BottleDrop Redemption Center

Horrible customer service. Let's cater to the homeless who cause problems but not the tax paying customers who want little to nothing and to do here.... I want to come in and go out... but no, you don't let me get more than a pack of bags at a time. I hope you go out of business. You guys are horrible.

And you tell me my account was flagged with "garbage" in it. Go fuck yourself. I don't leave any garbage in the green bags. I even rinse my cans out. You are drama.

I was ripped off after challenging what condition my cans when returned. Credit I received was short. The staff plays games with your account.

It's the only place in town, so we got an account and left a bag of bottles. Our bag had 26 beer bottles, all in perfect condition, and we were given credit for only 11. I'm not sure how they get away with this!
We'll get the bottles counted as we stand there next time, even though it's a circus.

It's the only place in town to redeem your cans if you need some quick cash to gas up or something cuz tomorrow's payday and you gotta be able to get to the bank - so they've kind of got it locked down. Go early
and avoid the lines, sticky floors and broken machines.
I gave it an extra star for the friendly parking lot attendants. They should get those people some uniforms or something. Huge kudos to the guy that has the tank and sprayer to squirt the sticky machine belts

Wasn't sure what horrors to expect - prior recent Yelp reviews were not promising. Fortunately, the redemption center I found was the one Camille H describes in her review.

Account setup is done using an ATM-like machine located to the left back as you enter. Takes about three minutes, whereupon it will spit out a card associated with your account. After registering, you'll probably want to get some bag stickers and the machine prompts you to consider that.

Once that's done, mosey over to the Customer Service desk (which appears to be a bottle/can washing station as well - not sure what's up with that). There, you can purchase green plastic bags, which will be charged to your account. No cash/credit card necessary.

To drop off bottles and cans, put them in one of the plastic bags, slap on a sticker where it says to and put the bag in the bin located to the back right as you walk in. There's a drop-off bin located outside, as well.

To reap your hard-earned rewards for being a good citizen, you can either use another ATM-like machine located just to the right of the customer service desk, or better, use a kiosk at one of several participating stores and get a 20% bonus. The stores that participate in this bonanza are listed on a sign to the left of the machine. Currently, those would be Fred Meyer, Newport Market, Albertsons, Safeway, Food 4 Less and Ericksons Thriftway.

The redemption center does a brisk business for those without accounts via a bank of self-serve machines into which you feed cans & bottles one at a time. Unless you're in need of immediate funds or otherwise don't want to sign up for an account (e.g., you're homeless), the plastic bag method seems far more attractive. If you take advantage of the 20% deal at the stores, that will pay for the bags.

I'm a big fan of Planet Earth and if this arrangement is what it takes to get people to recycle, I'm all for it.

I'm happy to see this Redemption Center in Bend, centrally located, easy to get to. I've been lucky and have never had to stand in line for a machine nor have I had to deal with a machine on the fritz. The machines are actually pretty fast too & that's nice. So great to provide us with a sink to wash hands after depositing bottles.

It's unfortunate that staff appears to do nothing to deter loitering outside the Redemption Center; It more often than not, feels a bit dicey. And it's frustrating that employees are NOT handling broken glass in the parking lot - I worry about my tires each time I visit - will I end up with a flat? What if somebody trips and falls & ends up cutting themselves? Come on folks, keep the parking lot free of broken glass as it IS a hazard.

The Redemption Center itself is just filthy and smells horrid. Wipe down the machines & surfaces more often? Wipe down the helpful carts more often? Clean the floors more often? Better filtration system? Fresh air?

The staff themselves are pleasant & helpful when approached by customers.

TIP: I know there's a sink but wear gloves. I keep a box of disposable gloves in my trunk & they do come in handy.

I was pretty impressed with this recycling center. I didn't know anything about it, but finally decided to start taking cans and bottles to be recycled and found this is our local recycling center. You have to set-up an account to do your recycling and the guys running the counter were very thorough and patient because while it wasn't complicated, I just wasn't getting it. (I know, you're thinking how hard can it be?)

You have a couple of options, wait in line to do self-service. There were quite a few people in line, but they had a lot of recycling machines, so it seemed to move fairly quickly. The other option is to purchase their green recycling bags and just put them through the drop. The money gets put on your card to be cashed out at a later time. I chose this option because we had a bunch of cans and bottles at home to bag up. The bags cost .20 and they charge .35 to process the bag. I'm fine with that. If you have any problems with recycling, the staff is there to assist.

Meanwhile, yeah, the place doesn't smell great. It's a recycling center. And yes, there is a homeless population here and yes, they are recycling. It just is what it is.

4 days in a row where their redemption machine that dispenses cash is not working. No sign anywhere stating such. Spent an hour waiting to return cans and bottles to be met by a line of people getting their tickets signed and told to come back later or in 24 hours. If I'd have known I would have went to Redmond. Total of 6 machines down including the cash dispensing machines. Come on now. We didn't get rid o f individual business redeeming our cans and bottles for this. So many homeless loitering. Just a bad few days. Most of the people redeeming their cans need the money. Even seen one little girl start crying about her $4.10 worth of saved cans.

Such a great convenience! Never took cans back until these places popped up so easy. If you need accuracy or need the money right away take them back yourself. It's so easy just make sure your bag is tight and your label is on all the way!

As a recycling center it's an efficient operation. I go in I redeem my deposit, I get my money an I get out. I wouldn't take a date or out of town guest here, but this is the place I take my bottles and cans. Just be prepare since it's a recycling center it's kinda of smelly.