Semiahmoo Bottle Depot

Hmmm, my previous negative review was deleted. So here is a new one. Took lots of cans here, some as pop some beer, before I knew that they wouldn't pay out on alcoholic ones. They whisk away the flats and gave me a tiny amount, when I complained they explained they did not take beer cans, but did not want to return them to me. But obviously they will profit

The manager was very accommodating to take our bottle returns after hours. (not suggested). They stayed after hours and Noor was kind enough to take our express bag return. Thank you for accommodating us and you saved us another trip.

Unfriendly staff member. Showed up one minute after closing with stuff organized and ready and was refused even though another guy was still unloading his truck. The staff member put more effort into arguing with me than he would have just accepting the items. Seems ridiculous. If you’re closed then be closed to everyone!

I've come here for a while. An addict stole my bike last time I was here while I was inside for a few minutes, so beware of theives.

EDIT: It was several days ago. I informed staff but no one told me there were security cameras and to my knowledge no one checked them. I even came back after an hour after trying to find the guy in the local area, and still no one told me there were cameras.

SECOND EDIT. It was May 4, around 2pm. I can't believe none of your staff informed me about the security cameras. AT LEAST three staff knew about the theft. The addict was certainly known to police and we could have actually retrieved the bike fairly quickly.

Pretty disappointed to learn that they are only paying 8 of the 10 cents that we pay for deposit! There's huge signage that clearly states that we should be receiving 10 cents, but they feel that printing a small sheet of paper stating otherwise makes this ok. I see it as stealing! Definitely won't be returning to this location.

The manager on duty and the employees were incredibly nice to me yesterday. I arrived during closing and they let me finish up while they cleaned. They also gave me a bandaid when I cut myself and cleaned up a glass I broke with a smile. They didn’t make me feel bad at all. They didn’t have to do that, but it really made my day because it’s a real struggle for me to get all my bottles to the depot. HUGE thank you to everyone on shift.

Excellent place to recycle. Express recycling is very efficient. The staff are friendly and helpful. Sometimes long queues for non-express, but they move quickly.

Return your bottles here if you want 1/2 your money back, the guy who runs this place is out for lunch lol

Good service, we use the express system, just bag our items, attach our account tag and leave. A few days later our account is credited with the deposit return. So easy.

The staff are always very friendly and helpful
I find this is the most comprehensive Depot as they take most recyclables
I love it as well as you can donate your refund to the food bank
It would be nice if the hours were longer on the weekends

You gotta sort out everything in the bins if your returning empties which is the downfall.sometimes a lineup but it slowly moves.good for returning dead batteries and electronics, clothes etc.

Paying only a nickel for beer can and the clerk ad the audacity to tell me it roule and regulations from government people if u drop your beer can there u atr getting two and half cent for each!

For years I've brought pre-counted bags of plastic bottles under 1L here. Today was rudely told they won't take the bags, that they have NEVER done that. Thx to Covid we had 23 bags w/140 bottles ea. While outside an man gave us his wine bottles. Due to time, we only transferred 13 bags of bottles to trays. I wanted to see how much in karma (wine bottles) the man gave us. Checked my 3 receipts, did the math: the plastic bottles alone were worth aprox $180. My receipts came to about $147 INCLUDING the wine bottles so we got ripped off $30ish.

The staff here are very helpful when asked and very helpful when your standing there looking lost.

Whenever I go here such a stress free visit easy as in and out when I show up have a guy at the door to help you if you need amd to guide and direct you to a table to organize amd also to keep safe amount of people in at a time for covid as well. It simple and all the staff are so friendly and quick so your not there all day.

Love the convenience but walking between areas and trying to find the right place for the right material can be confusing and congested. Parking is minimal

Good location and friendly enough staff. Just sucks that BRCCC won't license the location so you only get partial deposits for beer cans

Worst Bottle Depot in town. They never have straight answers, I literally said excuse me to a gentleman 3 times today to ask where to out my glass jars and he walked away. It's far too busy in there and their customer service is atrocious.

Only give ya 5 cents a beer can. Even though aluminum prices are through the roof. Three stars because the staffer was nice and the process easy.

