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 Replies: 18 / Views: 4,025 |
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Valued Member
United States
447 Posts |
VERNAL, Utah -- A Utah man has been cited on a charge of disorderly conduct after paying for a disputed medical bill with 2,500 pennies. The Deseret News of Salt Lake City reports Jason West went to Basin Clinic in Vernal on May 27 prepared to dispute an outstanding $25 bill. Assistant Vernal Police Chief Keith Campbell says that after asking staff members whether they accepted cash, West dumped 2,500 pennies on the counter and demanded that staff count them. Campbell says the incident upset staff because pennies were strewn about the counter and floor, and West's action served "no legitimate purpose." Police later issued the 38-year-old West a citation for disorderly conduct. That carries a fine of as much as $140. Or 14,000 pennies.  |
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Valued Member
United States
55 Posts |
So paying a bill with money can cause you to get a ticket from the police? Wow...btw I would have paid with 5,000 Half Cents :D |
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Pillar of the Community
United States
564 Posts |
Funny what he did! My next parking ticket or speeding ticket I might pay for it with pennies. To bad he got in trouble with the law, he must have had one bad attitude!
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Moderator
 United States
16677 Posts |
Money is money right?
swcoin.ecrater.com
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Pillar of the Community
United States
4897 Posts |
I don't know? Personally I think what he did is just stupid.
Disorderly conduct? Maybe? The op did imply that he "splashed" the coins and they were spilt all over. Plus he probably created quite a scene in the office.
I would have thrown him out of my store! Remember, the person taking the payment most likely had no control over his "dispute"
IMO he sounds like an arse!
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Valued Member
United States
136 Posts |
I was reading about this earlier today and at first I thought whats the big deal. But then when it got to the part where it stated he 'dumped' the pennies on the counter I figured that was the trigger. He would have been better served by just giving them the pennies in a bucket or something.
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Pillar of the Community
United States
1659 Posts |
I suspect the disorderly conduct charge came not from the act of paying the bill with pennies, but rather his actions and conduct while paying the bill. It sounds like he was creating a disturbance in the clinic.
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Pillar of the Community
United States
1081 Posts |
Quote:
I suspect the disorderly conduct charge came not from the act of paying the bill with pennies, but rather his actions and conduct while paying the bill. It sounds like he was creating a disturbance in the clinic. I totally agree, you can pay with change/pennies, but you can't be an idiot about it. |
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Moderator
Australia
16809 Posts |
Most of the rest of the world has set limits to what the legal tender of certain denominations of coins is; such laws are in place specifically to prevent nitwittery like this. Here in Australia, if you try to pay a bill - even a tax bill to the government - in a huge pile of low-denomination coins, the person at the counter has the right to tell you to go away and bring back some sensible money (but whether they know they have this right or not is another story). Our smallest denomination, the 5 cent coin, is only legal tender for amounts up to $5. In America, however, the law is very generally worded: Quote:
United States coins and currency (including Federal reserve notes and circulating notes of Federal reserve banks and national banks) are legal tender for all debts, public charges, taxes, and dues. So it appears that any quantity of coin is allowable for paying any debt. "Paying with pennies" is legal. And I agree, it was probably the complainant's attitude and additional actions, rather than merely the act of paying with pennies, that got him in trouble with the law. Don't say "infinitely" when you mean "very"; otherwise, you'll have no word left when you want to talk about something really infinite. - C. S. Lewis
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Pillar of the Community
United States
1150 Posts |
This story makes no cents!
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Bedrock of the Community
United States
20753 Posts |
As already well noted it was not the coins but what he did with them. People having to stop what they are doing to try and find a bunch of any coins purposely dumped like that is no fun for the employees. And too imagine if one of those was a 1914D Lincoln Cent. |
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Valued Member
United States
277 Posts |
Sounds like he may have been a bit of an twit when he went in and that's where the citation came from. But other than that I think it's great he paid in all pennies!
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Pillar of the Community
United States
830 Posts |
When I was 16 I paid a $5 parking ticket with pennies.  No problem except the lady knew my mother and when mom heard about I was scolded a little.  |
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Valued Member
Japan
71 Posts |
perhaps it is a japanese urban legend, as I was unable to find the relevant law on the net, but once I have been told that in japan the upper limit to a number of coins of a certain denomination one can use for a single payment is 25 - thus trying to pay with any more would constitute a "gyoumubougaizai" (business obstruction crime)
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Valued Member
Canada
124 Posts |
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Pillar of the Community
United States
1064 Posts |
This thread was just one of this morning's lead stories on Hoda & Kathaie Leee show (my wife watches!), and they showed several photos of the mess. Guess the guy is going to get a $140 fine, and says he will no be paying in pennies...
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Replies: 18 / Views: 4,025 |
Posted 06/05/2011 8:47 pm
