink cartridges are not strictly speaking meant to be refilled, and are certainly not designed for it by the manufactures. The chips have to be reset, and sometimes, if a little bit of ink is spilt on the chip, this cannot be done.
As to them giving you no answer, I know a couple of the guys over at TRF and I know that they have innumerous amounts of cartridges to test. They only use the most advanced CBR tester for the cartridges, and those things don't lie. Before I became a re-filler, I used them to recycle my carts, and personally received £246.89 for a load of mine and my friends carts. only about £50 worth were failed.
Compared to every other ink cartridges recycling company, TRF's rates are incredible, and often above those of the Ebay buyers. I highly recommend TRF to anyone and everyone.

FloFlo

I have £27 credit there and have been waiting for payment by bacs for ages, not sure why they aren't paying out but have now contacted them to ask before I send anymore.

HapiChapi

I would not bother.
I sent in 5 HP cartridges and was only paid on 2 (1 black (40p each) and one colour (£2.60 each)).
They rejected 3 HP colour and one black original cartridges. These cartridges have been used in my HP printer and they removed and put back in their original packaging so I do not see how they can be rejected as not reusable.
So I have been credited with £3.00 for my efforts. I believe I have been ripped-off to the tune of £5.60).
Need £20 credit to get paid. At this rate it will take ages.
Meanwhile they are probably keeping and using all the cartridges I sent in.
Rates may be good but useless if they reject most of what you send in. Really not worth the trouble. Very disappointed.
This is my first experience so by all means give them a try and report back what you find.
These people should be investigated by 'Watchdog' or 'Which' to see if they are rejecting perfectly good cartridges or not. You are relying on their honesty.

tjderby1985

geordie_joe wrote: »

According to this page they send you a cheque


You can also have it put directly into your Bank Account.

However, i recently sent in an old phone for recycling and after two weeks i have not heard anything back off them. The website doesnt contain anything to track the progress of your phone like envirofone and the customer service isnt that good.

My advice. Use Envirofone. you dont get as much as the recycling factory quote but the service is much better, you can track your progress and it doesnt take that long.