Another coinstar complaint :::::UPDATE:::::

GoldenEyeNumismatics · August 26, 2007 5:59AM

I took a large canvas Mint bag which I had filled probably 5/8 the way full with quarters, dimes, and mostly nickels. Took it to coinstar today, and the total (minus fees) was just under $300. I KNOW there was more money in there than that. Something's phishy.

UPDATE

2 days ago I cashed in all my quarters, dimes, and nickels. Today I took the pennies. This time I'm sure how much I had--$60 worth (from recent roll searching). Coinstar counted 4,185 pennies. Something's up.

AUandAG · August 26, 2007 6:43AM

GEM, i do believe you are on to a scam! Yep, now refill that sack with change and count it first and then have
it verified by the business manager where your coinstar is located and then wahlah! You got em red handed!
Keep us posted!

bob

fc · August 26, 2007 6:58AM

yikes! i guess there is not much i can say about this thread
except do what was suggested above.

i only use coinstar for pennies and then use the money to
grocery shop. never more than 20 bucks.

Cam40 · August 26, 2007 7:05AM

your `convenience fee` for the $300 in change was probably about $27
was it well bellow that?
i too only dump mostly zincolns and some dimes and quarters in the coinstar.

flydoc · August 26, 2007 7:07AM

I can't understand their popularity. Most banks, if you have an account, will sort your change for free.

GoldenEyeNumismatics · August 26, 2007 7:08AM

<< your `convenience fee` for the $300 in change was probably about $27
was it well bellow that?
i too only dump mostly zincolns and some dimes and quarters in the coinstar. >>

I believed I had between $500-$750

Cam40 · August 26, 2007 7:15AM

oh, then your `fee` was closer to....around $75 maybe?

my3cents · August 26, 2007 7:34AM

DO IT Goldeneye - get a box of change, count it, then take it to the store and have THEM count it, then put it in the machine.

mrpotatoheadd · August 26, 2007 7:45AM

<< I took a large canvas Mint bag which I had filled probably 5/8 the way full with quarters, dimes, and mostly nickels. >>

I have a canvas mint bag that held $1,000 in dollars (Ikes). If it was only 5/8 full of Ikes (or dimes, quarters or halves, for that matter), there would be $625 in the bag.

If you assume that more than half was nickels (say 3/4 of the full part), that would be .47 of a bag of nickels (.75 x .625) and .16 of a bag of dimes and quarters (.25 x .625). Also, since nickels are over twice as heavy (and so approx. twice as large) as dimes, the space taken up by a dollar's worth of dimes or quarters in nickels would be about 45 cents, or 45% of the dime/quarter value for a corresponding volume.

Now, since the space in the bag taken up by dimes/quarters is .16 of a bag, that would equal approx. $160. The .47 of a bag taken up by the nickels would be worth $470 as dimes/quarters, but since nickels are larger in relationship to their value, the total in nickels in the bag would be about $211 ($470 x .45). Adding together, the total in the bag would be $371.

Although that's more than you received, it's not off by magnitudes or anything, and the total figured is obviously based on almost nothing but assumptions.

FWIW...

BAJJERFAN · August 26, 2007 8:00AM

Why would anyone give a stupid machine a 10% premium to count their change? Why even bother accumulating it?

RYK · August 26, 2007 8:04AM

<< Why would anyone give a stupid machine a 10% premium to count their change? Why even bother accumulating it? >>

fc · August 26, 2007 8:08AM

i am not sure anyone wishes to roll their own coins anymore
considering most people here probably make 20+ dollars an hour.

it is like complaining about people who use coin star yet you will
go out an buy a bottle of water that is from the tap for > 1.00

we all do odd things i suppose. i know i dont wish to roll 2000+
pennies.

RYK · August 26, 2007 8:12AM

<< i am not sure anyone wishes to roll their own coins anymore
considering most people here probably make 20+ dollars an hour.

it is like complaining about people who use coin star yet you will
go out an buy a bottle of water that is from the tap for > 1.00

we all do odd things i suppose. i know i dont wish to roll 2000+
pennies. >>

I earn a tad north of $20/hour, but I still find the time to roll my change. It's something mindless to do while watching a sporting event on television or listening to music. To each his own.

BAJJERFAN · August 26, 2007 8:12AM

<< i know i dont wish to roll 2000+ >>

Then don't accumulate them. Lots of banks either bust open the rolls and recount them or put your name on the roll and come after you if it winds up being shorted.

fc · August 26, 2007 8:21AM

Then don't accumulate them.
---

hm. i just come home at night/work and put my change in a basket.
if i had a son or daughter that would be my supply of pocket change
for them to pick from.

but what am i supposed to do with it then? i try to use it wherever
i am in small amounts (like a toll on a highway)...

coinstar works for me.

