My interesting day spending Washington Dollars
Flyfishguy
Posts: 333
Got a roll of Washington Dollars at the bank and started out to see where I could spend them.
First stop McDonalds for breakfast. Cashier looked at it and asked what it was, called manager over who examined it. He told me it was not a coin since it did not have a date... After much explaining, they still refused to take them, although the person behind me wanted them. So I got my breakfast.
Stop 2. Wal-Mart. Cashier said they only take American money. Manager came over and asked if these were the "New" dollar coins he heard about. I was able to spend them after his inspection.
Stop 3. Big Lots! Cashier wouldn't take them, thought they were arcade tokens. Manager came over and after 5 minutes (and a phone call) took them.
Stop 4. Costco. No problem at all. The cashier even wanted some extra.
Stop 5. Burger King. Cashier said it wasn't "real" money, manager thought
it was fake. The owner (?) then came out and said it was ok.
First stop McDonalds for breakfast. Cashier looked at it and asked what it was, called manager over who examined it. He told me it was not a coin since it did not have a date... After much explaining, they still refused to take them, although the person behind me wanted them. So I got my breakfast.
Stop 2. Wal-Mart. Cashier said they only take American money. Manager came over and asked if these were the "New" dollar coins he heard about. I was able to spend them after his inspection.
Stop 3. Big Lots! Cashier wouldn't take them, thought they were arcade tokens. Manager came over and after 5 minutes (and a phone call) took them.
Stop 4. Costco. No problem at all. The cashier even wanted some extra.
Stop 5. Burger King. Cashier said it wasn't "real" money, manager thought
it was fake. The owner (?) then came out and said it was ok.
0
Comments
LOL
Rob
<< <i>Stop 2. Wal-Mart. Cashier said they only take American money. Manager came over and asked if these were the "New" dollar coins he heard about. I was able to spend them after his inspection. >>
Ironic insofar as Wal-Mart was the launch point for the Sacagawea dollars 7 years ago.
Keeper of the VAM Catalog • Professional Coin Imaging • Prime Number Set • World Coins in Early America • British Trade Dollars • Variety Attribution
<< <i>So you're the guy who holds up the line for ten minutes for no good reason at all... >>
But it is a good reason! Stuff like this should (but doesn't) send a message to our government that people are simply not interested in using a dollar coin as long as there is still the paper dollar.
If a small percentage of the population demanded to use these coins in commerce every day, retailers would exert pressure on our govt to do away with the paper $.
<< <i>With all of the hype about the new Pres dollars, bank information, television, newspapers; I am amazed that front line employee are not informed. >>
I am never amazed by the "lack of smartness" to be found in the general population.
<< <i>
<< <i>With all of the hype about the new Pres dollars, bank information, television, newspapers; I am amazed that front line employee are not informed. >>
I am never amazed by the "lack of smartness" to be found in the general population. >>
Again, it goes to prove most people don't want a dollar coin, they won't circulate until the dollar bill is gone. When will the government figure that out.
Why step over the dollar to get to the cent? Because it's a 55DDO.
But that's putting too much hope in the intelligence of those people.
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<< <i>If a small percentage of the population demanded to use these coins in commerce every day, retailers would exert pressure on our govt to do away with the paper $. >>
Not sure where people get that idea from. I'm a retail manager and I hate the dang things, as do my employees. It's much, much easier for us to make change with bills. Not only that, but our customers hate change (believe me, I hear that comment at least twenty times a day).
San Diego, CA
<< <i> When will the government figure that out. >>
Now that's a good oxy moron.
Mint quality and design shines through !
- Marcus Tullius Cicero, 106-43 BC
If anybody knows of a place on the Peninsula in the Bay Area that is giving people a hard time with these, please let me know. I want to try 'em out.
All in all, NO issues spending them here (McDonalds, Post Office, Cafeteria, Red Robin (Restaurant..as a tip
I've been told I tolerate fools poorly...that may explain things if I have a problem with you. Current ebay items - Nothing at the moment
<< <i>After 1 week it's been deemed a falure. Before this program is over we will only be using these coins. Bet on it. >>
I'll take that bet. How much money would you care to wager? Bottom line: no matter what coin collectors think, there is no way Congress is going to alienate their electorate (virtually everyone hates change) by doing away with the $1 bill.
So, let's make a wager. Name the amount.
<< <i>I'll take that bet. How much money would you care to wager? Bottom line: no matter what coin collectors think, there is no way Congress is going to alienate their electorate (virtually everyone hates change) by doing away with the $1 bill. >>
There's only one "electorate" that would care: the one where the Crane Paper Company is located. If Congress did this in an off-election year, it'd be a completely forgotten issue by the time elections rolled around.
Voters' short attention spans trump resistance to change every time.
<< <i>Who's going to hold the bet? >>
Me of course.
This is why this whole program is practically insane. In the old days, a silver dollar bought far more, and even then, people still preferred paper. Our tax money is going to a Korean company to supply the planchet metal for these dollars who in turn fund Bush Sr.'s presidential library ARTICLE
We have the biggest deficit in history and this is the kind of waste we get from our govt. Too bad....
<< <i>We have the biggest deficit in history and this is the kind of waste we get from our govt. Too bad.... >>
Switching from bills to coins would save our government $500 million per year. If you're truly anti-government waste, you'd be pro dollar coin.
