Bankruptcy Took Down the Redbox Machine. If Only Someone Could Take Them Away. (msn.com) 141
Retailers across the U.S. are grappling with the aftermath of Redbox's bankruptcy, tasked with removing 24,000 abandoned DVD-dispensing machines. CVS, Walgreens, Walmart, and others are facing logistical challenges and potential safety hazards, according to WSJ. The 890-pound kiosks, often hardwired into stores' electrical systems, require specialized removal.
Further reading: Redbox App Axed, Dashing People's Hopes of Keeping Purchased Content.
Further reading: Redbox App Axed, Dashing People's Hopes of Keeping Purchased Content.
vital emergency services (Score:2)
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Probably vandal resistance. If plugged in, someone likely would get some type of hook and yank the power cord for the copper.
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gotta pay Heisenberg (Score:2)
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Flip it around... if it is 890 pounds why does it need a plug? Not sure how they would have gotten away with not having a local disconnect switch though...
As far as removal logistics go, you just flip the circuit breaker off and have as much fun as you can with a plasma torch on the anchor bolts. Forklift/Telehandler for the win. A hassle and specialized, yes... but hard not really.
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Almost certainly yes. Several of the repair/library update techs have talked about being left with boxes of DVDs in their own homes.
Re:vital emergency services (Score:5, Informative)
Re:vital emergency services (Score:5, Interesting)
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Flip it around... if it is 890 pounds why does it need a plug? Not sure how they would have gotten away with not having a local disconnect switch though...
As far as removal logistics go, you just flip the circuit breaker off and have as much fun as you can with a plasma torch on the anchor bolts. Forklift/Telehandler for the win. A hassle and specialized, yes... but hard not really.
Waay too complicated of a solution.
Just pay some local criminal-types to steal a truck and heavy duty chains. Then tell them to yank the dang box out ... just like an ATM
There must be some value in cutting up that box for recycleable scrap (quik money) and selling off any DVDs still inside it at a local swap meet.
Ohhh ... and promise the group doing this "theft" that any video tapes of the area will have a mysterious blank space in them (ala Rosemary Woods - look her up) ... or those tapes can go missing or
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It's not that hard, but for a commercial property that can't just send one of the cashiers that messes with wiring a bit at home to do it, they have to meet requirements for insurance and building code.
For example, they can't just leave bare wires hanging out of the wall that can be energized by someone mindlessly turning a breaker back on.
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True. Unfortunately you need an electrician, welder, possibly locksmith, rigging crew and someone to patch things up afterwards. That makes it expensive... but not complicated.
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To keep someone from walking off with ... a big box of DVDs?
What year is it?
Re: vital emergency services (Score:5, Insightful)
DVDs arnt dead yet. Not everyone can be bothered with the inconvenience of streaming and not owning a physical copy.
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Streaming isn't the only alternative to DVD you know, there's also Blu-ray, which is superior in every way. DVD is long dead. This is a good thing. DVDs, with few exceptions, look absolutely awful on a modern television.
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There likely wasn't an outlet where they wanted to place the box outside, so there will be wiring and making a hole in the wall anyway. By hard wiring, they saved the cost of a suitable box and outlet rated for outdoor installation and dodged a lot if incidents where people unplug the box or try un-plugging and re-plugging rapidly hoping to cause a malfunction, etc.
I saw a public information kiosk once that for about 30 seconds after power on, it was vulnerable to someone calling up an on-screen keyboard an
Making a Mountain out of a mole hill (Score:4, Informative)
Step 1) Turn off the breaker
Step 2) Disconnect the power
Step 3) Call a salvage/recycling company come pick it up.
These things use a standard 120V power supply. This isn't a complex problem to solve.
Re:Making a Mountain out of a mole hill (Score:5, Interesting)
Re:Making a Mountain out of a mole hill (Score:5, Interesting)
Can you name a jurisdiction that requires a certified electrician to turn off a breaker?