BAJJERFAN · August 26, 2007 8:31AM

<< but what am i supposed to do with it then? >>

Keep it in your pocket and spend it at the first opportunity. After all you must be spending paper money or you wouldn't be getting change; so when you get a bux worth of change use it instead of a paper dollar.

Faust · August 26, 2007 8:35AM

Why pay Coinstar a fee or roll them when you can use a commercial bank that has free coin counting services? I use Commerce Bank and the free coin counting is great. I'm sure there are
other banks that offer this service too.

RWB · August 26, 2007 8:41AM

Some banks, at least in the Washington DC area, have coin counting machines available for use by anyone who wanders in – free. The one I've used at a Chevy Chase Bank branch counts and separates the coins by denomination. They fall into clear bins so you can see what you have. You take the bin and the machine receipt to a teller, they open the bin and recount it using their equipment and give you paper currency. You can also ask for your coins back also – which I did once after noted a bunch of silver halves in the change my wife wanted converted to bills. Commerce Bank in NJ and NY does this too, as well as some up-scale grocery chains like Wegmans and Whole Foods.

Weiss · August 26, 2007 8:45AM

At my bank they'll take your change, dump it into their machines, and either give you bills or deposit it for you as you wish. No charge, no lip, no questions asked. It's called "service", and if your bank doesn't do it for free, then get another bank.

Coinstar is a fantastic scam. The idea that people would willingly line up to have someone take 8% + of their money for any reason is beyond comprehension.

fc · August 26, 2007 8:50AM

you guys must have nice banks. here in NH in manchester i think
they deal with a lot of crap. thus, free perks have disappeared.

the lines are several people deep most of the time and just
asking for rolls of quaters results in a do you have an account here?

duh.. i only visit the branch every two weeks for the last how many
years...

so asking for them to roll my change.. i can just see the blank stares
from these poor overworked girls.

mrpotatoheadd · August 26, 2007 8:52AM

<< Coinstar is a fantastic scam. >>

Coinstar only exists because our current lineup of coinage denominations is woefully out of date. If coins had any perceived value, people would spend them as they received them, not haul them home and fill up bags and jars with them.

edited to add... Coinstar is *not* a fantastic scam, and calling it such only cheapens the word. Coinstar does nothing more than put its machines in stores (and advertises, I suppose, although I've never seen any). Nobody is forced to use their service. I'm guessing (since I've never used one) that the fee is posted on the machine, so there should be no reason to complain- if you're okay with it, good enough, and if not, take your coins to your bank and exchange them for paper there.

edited one more time for good measure... The market I shop at has a vending machine out front that sells cans of Coke for a dollar. These are the very same cans you can buy inside the store for about 20-25 cents each in 12 packs. If Coinstar is a scam at 8%, what do you call a company getting 300-400%?

billboat · August 26, 2007 8:58AM

<< you guys must have nice banks. here in NH in manchester i think
they deal with a lot of crap. thus, free perks have disappeared.

the lines are several people deep most of the time and just
asking for rolls of quaters results in a do you have an account here?

duh.. i only visit the branch every two weeks for the last how many
years...

so asking for them to roll my change.. i can just see the blank stares
from these poor overworked girls. >>

Have you tried a credit union? That's where I go with my change---you do need an account with the CU to use the free machine.

Darkmane · August 26, 2007 8:58AM

I love Coinstar machines.

They're my best bet for silver finds whenever I'm at the grocery store. If ya don't like it, don't use it! Seldom in life are solutions so easy to come by

BAJJERFAN · August 26, 2007 9:08AM

Mite be worthwhile to consider moving eh?

RWB · August 26, 2007 9:11AM

fc -
Go to your local stock broker, buy a few shares of the bank you frequent. Get a paper certificate. Take the certificate with you next time you go and flash it as part of your "Do you have an account here, sir?" routine. They will get to know you very very quickly.

RWB

GFourDriver · August 26, 2007 9:50AM

I give the coins to my kids to roll.

Cameonut · August 26, 2007 10:23AM

In my area (Michigan) even the Credit Unions now charge for counting coins in their machines. After all, they are in business to make money for their shareholders.

In the "old days" I used to take my change and have the credit union machine count it out and deposit it to my account for free.

