Feb. 14, 2014 I went to the Sun Valley, CA. Pick Your Part for their 50% off sale. I had gone to look for tires and found two that met my needs. I went out to the car and got my pry bars to remove the tires. The kid at the gate checked me back in (and made no mention regarding my pry bars). So, I pull the tires, pay for them and as I'm getting checked out at the gate another guy (who is acting like an ex-cop) tells me I wasn't suppose to pull the tire off the rim myself. AND..., if I get caught next time they will escort me out! Mind you there were no signs prohibiting this - anywhere. I've been going to this yard for 35+ years and people were always pulling tires off rims.
What a rip-off. They now want you to pay for the rim too, or pay $3 per tire to have THEM take the tire off. On sale days you may have to stand in line 45 minutes to pay for the removal (you pay at the cashier for the service first - then go over to the service), wait 45 minutes until they get around to removing your tires, then stand back in line (likely another 45 minutes) just to pay for the tires.
BTW, Mr Gate Check Out Guy had interrogating me when I initially went back to the car the first time for my pry bars. I hadn't bought anything (yet), and he was seriously "questioning me" about what cars I had come to get parts off. Like if I didn't have a quick and earnest answer I was probably stealing stuff. The irony is there is another self serve yard that runs a scanner over you as you exit. But 75% of the time they just wave my honest looking face through unscanned.