The guy the runs the place is a huge rip off artist, instead of counting a case of bottles as 12 he counts 2 cases as 8,4 and 9, which obviously doesn't add up to 24. And when I pointed it out he lied to my face, even the woman behind me noticed! He did that with flat shorted me almost over 2 bucks, which if he does for everyone, is a lot of money by the end of the day. Will never go back! My normal location was closed for maintenance. One star is only so I can post

I can go there and get rid of old electronics, lights bulbs, batteries, bottles and even clothes, shoes, etc. Better than going to the landfill.

Efficient and polite workers. Things were easy to find as I'd never been there before. The floor is super sticky though so make sure you wear some shoes that you can clean easily. They could use some paper towel to dry your hands after you wash them, however maybe I didn't see it.

Total scam! Don't go here! Just left there n feel like I've just been ribbed n mad as hell over it.you mite as well just give them your recyclables, if you wanna pay someone to take your money, then this is the place to go.what a joke.

Do not go here. They make you sort and do not even give you full money on your return. They are an embarrassment to the return it franchise.

I have been frequenting this bottle depot 6-7 times a year for years with 36 empty bottles, batteries and other electronics for recycling. The staff are kind and very efficient. I can see people loading huge boxes and bags of cans, and even sorting on the roadway as it is so tight inside to safely distance. Hours are shorter, so even more people are crowding to park and unload at this depot. With my small amount of recycling, it's not too bad, but it is really a struggle with patience and slow sorting required for families with large collections. I can see why people are getting frustrated waiting outside just to get in to sort.

Swarms of angry wasps meet customers as they enter. Rude and disinterested staff couldn't care less.

I went on a Friday at noon and it was not as busy. A very polite employee offered me help and directed me to where to place my recycling items. I went there expecting to have to wait in line for a long time, but the whole process only took me a few minutes as there was no line-up.

Note to the owner and employees: Thank you so much for all you do!

The staff work very hard there and try to process everyone quickly. I can’t believe how busy they are and during these Covid times, people need to be more patient, waiting for carts and access to go inside to sort. We use the return it express which works great, and I’m surprised more people don’t know about it, and use it. It’s so efficient and user friendly. Maybe the staff could offer pamphlets to the people waiting in line and educate them to this alternate option. It’s wonderful. Everything goes into the bag and they sort for you. It’s a no brainer! Create an account online, they sort and then deposit the money in your account. Done

Nice central location to drop off your recyclables, especially styrofoam and paint cans. As for the bottles and cans, it probably depends on the staff serving you, as I too have been shorted in the past. Most likely it was on "non-popular" products not commonly found in the larger supermarkets, despite the metric designation on the bottle/can. I noticed at some other locations they have a scanner that the staff can check to see the validity of the product, but the last time I was here, I did not notice they were equipped with such tech. But that was a while ago.

This bottle depot is worst place for customers even to employee.
Owner has anger issue. Many people already know how the owner's personality

After reading all the bad reviews, I got worried. But after the first use, I found this place to be very efficient and deserve better reviews. People working there were kind and nice. I was struggling and someone came and explained the system. I recommend this place!

Use this place for what it is. A means to an end. I am a huge recycler. Because of the convenience I use this location to handle all of my obscure recycling needs (batteries/electronics/paint cans etc) but don't show up expecting a warm fuzzy welcome. These guys are brutally rude. Often it seems like they go out of their way to not help people who obviously need some guidance. In fact, half of the time I myself end up helping someone who looks a little lost.

What to expect when you visit:

The good:
- a home for your recyclable material
- a well organized operation
- lots of parking

The bad:
- poor attitudes by the staff
- poor direction and/or assistance
- No smiles on the premises

Customer service always weighs heavily on a review. If these guys weren't so miserable I would give this depot a 4/5.

I’m a first time user of the express system. I dropped off 12 bags on the weekend. Included in those were 91 Avalon Glass milk jars ranging from 500ml to 2L. The deposit on those are $1 to $2 per. I notice when i got my email 2 days later that they were all listed as non-returnables. I immediately emailed the express support who then explained that the Avalon milk jugs were not included in the return it program. I replied asking if i could come back and get them and was told they had already been recycled. I get if there was a few mixed in that someone might not care. But it is pretty obvious that if someone sent back 91 of them they did not know they could not be returned through return it. Given the value of them, you figure they might have set them aside and sent me an email. Lesson learned. Avalon milk jugs are not refundable through return it. I just wish they had given me the opportunity to take them back properly.

