Nbc Investigation Into Coin-Counters Short Changing Customers

I have a WF by me that is consistently off. And I tell them politely, not asking for any money,just that they are aware of it and can get it re calibrated, and without fail, they tell me how accurate their machine is and how those pennies (that were actually dimes) were from the customer before me. If they were the previous customers (which they're not, because I end up with something like 749.09), they aren't very accurate, are they?

I'll see what they say now after this article.

Truth.

Good post. I've been thinking of starting a thread about coin counting machine errors for a month as that's when I 1st started using them.

First time at TD the machine shorted me 7 dimes on the 300 I put in and gave me less credit for the pennies I put in. Not absolutely positive about the pennies but felt I counted them correctly. BUT I had counted and weighted the dimes 50 at a time. Never got credit for the shortage.

I started counting and weighing large amts of coins from the start to make sure I didn't make an error. The weight of nickels, dimes & quarters per roll is aways pretty close, perhaps a tenth of a gram difference from one roll to the next. I add and remove a coin now and then and can easily see the change in weight. Pennies can vary greatly due to the pre-82 and post-82 weight difference due to the change in copper composition that year.

Second time it shorted me 2 dimes, I can live with that if it only happened one time ever. It then spit out a penny after the quarters were counted - where'd that penny come from?

Third time it gave me credit for an extra dime and nickel as well as 23 more pennies than I put in.

Forth time it counted $40 in dimes correctly but shorted me on the halves. I asked to have the machine checked as I KNEW I had exactly $60 in halves but I was credited with $59. Sure enough, when the mgr opened the machine we found 2 more halves sitting loose inside.

Fifth time at another TD, the machine shorted me on halves and when it was opened up one half was still stuck on the platter that spins around due to "junk" that was also stuck there. Another simply fell to the floor of the machine and was not counted.

If I get shorted a dime, such is life. If I buy $250 in dimes, cull through them and then deposit $250 in dimes, I want $250 not $240. The bank is banking on my savings, I get 0.25% for interest, they lend it for 3, 4, 5%? Banks are not hurting. Creative accounting may fool you into believing they are. Figures don't lie, but liars figure.

I now routinely ask for help if the coin count is off, they always help. I also make sure I take all the change left by other customers - no matter what the country of origin is, so I can make sure I stay ahead of the game. $5 in foreign change so far. I can spend it at grocery stores or perhaps find some place that exchanges currency. Can't lose anything, the coins were left by other customers who didn't want them.

The CU that I bank at has a coin machine, always dead on - until the last time I used it, shorted me a half. The teller just laughed and said they'd credit me with it "if" they found it later, never got any credit.

So it pays to count big dollar amts, all these machines can jam. I've found all kinds of "junk" in the coin return. One mgr found an aluminum washer stuck in place on the platter holding coins back. An exacto blade was found stuck to the magnet. Be careful when you stick your fingers in to retrieve coins.

What I don't like about TD's machines, is they do not show an actual count until after they print the receipt. The other machines I've used give you a running count, I know an error occurred before the receipt prints and can ask for help.

Some advice (from a TD mgr) to help you out. The next time, before you pour in change, let the machine cycle once w/o any coins being put inside. If something is stuck in the mechanism, it may dislodge.

Also, I now put pennies through first, even if it's only 50 cents. Hoping that if something is stuck in place, the pennies will dislodge it. I'd rather be a few pennies short on the first count and then get correct counts on the nickels, dimes, quarters and halves afterwards. I also put more pennies through after the halves to make sure the halves all fall through.

CoinStar machines have been "suspect" for a long time. Things just don't seem quite right and when they jam up even funnier things seem to happen.

Surprisingly, I have NEVER had an issue with coin counts at casinos in Nevada.

I watched the Today Show video. It's not clear if the counted every coin from every roll or assumed that the count from every roll was accurate? Anyone who buys bank rolled coins knows that the actual amount in every roll is sometimes off. How many times have you found a Dime in a Cent roll? I just found a Nickel in a roll of Halves and I had at least 3 rolls that were short 1 or 2 coins in the last 8 boxes I searched. I routinely use the coin counter at my local CU and it is mostly accurate. Now I do not actually count every coin, except Halves, and I can't tell you how many times I have been dumping Nickels and a Cent or a Dime will show up on the Total. Overall, I am happy with my local CU coin counter. I have never used a Coinstar.