Can you name a store where there's only one breaker for the entire store?
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Reading is hard for you, I know, but maybe ask someone for help before posting next time?
"First that might, by law, require a certified electrician as it requires the power junction to be closed off correctly.
That isn't the same as turning off a breaker.
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Re:Making a Mountain out of a mole hill (Score:5, Interesting)
The person you're replying to is making a valid point even if they are being abstract with potential details.
I doubt any jurisdiction requires a certified electrician to flip off a breaker, but to disconnect to the equipment from the electrical supply, that could be a different matter. The summary said it is "hard wired." The second you start messing with wiring, jurisdictions may very well have requirements in play.
Then you have other other regulatory factors that could apply such as labour laws. I have no idea how common it is for grocery store chain employees to be unionized, but union rules would certainly factor in to what you're asking your employees to do. Work place safety regulations almost certainly apply. It wouldn't surprise me that if you're going to have employees mucking with electrical (or even heavy stuff) that the workplace needs to have certain things, such as safety training and PPE pertaining to those operations, in play.
And while you're right that it is very unlikely that any store would have a single breaker that controls power to the entire store, that's besides the point to a degree where it kind of sounds like you're being argumentative and haven't actually given this half a second's thought. Maybe it's on the same breaker as the cash registers or self-checkout machines, or coolers or any number of things that a store may need to make special arrangements for when it comes to servicing that makes this more than a "simple technical matter."
Inspector (Score:2)
I know it's different for commercial, and might be different based on local codes, but the electrical inspector I talked to a few weeks ago said you don't need a permit, nor be an electrician, to disconnect circuits. You do if there is demolition involved, but not for simply disconnecting something once it's shut off at the box.
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Don't forget, you can't just leave the wires sticking out of the wall where they can become energized if someone flips the wrong breaker back on.
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The person you're replying to is making a valid point even if they are being abstract with potential details.
I was being abstract because there might be so many permutations when it comes to 24,000 locations of how those locations could have been wired. I don't know the situation for each location but at the minimum that connection must be terminated. That is done by an electrician for commercial sites in all the jurisdictions I have lived in. It's not secret sorcery that no electrician has ever done as even the article said specifically this is a logistical problem not a technical one.
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in some cities, a permit must be pulled any time anything is directly connected to the electrical utility. sometimes, even to hang a ceiling fan! so yeah, okay. here’s one place: SACRAMENTO. cool?
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Can you name a jurisdiction that requires a certified electrician to turn off a breaker?
Can you name a store where there's only one breaker for the entire store?
Who said just turning off the breaker? Turning the breaker off and on doesn't do the electrical work for you. Yes you need a certified electrician to do commercial electrical work for you. In literally every jurisdiction.
And yes I can name plenty of stores like that. Many commercial buildings may run an entire store from a single outlet with a feed going to each individual shop for example. Large shops obviously need more, as does anything in food preparation, but as the grandparent pointed out, no one is r
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Can you name a jurisdiction that requires a certified electrician to turn off a breaker?
Can you name a store where there's only one breaker for the entire store?
I would think the electrical code in most US jurisdictions would require a dedicated breaker just for this big DVD machine. For SAFETY REASONS
The outdoor air box for most multi-ton (as in tons of air cooling capacity) home A/C units in the USA seem to have outside mounted breakers of the "pull it out" style very close to that "air box" (don't know the actual word for it). Again, FOR SAFETY REASONS.
If the DVD machine is on a hardwired circuit, it might be safer to have an electrician take care of it, but re
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If you have one of these hallowed and admired _certifice_ electricians, that exalted person should actually be able to disconnect these things _without_ turning off the power. Hell, even I have the tools for that. All you need is a pair of isolating gloves, and, if paranoid, a face-shield.
In other news, an electrician is just an electrician for this kind of very simple job. The yellow pages will get you one and they are not expensive for that type of work. $100 should do it. Here is a reference: https://www [forbes.com]
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If you have one of these hallowed and admired _certifice_ electricians, that exalted person should actually be able to disconnect these things _without_ turning off the power. All you need is a pair of isolating gloves, and, if paranoid, a face-shield.