Everytime I come here, the staff are aways so incredibly rude. Just dropped off my 45" flatscreen that I had to sadly part with due to unforseen damages. I walked around looking for assistance and the guy walks up and says "go put it on a cart in the other area" instead of offering to help, seeing that I am struggling with it as is.
Last few times I came here, they told me I had to pay a fee for accidentally knocking one of my glass jard on the ground, which I said I would clean up.

People are just trying to make the environment a better place.

DO NOT USE EXPRESS WITH THEM!

Brought my 7 stuffed blue bags of bottles and only got redeemed for 3 bags, for $16.70.

Was excited for this new system expecting my usual $40-45.

Go fish Semiahmoo.

I have counted the bottles I returned and they have shorted me every time, twice I have shown them my check list and twice they have given me the right amount. My suggestion is to go to the counter with a slip of paper in your hand and put some numbers on the paper you'll get the right amount the first time

So rude! Every time. Everyone that works there is miserable. All I did was ask if I could recycle a helium tank, he eye rolled at me and told me NO. Then I went to put styrofoam away and the one employee snapped at me. I said I’m sorry, I put it in the wrong bin I didn’t mean to he’s like next time you want to say something talk to the manager not me. ” He started beaking me off first! I can’t believe how INSANELY arrogant these people are!

I can't believe I never noticed they only pay 5cents for beer cans! I'm SOOOO GLAD I read all the reviews, I save and return these because I want my $$ back, I don't want to go through all the effort, and the stinky sticky mess so I can only get half of my money back.
And in response to some other people's comments, I know exactly who you're talking about, I had one guy in there, be SUPER rude. AND he also shorted me a few bottles (like 2/3) on a few of my flats.so the next time I came in, and had that same guy, I made sure to not only count them. But inform him of how many and make sure our #'s matched. He didn't seem to like that. LoL. Awwee muffin, didn't make your Xtra $2 of me today? Sorry to the next guy who was probably scammed twice as hard.
Not everyone there is bad, I've only had this experience with 1 staff member. Who was also VERY RUDE about me mistakenly putting cardboard in the wrong place, not only did he RUDELY inform me that it was in the wrong spot, he also went out of his way to walk clear across the depot to come toss them at me, (when he was like 2 feet away from cardboard bin) he could have simply informed me of where I put them and where they belong, and I would have apologized and made sure that they went into the right spot next time. Or if they were still there, I would have gladly collected them and taking them to where they belong. The attitude I got for putting them in the wrong place made me want to do nothing of the sort. If I ever go back to this Depot again (which I now kind of highly doubt doing) I will be sure to leave the cardboard with him when I walk out. You give what you get, normally my motto is kill them with kindness, but some people you just want to cram it down their throat. And he is most definitely one of them!
I have to agree with the masses, this is by far the worst Bottle Depot I've ever experienced! Someone commented about a Bottle Depot it's just a little farther down the road probably about 10 minutes farther but well worth the trip, it's super clean, & staff is super nice, not sure what they pay on beer cans as I never really paid attention, never really thought I had to pay attention silly me you got to pay attention to everything nowadays.

This depot does not give full refund on Beer cans.
You pay 10c and get 5c.
Go to BC Liquor Store for 10c
Another Govt tax

They won't allow people to take or buy old CRT TVs that they'll be destroying anyways. A waste of something difficult to find and still useful.

My expectations for a recycling processor is that I have a place to recycle my waste. The workers there are running around laboring like crazy in a noisy environment. I don't expect service with a smile or time to chat about my plans for the day. I've never found them rude. There are so many things allowed but you should go online and find out what first before taking it out on the business. I have taken everything allowable there. For bottles, the only time they are rejected are the odd U. S.products. Granted, I haven't done fundraisers or use bottles as an income but I suspect if someone shows up with dozens of non-refundable bottles after working hard to collect them, you will be upset. I suspect there are two sides to the negative reviews; I don't know what place reviewers are describing or what their expectations are, but to drop-off recyclable stuff, no complaints here.