I'm a coin collector, too. I see where ya'll are coming from. But I really, really wish some of you worked in retail. I really wish you could hear customers complaining about their pocket change. People paying me with change, just to get it out of their pockets/purses. People asking me to keep as much as $.85 in change, because they don't feel like carrying it around in their pockets. Politicians may be a lot of things, but they are no fools. They are intelligent and calculating. Any of them are capable of doing a quick cost-benefit analysis:
Pro: Make people slightly happy by publicizing the fact that the government will save money by using coins over bills. (Influence: Slight)
Con: Annoy people by forcing them to carry around more change than they already do. (Influence: Major)
Con: There is generally a perception that the government will just waste any money that they do somehow manage to save. (Influence: Slight)
Con: All dollar coin programs in the last thirty years have been failures. The government is obviously incompetent. (Influence: Slight)
Consider that last point: people are tired of getting new dollar coins. If they had done this back in the '70s, maybe there would have been less resistance. But since the 1970s, we've had Eisenhower dollars, Susan B. Anthony dollars, Sacagawea dollars, and now presidential dollars. The public widely regards every issue as a failure, further illustrating the incompetence of the government. Granted, any of them would have been successful if the dollar bill were eliminated, concurrent with the release of the new coin. But most people aren't going to see the "could-have-been" potential for success in these coins. They are going to see the fact that they've been blatant failures.
This belief in the incompetence and wastefulness of government, coupled with an intense public dislike of pocket change, will ensure that Congress never does away with the dollar bill. Mark my words.
Never.
<< <i>I hope they accept them for gas, it wil take a couple of pounds of these to fill it up. >>
I filled up today and paid with the new dollar coin...SIXTY-TWO of them to be exact!
They weren't happy and I just smiled.
Cheers,
Bob
flaminio, I understand your point, but it is a moot point if it can never be implemented. The American public will not support this change and will make their Reps. pay dearly on election day if this were done, so Congress won't change the law. Taking away Social Security would also save alot of money, but take it away and all heck would break loose.
Regarding this particular coin, it is junk, unattractive, made of pot metal, and coated with a quickly worn off thin plating. On top of this, nobody is going to use these just like the last two (Sac and SBA). At least the Sac had a beautiful design. Maybe they made these uglier so that people wouldn't hoard them lol?
Wheatfanatic
Change at Mc Donald's. I am gonna put it on ebay and retire. Toned beauty, wonder what temperature it took. I think I will list it as it was my grandfathers, and he kept in in an old photo album ever since it came out. (Last week) LOL
<< <i>The American public will not support this change and will make their Reps. pay dearly on election day if this were done, so Congress won't change the law >>
The American public have too short a memory for that to happen.
<< <i>The American public will not support this change and will make their Reps. pay dearly on election day if this were done, so Congress won't change the law. >>
I think you're putting way too much emphasis on this particular issue, and way too little on the short attention span of the American public. They tend to think about more important things like the war, economy, jobs, and the like. Whether they're spending dollar bills or dollar coins is way, way down on the list of stuff they care about, and unlikely to turn any election.
If the switch were made today, Americans would complain for a month, grumble for a second, and by the third month have forgotten it altogether.
<< <i>I think it's pretty simple. 99% of the public would hate to have to carry 7 to 8 of these coins in their pockets >>
No doubt, but the obvious solution to that problem is to spend them when the opportunity presents itself instead of just accumulating more. If you did that (spent them instead of holding on to them), there'd never be a reason to carry more than four at any one time.
<< <i>But I really, really wish some of you worked in retail. I really wish you could hear customers complaining about their pocket change. People paying me with change, just to get it out of their pockets/purses. >>
Paying with coins instead of accumulating them and carrying them around, only to dump in a jar at the end of the day, is just what you would have if the value of the coins were such that you could actually use one or two (instead of a pocketful) to buy stuff. I don't remember people complaining about pocket change 40 years ago, but then, it was actually useful for making purchases back then.
<< <i>Taking away Social Security would also save alot of money, but take it away and all heck would break loose. >>
Excellent analogy.
Flaminio:
Yes, people are sheep. Yes, people are dumb. Yes, people are self-absorbed. But if you make a change that affects every aspect of commerce, don't be surprised if they're able to remember it for a year or two. Remember how big of a fit Virginia's congressional delegation pitched about changing the design on the nickel? And that was just a meaningless design change that didn't have any impact at all on how people used their money. Think of the outcry if a bill is proposed that forces people to carry around pocket change at all times.
How many people remember that road that your senator managed to have built in your state? How many people remember that contract that he/she had awarded to a local company? Very few--yet they are willing to expend enormous amounts of influence in order to see it through. How much more will they fight on something as important as changing the way people do business?
Perception is reality, and the perception is that the public will dislike any such change, and will remember it on election day. Whether it's true or not is unimportant. The fact that politicians believe it to be true is all that matters.
<< <i>Are Candadians and Australians smarter than Americans? >>
Pretty much every first world country has dollar coin equivalents in general circulation, besides the United States. We're the backwards ones.
<< <i>Hey Outhaul is that a hemi in your dodge truck? By the way that is one fine looking vehicle. >>
Yes & thanks! I pay for it at the pumps (can't keep your foot off of it) but it's fun...
On the main topic, I was living in the UK when they changed from the £1 note to the £1 coin. People grumbled a bit, but it worked in the end. A $1 coin will never circulate in this country until they do away with the $1 note at the same time.
Cheers,
Bob
"Are these dollar coins?"
San Diego, CA
<< <i>
<< <i>Are Candadians and Australians smarter than Americans? >>
Pretty much every first world country has dollar coin equivalents in general circulation, besides the United States. We're the backwards ones. >>
Funny I've heard people who travel around the world say the same thing.. that even the airports are more technologically advanced then in the US and it seems this country is more caught up in greed and corruption then ever getting things done, except in war of course. Pull the troops out of iraq.. you'd save enough money to print dollar bills for the next 500 years. Don't go to war with iran.. save enough money to print the dollar bill for 100,000 years.