In all honesty, I was somewhat at a loss for this, my latest installment of Punching the Clock, despite several ideas that have been bouncing around my head since my last foray into the unknown. All it took, however, was a trip to the Route 12 Redemption Center on Saturday, exchanging a ridiculous number of redeemable bottles and cans for some much-needed cash. Which, as it turns out, was a good thing in more than one way. Not only did I finish cleaning out a friend’s garage (as well as my landlord’s), I managed to collect enough returnables to purchase some Super Bowl munchies for Sunday’s game and ... lo and behold ... find myself a local business willing to take me on for the day, or in this case the afternoon.
Located on State Highway 12 just south of Wal-Mart and next door to Music Square, the Route 12 Redemption Center opened in November, according to co-owner Rob Spratley, who works the center with father Mark, mother Denise and brother James, not to mention the center’s unofficial mascot, “Diesel,” the family dog who’s on hand to greet customers with a friendly canine smile and tail a-wagging. It’s a family affair, really, and while it may be a dirty job (hey, someone’s got to do it), it doesn’t have to be a depressing or unenjoyable one. Said an upbeat Rob Spratley, “We’re all about family, we’re family oriented and that makes for a friendly atmosphere for customers.”
Sending out anywhere between 40,000 and 50,000 cans and bottles per week, Spratley admitted that things got off to a bit of a rough start as he and the family learned the ropes of running their own business. It was simply a matter of trial and error, he added, and getting a day-to-day routine in place. Nowadays, said Spratley, things are running smoothly and customers are adjusting to the Spratley family’s unique take on service.
“The secret is having a dog,” laughed Spratley. “Everybody likes to visit the dog and people are spending more time sitting here talking with us than we are taking care of their cans, which is nice.”
And while running a redemption center may seem like an easy job, counting, sorting and organizing the incoming redeemables, it is – in truth – anything but. The Route 12 Redemption Center has a total of 44 distributors, with each distributor accepting only certain brands of cans or bottles. For the Spratley family – and this Evening Sun reporter on Tuesday afternoon – that means knowing which brands the center accepts and which it does not, and which cans and bottles go to which distributor. For me? Well, let’s just say I was content counting and bagging while I watched the family go through the motions, and it was obvious all three (Mark was ice fishing, lucky guy) knew what they were doing. It was like clockwork, to be honest. As for customer service, it doesn’t get much better. For example, on Tuesday, before I’d even exited my car, there was Rob, looking to lug whatever cans and bottles I had loaded up for redemption. Of which, of course, there were none, considering Saturday’s haul.