So you are advocating for unsafe working conditions in response to the logistical problem. While you are at it, you could advocate these locations could just place an explosive in the machine to remove them.
In other news, an electrician is just an electrician for this kind of very simple job. The yellow pages will get you one and they are not expensive for that type of work. $100 should do it. Here is a reference: https://www.forbes.com/home-im [forbes.com]... [forbes.com]
Again, the problems is 24,000 machines and logistics. At your rate, that is $2.4M in electricians fees alone. That does not include scheduling. Logistics. You seem to ignore that part.
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If you have one of these hallowed and admired _certifice_ electricians, that exalted person should actually be able to disconnect these things _without_ turning off the power. All you need is a pair of isolating gloves, and, if paranoid, a face-shield.
So you are advocating for unsafe working conditions in response to the logistical problem. While you are at it, you could advocate these locations could just place an explosive in the machine to remove them.
Nope. You are just being a clueless asshole here.
In other news, an electrician is just an electrician for this kind of very simple job. The yellow pages will get you one and they are not expensive for that type of work. $100 should do it. Here is a reference: https://www.forbes.com/home-im [forbes.com]... [forbes.com]
Again, the problems is 24,000 machines and logistics. At your rate, that is $2.4M in electricians fees alone. That does not include scheduling. Logistics. You seem to ignore that part.
So? These are places of business. They have ongoing expenses.
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Nope. You are just being a clueless asshole here.
Again, the electrician is needed to properly terminate a connection in a commercial setting not to turn off a breaker. Instead you advocate for bypassing safety which does not remotely terminate the connection. Logistics.
So? These are places of business. They have ongoing expenses.
Who is paying for this work again? The store manager? Under which codes and accounts does a manager of CVS pay for an outside electrician again? Logistics.
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Since this circuit is connected to a 3rd party device at ground level on the outside of the store, I can see it being a separate circuit to prevent someone outside after hours causing a power outage that impacts more than just that the box.
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Since this circuit is connected to a 3rd party device at ground level on the outside of the store, I can see it being a separate circuit to prevent someone outside after hours causing a power outage that impacts more than just that the box.
Maybe it is on a separate circuit from the cash registers inside the store; however, it might be on a circuit with other outside things like the signage, the lights, the doors, etc. My point was I do not see that they created a separate circuit just for this machine. They might have used an existing circuit.
Re: Making a Mountain out of a mole hill (Score:2)
They have already done all of this once before: to install the machine
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They have already done all of this once before: to install the machine
Yes and it was probably a pain back then but it was done under RedBox's supervision paid for by RedBox. Now there is no company that is handling or funding that.
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You do not need a licensed electrician to remove a device, only to install one, and even then it may not be required (but adding a circuit does.)
There is no plausible scenario in which power might have to be turned off for an entire store for this. You can use a toner to determine which circuit it is connected to.
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Even if there were no legal requirement (a claim which I find dubious, especially in all cases), it simply wouldn't be prudent to not use an electrician.
If I were a PHB, I'd be very leery of trusting a stock boy who can't even use a box cutter without damaging half the cereal cartons to do the following:
- Properly identify, turn off and verify the correct circuit.
- Disconnect the power cord from the supply wires, without disturbing any other connections in the junction box.
- Cap off unused any wires with th
Re: Making a Mountain out of a mole hill (Score:2)
Only you suggested using a stock boy. Is that your stock answer?
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How about a cashier? The janitor?
Who TF do you want to do it?
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Any handyman could do it, but I suggest they call whoever they normally call when they need a trivial electrical repair made. It's probably a service company that includes both licensed electrical contractors and also lesser-trained/licensed employees. This is the kind of thing they do ALL THE TIME. The building is full of electrical equipment that can experience failures. You are acting like they don't know how to handle a situation like that despite a whole world of evidence to the contrary — these
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It's probably a service company that includes both licensed electrical contractors and also lesser-trained/licensed employees.