But these days I only use their machine to count out the low denomination coins. They charge 5% which is less than the Coin Star ripoff. But I refuse to let them charge me a nickel to count 4 quarters. But I am more than happy to let them charge me a nickel to count out 100 pennies. So I cull out the quarters and some of the dimes and let them have at the rest.

I use the quarters in toll booths, newspaper machines, and other uses.

BTW, the silver coins and Canadian coins are returned to me. So they do provide a valuable "sorting service" for me.

CB2597 · August 26, 2007 10:26AM

Thanks to a bank here in the east coast called Commerce Bank they have a free coin counting machine for everybody .Even non bank customers could just walk it...drop their coins and get the total and bring it to the teller to get their cash. No sales pitch whatsoever to open an account with them.

tydye · August 26, 2007 10:30AM

I get rid of my loose change when I go through the self check out lines at grocery stores etc. Just takes a few seconds to dump $5-10 in the self-check-out.

foundinrolls · August 26, 2007 12:50PM

<< I can't understand their popularity. Most banks, if you have an account, will sort your change for free. >>

They will not.....:-) If that guy had a $300.00 bag of change, they would have handed him wrappers and said put your account number on each roll. Thank you:-)

Texast · August 26, 2007 1:01PM

<< Why would anyone give a stupid machine a 10% premium to count their change? >>

I bought a bucket full of change from a guy that had been in a fire for a hundred dollars, I cleaned it up as good as I could and took it to the bank in rolls, they looked at one roll and asked if they were all like that, I was honest and they refused them, said I would have to send it to the Federal reserve bank, I decided it was easier to send it through the Coinstar, out of $450.00 worth it only rejected about $2.00. Then I read the sign asking not to put in dirty coins... Too late ....

Coxe · August 26, 2007 1:03PM

Coinstar is proof that a lot of people are clueless as to what money is anymore. This is a laziness/stupidity tax assessed by a private enterprise.

pb2y · August 26, 2007 1:12PM

Counting errors and exorbitant user fees our common complaints
seen on this Forum. If you can't roll your own or figure out a way
to spend the stuff then it is take in the backside time with the counting machines.
Your choice.

ilikebuffaloes · August 26, 2007 1:22PM

I'm not going to bash anyone for using Coinstar. Some of you may not know that you can get 100% of your money in a gift card (and you have several choices) so if you frequent a place like a grocery store, what's the problem? I have an account with PNC Bank in NJ and they just started counting coins for free to compete with Commerce Bank.

Accumulating change is a great way to save money for buying coins, vacation or a night out. I actually started saving 1s and 5s (in addition to my change) for vacation.

DJCoinz · August 26, 2007 1:24PM

<< I can't understand their popularity. Most banks, if you have an account, will sort your change for free. >>

No kidding. Why waste the money? Take it to your local bank and have them count it in their machines and then get it back in cash.

bennyb · August 26, 2007 1:54PM

As noted above, when I take my pocket change pile to the Coinstar at my grocery store, I get either an Amazon card or a Border's card for 100% of what I put in.

Too bad all the casinos are going to paper tickets because that used to be a great way to cash in change.

Also, c'mon, unless you counted it or had a better way of knowing, you can't say that you "thought" there was more there. I "think" every two weeks that my paycheck should be bigger...

GoldenEyeNumismatics · August 26, 2007 2:07PM

<< Coinstar is proof that a lot of people are clueless as to what money is anymore. This is a laziness/stupidity tax assessed by a private enterprise. >>

Using a coinstar machine is NOT laziness. I use one because I can make more money working than it would cost me to roll the ocins in the same amount of time.

Coxe · August 26, 2007 2:14PM

I just don't see why people don't just spend their coins. That's what they are for after all. I guess an amazon gift card is fine, though it is as bad as credit card purchases which do affect the consumer in the end with the merchant necessarily having to increase the margins. But who am I to talk? I buy coins.

pb2y · August 26, 2007 2:14PM

<< [ Using a coinstar machine is NOT laziness. I use one because I can make more money working than it would cost me to roll the ocins in the same amount of time. >>

Anyone so well heeled should donate all loose coins to charity.

CaptHenway · August 26, 2007 3:07PM

<< I took a large canvas Mint bag which I had filled probably 5/8 the way full with quarters, dimes, and mostly nickels. Took it to coinstar today, and the total (minus fees) was just under $300. I KNOW there was more money in there than that. Something's phishy. >>

You do not "know" there was more than that in there. You may suspect or believe that there was more, but you do not know it.
TD

TwoSides2aCoin · August 26, 2007 3:13PM

<< 

<< [ Using a coinstar machine is NOT laziness. I use one because I can make more money working than it would cost me to roll the ocins in the same amount of time. >>

Anyone so well heeled should donate all loose coins to charity. >>

<-----charitable contributions accepted daily
5% counting fees apply.