I always know how much I'm dumping in.
Never have been short changed.

*** Edited by Staff to add quote tags. Please use them in the future. Posts are very difficult to read without them.***




Hi accordselux,

You are entitled to your opinion and I realize that. I'm not attacking you in my reply, I'm only expressing my opinion.

Let me begin with your last comment.




Not positive about exactly how you meant that but it comes across as one should consider the cost of this hobby based on "your" way of collecting coins and what "your" goal in collecting is. Considering that there are 8 yr olds & teens with little income collecting coins, perhaps a guy who has a family of four to support or seniors or anyone on a fixed income, does rethinking the hobby for them mean not collecting coins because of limited income?

Sorry if this sounds a bit crass but does that mean that if I'll never make it to Wimbelton I shouldn't bother playing tennis to begin with?

When my dad started collecting coins his collection consisted of what he got in loose change. It cost him no more than the face value of the coin, that was the way he went about collecting coins.

I also only collect coins at face value, it's just the way I approach the hobby, others have different approaches to it, I accept that. I don't do it for, as you said, "the prospect of making many times that in value of collectible coins." I leave that to those whose interest is in doing so and some of you have done very well indeed. Some of us simply enjoy the hobby for the sake of the hobby.

If the grocery store gypped you on your change from a purchase or didn't place some of the groceries in your shopping bag, do you consider that the cost of doing business and say nothing? Probably not.

Buy a pkg of t-shirts and if several of them have the stitching loosen up after being washed one time do you just consider that the cost of doing business? I'll speak up and return the shirts and get my money back.

The problem today is that many people have simply kowtowed to society and what society thinks is now normal. Years ago people stood up for their rights, now if you do, no matter what the issue is, someone criticizes you simply for speaking up.

The cost of doing banking these days is low interest rates for the customer, high priced fees and sometimes poor or no customer service. Over the yrs it's gotten worse and worse because not enough people spoke out about this. Now people just accept poor service and high fees as the cost of doing business, sad commentary.

The first three times I had issues putting coins through the machine I said nothing. But once it continued and I found others also were having the same issue, I spoke up. The end result of my speaking up is that I now have a good idea what causes the problem and how to try and avoid it.




Before I opened up an account I told each bank that I collect coins. One mgr asked me just how much would I be purchasing and dumping. When I told her 10-20 rolls of pennies or maybe 5 rolls of dimes, she smiled and said that was not an issue. She stated the bank wasn't suppose to "cater" to coin collectors but as long as I wasn't dumping hundreds of dollars several times a week there was no problem.

According to my banker, you "are" that guy with your large coin dumps. And being short "sometimes 3 figures" as you stated, "is" going to draw attention to you, not to me for asking for a trivial 50 cents or a dollar credit.

Other than $60 in halves in one shot, my average deposit into the machines is probably only around $15. I don't buy and dump huge amts of coins, it's just not the way I go about the hobby at this time. For the sake of the argument, if every week I use the machines once and each time I'm short 50 cents, that's $26 a year shorted. Yes, I can live with that but if I say, who cares, what else in life will I eventually take that approach with? Like I said before, I usually speak up for my rights, I don't care who might not like that. If you've been wronged, don't be afraid to speak up.

If we actually consider the news article that started this thread, it was about how the general public was being taken to the bank so to speak. By pointing that out, it puts the people who run these coin machines in a position where it was in their best interest to fix them. The machine owners can't be so dumb that they had no clue this could happen. People were losing money is the main story here, that's wrong whether it's only one penny or $100 dollars. Criticizing someone for complaining about this serves no purpose.

Speaking up is not usually a bad thing. Pick your battles, yes, but don't give up your rights little by little or eventually the coin machine operators might simply tell the public to stop using coins if they don't like the way their machines work.




I would offer to pay a fee to a bank to order me a bag of halves or dollars, that to me is an acceptable "tax" but being shorted is not.