Oh, so you would have an electrician do it, like I said.
Why didn't you say so in the first place?
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If it were my store, I would do it as it's trivial and I would already have familiarized myself with the panel.
If it's Safeway, they will call an electrician to do it.
Stores in between will do whatever they will do.
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This is a slightly more complicated trash-pickup.
Re:Making a Mountain out of a mole hill (Score:5, Interesting)
Redbox stiffed a lot of employees and partners on their way out. The stores are likely trying to ensure they're not going to be punished for illegally line-skipping on the debt payout from the liquidated assets.
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1) Put it on Craigslist
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I'd replace it with an outlet; locking cover if required.
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Step 4, hire a licensed electrician at your expense to correctly install a tamper proof junction box at least so you don't get reamed by code compliance or your insurance.
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Therein lies the problem. Bankruptcy proceedings may mean those devices have a salvage value - it is up to the director to get the best price on all assets, and those things are still assets. Prematurely removing them can result in the store being liable for the sale price of those boxes.
Ironically, the same store is likely leasing out the space - to pay for that spac
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Specialized removal (Score:2)
Just pull the fuse and then have an electrician disconnect it. Removal is simpler than installation, then put the machine on eBay if the owning company don't want it. There's always some geek that'll come and pick it up.
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I think everyone in the US is so used to the idea that there's some lawyer waiting in the wings for you to do something you shouldn't and sue you. Or a central office bureaucrat waiting to fire you.
"Oh that's not our box, it's a subcontractor of a distributor of redbox who still retains a lease on our front space until blah blah blah you can't touch it" is ingrained into our heads as just how things work. Nobody knows anything outside their immediate job, and no one takes any, simple remedial action in ca
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There were a couple of dudes in hiviz clothing showing some ids and I had to sign a paper that said "Redbox Collectors".
Then they picked up the box and left after they bought a few sandwiches and some cola, that's all I know and I don't really care because now I have room for one more cola machine.
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Indeed. Disconnect is trivial, any local electrician can do it. Ebay for the box is actually a really good idea.
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Recycling discs (Score:2)
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Redbox used to buy the disks in bulk, rather than renting them from manufacturers, and sold them when they were done with them, so it shouldn't be a difficult thing to resell them if you by a box of them.
do they have the legal right to break and enter in (Score:2)
do they have the legal right to break and enter into them?
Just have the legal right to cut the power cable / mounts to the ground?
Re:do they have the legal right to break and enter (Score:5, Informative)
do they have the legal right to break and enter into them?
Did you even read the story? "Pharmacy chains CVS and Walgreens, discounters Walmart and Dollar General, and grocers Albertsons and Kroger are among those getting bankruptcy-court approval to dispose of abandoned Redbox kiosks, which on average hold more than 600 films."
Simple (Score:5, Funny)
Just put a sign on them that says "ATM". Some meth addicts will be by soon to wrap a chain around them and yank them out of the store.
Paid (Score:2)
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I'm pretty sure those businesses were being paid to have those machines on their property. It seems like it would be their responsibility to set aside a little bit of that money to plan for disposal in the situation where redbox abandoned the machine and became financially insolvent. Even people who rent apartments have security deposits for basically exactly this kind of purpose.
I'm pretty sure any contract with RedBox did not give any responsibility of the machines to the store locations. From the store location's standpoint, RedBox paid them for machine being on their property and for the electricity that was used. The store location was not responsible for stocking the machine; the store location was not responsible for fixing the machine. The store location was not responsible for removing the machine. That would give the store location the maximum amount of profit for the leas
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Specialized removal? lol, no (Score:2)
One hour of electrician time or some employee with even the most basic electrical skills: turn off the unit power and the power at the breaker, and cut the cable with a pair of bolt cutters. Then you pay some local scrap company to come haul it away. A thousand pounds isn't that big of a deal. The company will show up with a lightweight loader of some sort and a s
Re:Specialized removal? lol, no (Score:5, Interesting)
100% guarantee you that company policy absolutely prevents any employee at any level from taking bolt cutters to a power cable in any circumstance.
