Why do they charge a "Core" charge when you buy a "New" car battery?

Question

If you don't have an exchange battery they charge a "core" charge. If you do, they charge you a "disposal" fee. What's up with that?
Are they just hidden fees? I don't know of anyone that rebuilds automotive batteries anymore. This is an ancient fee that has never been removed and we just pay it blindly.

Answer 1

The term "core charge" and "disposal fee" are one and the same. You pay a fee when you buy a new battery and get that fee back or don't pay it at all if you bring in an old one. I've never heard of them charging you either way, though. Are you sure you heard correctly?
As the prior poster stated, they have to be disposed of properly, and this fee is to encourage you to bring in the old one so it doesn't just get chucked in a dumpster. The term "core charge" is used but isn't accurate. No, the batteries are no longer rebuilt, but that is the term that most people associate with when you're charged a fee when you buy a new part, and get the money back when you bring the old one back to the store. It's just for simplicity's sake. I hope this cleared this up for you.

Answer 2

Batteries are not the only parts they charge this "core" fee on. I have asked the same question, and took it all the way to top management with Auto Zone. They couldn't answer the question, and I ask them if this was legal, and they said yes. I didn't buy this answer, and suggested what if I started a class action law suit against them. Well.... guess what? I have never been charged a core charge since!!! The problem doesn't so much concern the core charge as it does how much they charge. They know you will bring it back to get this money, but the problem with this is; They are dictating what your core is worth. After some research, I discovered they are not giving you no where near the real value of the core. Example: They charged me $25 core charge on something, and when I took it back to get my $25, I asked them why they were getting $50 for the cores from the rebuilder, and they didn't have it to say. I also asked them why they charged me a core charge for a part that was supposed to be new. They couldn't answer that one either! I told them what they were doing was illegal, stealing, and was out of line. They hate to see me coming now, and they haven't asked me for a core charge since. The bottom line is this; If you purchase something new, then there should be no core charge, and they do not have the right to charge you more because you don't have a core, "unless" they are selling you a rebuilt part. They are stealing cores and paying you what they say is a fair price for the core. This is BS and if people like us banned together, we could make them pay a lot of people the money they owe them. Don't buy in to this crap about disposal fee either. They still recycle batteries everyday, and sell them in Mexico as new batteries! What made me think of this was the fact a man comes by my shop all the time and buys my waste oil. He doesn't dispose of it, he sells it. There are many products made from petrolium base, and it doesn't matter if it has been used. They clean it up, and use it to manufacture other products.
Glad I could vent too!!! Good luck!!!
Part 2:
I'm sorry to say this, but some people can't see when they are being robbed. I talked with the state Attorney General, and this is what gives. There is a difference between a "core" charge, and a "disposal" fee. The definition of a core as quoted by the state of North Carolina is "A rebuildable part that can be used over and over by replacing the parts that wear out", and the definition for a disposal fee is "Any part that is considered hazardous to the enviroment, or a burdin to dispose of in a landfill".
Battery acid is neutralized and disposed of. Lead is recycled to make other products. The plastic housing is melted down and other products are produced from this plastic.
In short a "core" charge is not legal, but a "disposal" fee is legal. This is federal law and pertains to all states.
I hope this sheds some light on the subject.

Answer 3

not sure what state you live in but do you have a recycle fee for pop cans. In Michigan we pay 10 cents extra for each can of pop and when we recycle the cans we get the 10 cents back. It is a way for people to make sure the tin gets recycled. Same thing is for batteries. They recycle the lead from the battery. And if they dont charge the core charge people would just throw them away. Not good for the environment to throw in trash so they charge a small fee normally $5 to ensure that you will bring the battery back to get recycled.

Answer 4

Baterries have to be disposed of in a certain way, per protocol. The acid can become toxic and caustic should anyone get a hold of it of the acid begin to leak. So you can't just throw it in the garbage like anything else, sense there is an opening. More people than not do not have access to the proper disposal, so they assume that if they charge the core fee, people will return it, then they have to dispose of it properly, which costs them, so they pass that fee on as well.

Answer 5

I'm from Toronto. I just bought a new car battery and I have this redonkolus additional $15 exchange fee. Also bought new computer and paid insane disposal fee? Yes correct disposal fee for new computer. Crazy crazy. Stupid politicians in Ontario.

Answer 6

The merchant is requires to have a core charge when selling a battery., this is to make sure the old battery is returned so it can be disposed of properly. the core charge should be returned to you when you bring the old battrey back

Answer 7

How do you get out of a core charge? We recycle old car batteries at our local junk yard ( they pay more).

Answer 8

I agree with you. They have us by the short hairs and know this. You and I need new or replacement batterys and if we want them, then we simply pay. So here we are...the car has to have one it's not going to start without a battery...we pay, or bumb a ride. My batterys seem to die on a morning when I have to be to work...and I'm flat broke (which is most of the time..lol )

Answer 9

1

Answer 10

First, Disposal Fee and Core Charge are not the same thing.

Back in the day, nobody wanted dead batteries and because of the lead & acid they had to be disposed of properly. Most individuals just put them out with their weekly trash or took them to a landfill and no one cared, but if you left the dead battery at an Auto Parts Store, they actually did have to pay to dispose of them & in turn billed you when you bought a new one and left the old.

Not too many years ago, re-cyclers found value in dead batteries and started PAYING the auto parts stores for the dead batteries. Now there was profit in having people leave the battery so to make sure you left your battery or brought in the old one after you installed the new, they started hitting people with core charges. Illegal - probably not. Sleazy - absolutely.

Core Charge: OEM's sell new parts - no core charge - at high prices. The aftermarket Parts Stores sell Re-manufactured parts for a lot less than OEM new. The catch is, they need your old Water Pump so it can be rebuilt and sold to the next guy. In a lot of cases, the core charge is more than the part, that's how important it is for the re-manufacturer to get it back. In some cases the core is ruined - you threw a rod through your block - in which case the combined cost of Re-man part & Core is more money than buying new.