BobaFett72 · August 26, 2007 3:23PM

find a good bank. all the local ones have coin machines; no charge if you have an account. Coinstar is for suckers.

BlindedByEgo · August 26, 2007 4:07PM

<< 

<< [ Using a coinstar machine is NOT laziness. I use one because I can make more money working than it would cost me to roll the ocins in the same amount of time. >>

Anyone so well heeled should donate all loose coins to charity. >>

I don't use Coinstar.

I keep my loose change in a large jar - the kids use it for emergency gas money, etc. I generally put it in faster than they use it.

And even without Coinstar, I donate a boatload to charity

Paleodale · August 26, 2007 6:29PM

I have one of those water cooler bottle's just about full now, it has taken me about ten years to fill it up... I have often wondered what to do with it when it gets full... I thought it might give me something to do when I retire, I could check each coin for error's, there has to be some nice Lincolns/Zincolns in there,, I started collecting these before the state quarter thingy.... Who knows what might lurk in this bottle that I have to use a dolly to move it around it's so heavy.... It's made of plastic and it creeks now whenever I move it around,, It sounds like it's going to crack/split open,,, .

,, Many times I wondered how much there is in this bottle, I figure there has to be well over $1000 dollars in there... Maybe I could hold a contest here on this forum and see who would win the bottle full of coins if they could guess the exact amount,,,

Paleodale · August 26, 2007 6:37PM

You know,,, I just thought about something... All the money that I have put in there in over ten years is worth Less now than what the same amount would have bought ten years ago... a gallon of gas was just around a dollar,, and ounce of silver $6.85,,, an ounce of gold around $300 .... I actually lost money by saving it.!!!!!!...

GoldenEyeNumismatics · August 28, 2007 1:53PM

bump for update

cladking · August 28, 2007 2:21PM

<< I took a large canvas Mint bag which I had filled probably 5/8 the way full with quarters, dimes, and mostly nickels. Took it to coinstar today, and the total (minus fees) was just under $300. I KNOW there was more money in there than that. Something's phishy.

UPDATE

2 days ago I cashed in all my quarters, dimes, and nickels. Today I took the pennies. This time I'm sure how much I had--$60 worth (from recent roll searching). Coinstar counted 4,185 pennies. Something's up. >>

Looks like the "F" word could apply.

Perhaps everyone should run out right away with witnesses and evidence to check the machines.

It may just be a glitch in this machine. I'd call the corporate offices and demand to be made whole on both transactions.

Lakesammman · August 28, 2007 3:35PM

I play golf regularly with the CEO of CoinStar and my wife knows the family of the founder. They are both class acts and would never intentionally rip you off.

If you believe the machine to be off, it would be a pretty simple matter to prove it. Take the time to do it. We would all apppreciate knowing the results and so would they.

slipgate · August 28, 2007 10:02PM

Aren't coinstars individually owned and operated like a franchise? I thought they were like those generic ATMs.

I do believe that some of these machines are set up specifically to short-change the public. It's too easy! If you know of one that is bad, I am sure the media would do a story on it if someone documented it and called.

We had a vending machine here at work that frequently shortchanged people and stole money without delivering anything. We had a power blip the other day and the machine started spitting out free candy left and right! You can bet no one felt guilty and no one gave any of it back!

TwoSides2aCoin · August 28, 2007 10:54PM

<< I play golf regularly with the CEO of CoinStar and my wife knows the family of the founder. They are both class acts and would never intentionally rip you off.

If you believe the machine to be off, it would be a pretty simple matter to prove it. Take the time to do it. We would all apppreciate knowing the results and so would they. >>

Perhaps you could PLUG this place to your golfing partner.
Thanks Tim

Joe

tmot99 · August 29, 2007 12:06AM

<< I play golf regularly with the CEO of CoinStar and my wife knows the family of the founder. They are both class acts and would never intentionally rip you off.

If you believe the machine to be off, it would be a pretty simple matter to prove it. Take the time to do it. We would all apppreciate knowing the results and so would they. >>

Just because you know the CEO and family doesn't mean he knows what actually goes on at the machine level. Many CEOs are out playing golf, managing, etc and don't have any clue to what's happening at the point of use. There's likely 4-5 levels of employees below him, if not more, to deal with this stuff.

Another coinstar complaint :::::UPDATE:::::

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