Further, you have to assume someone will turn that breaker back _on_ at some point -- that circuit has to be decommissioned properly to potential avoid a fire or electrocution.
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Then you pay some local scrap company to come haul it away.
It might be a bit more involved than that. How do the scrap companies know that you own the machine or otherwise have permission to move it?
Re:Specialized removal? lol, no (Score:4)
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The owner of the property consented to the modification of their property. This is a 'them' problem, not something for all of society to worry about. Honestly, removal should have been written into the contract before they were ever installed, but again, not my problem.
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Well no. Put down the redneck engineering manual for a minute and scale your thinking up to multi-location management.
Imagine you have 35 grocery stores throughout a metropolitan county. Each one has a RedBox. You'll need ONE electrician company to survey every location, confirm the breaker and what else is on the breaker, and write up an individual plan for shutting off the breaker for each location. Mind you, grocery store hours are long (sometimes 24-hours), so just turning off a breaker willy-nilly is n
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Unfathomable (Score:2)
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Not worth the cost, it will cost more to hire trucks and men to grab the device and then part it out.
Liquidating the company will make the boxes orphans that nobody really would like to take responsibility for because then they'll have to pay outstanding leases and electricity bills as well.
Re: Unfathomable (Score:2)
So, "electrician" is now a rare specialist skill? (Score:2)
Seems to be really stupid reporting. Pull the breaker, remove cover, make sure no voltage in the phase, unscrew cable, replace cover, reset breaker. 5-10 Minutes. Seriously, fixing a light, power-outlet or light-switch is more difficult.
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LAWSUITS. USA. anything goes bad in anyway it could result in a lawsuit. it's about $20k just to walk into court. It's all about shifting the blame/burden (similar to cloud service vs IT.)
Insurance isn't going to cover you zapping yourself, catching on fire and burning down the building while you run around screaming to death (and arguably deserve.) If your electrician does this, insurance will cover it...likely go after the electrician's insurance and look up their qualifications and also consider healt
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Ah, yes. Sounds like late-stage Roman empire when they could not get anything done anymore. Have fun with your upcoming collapse of society.
Should be kept as a reminder of failure (Score:2)
Non-story (Score:2)
I want one (Score:2)
I want to repurpose it for Halloween candy. With a couple of Halloween surprises. I've always considered building something, but this is already there.
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Seriously considering some social engineering here. I have access to a pickup truck with a lift, uniforms, clipboards, etc. When I show up looking official with some documentation the store manager isn't going to stop me from pulling the Redbox machine.
Any good movies in them? (Score:2)
(It's 2024 so let me add that this is intended as a humorous comment, not a suggestion)
Are there really still 24,000 in the wild? (Score:2)
I could certainly see some having been abandoned but I haven't come across any yet myself. Not in front of Walgreens, not in front of CVS, not in front of gas stations, not i
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There is or was one in front of Winco in Eureka, CA.
Now you only have to figure out where the other 23,999 of them are.
repurposed (Score:2)
Don't they have salvage value? (Score:2)
It's easy to imagine a salvage company removing them
Give them out for free. (Score:2)
I am sure someone will want it like on /.
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Redbox was particularly popular in rural areas that do not have these "salvage/recycling company" or "some local scrap company" that you speak of.
Rural areas are where the scrap companies are located.
Re: Ah the Metro bias that is /. (Score:2)
Re: Ah the Metro bias that is /. (Score:2)
I've been to scrap operations in multiple rural areas, and turned in scrap there.
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and I am certain Joe Bob can get it done more efficiently and sooner than scheduling it with some large maintenance contracting firm like a Servpro or something, even if he has spend morning getting his pickup to run first.