Coin accumulation

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Yes that's a great way........part cash + part card = zero change

I have a coin jar that I put spare change in whenever I find it in my pockets or in my room. The coin slot has an electronic sensor that can identify and differentiate between different increments of U.S. currency, from pennies to gold dollars. It can tell the worth of each coin based on size, and keeps a running tally of how much is in it.

After it accumulates to about $5 or so, I'll usually use it to get lunch if I'm out of funds in my account. There's a Chinese fast-food restaurant at the student union, and I can get a box-full of their orange-glazed chicken and a small soda for about $5.25. I used to get these all the time last school year when I'd go to have lunch with Kyuuchan and the rest of our crew. I even have a personal set of chopsticks I bring with me, they're black with a sakura blossom pattern. Very nice.

I've seen "coin sorters" that definitely sort coins, but no more quickly than I could sort them myself. Still, the running total is an addition that would save time overall. And machines are fun.

TD, your thread inspired me to cash in my change stash( today), but this time the bank has a sorter machine. You are prompted to punch an "A" button for an acceptance agreement of an 8 % take if not an account holder, or push B to decline. $174 for today. It took a few minutes.

That's a lot........hope you have an account with them to avoid the commission.

Oh yes. And I'd find a way to spend it if it was a general charge for the machine service. That's how it came across at the first second glance and I was going to walk.

Ditto.


Why is going to the bank such an issue for some people? (They have limited hours. But, aside from that, I have never had any issues.)

When I am lucky enough to accumulate coins, I either roll them, or make a point of having a few counted out for smaller purchases (usually containing unhealthy amounts of caffeine).

To give credit where it's due, they were OK about my opening an account with them. But beyond that, my experiences are as follows:

Wishing to transfer a rather large sum on the Web, their Website recommended I nipped into the local branch to clear it with them in person, so I went in and asked. They didn't seem to know what I was talking about. They kept saying they always charge for transactions, I said I've made loads of them on the Web and you never charge me, they said they always do. So I left, did the thing without their clearance, it was fine, no charges.

When I asked them for a Cheque Guarantee Card (ancient forerunner of credit card), they told me to come back when I'd held a few thousand in a zero-interest current account for a few months.

When I wanted a debit card with Visa on it, they asked me a ton of questions, then tried to sell me stuff "while the computer was evaluating my request," and then said no, refusing to give a reason.

Getting them to do cash transfers to an account in Spain was too much for them. I explained clearly that I wanted the total cost to me to equal £100 (or whatever it was), including their charges. Guess what they did? Sent £100 and charged me that plus their own charge. Then they did it again. And they told me I should close the account because there wasn't enough activity in and out of it.

Wishing to buy an annuity but not knowing the terminology, I was offered a share portfolio requiring a huge up-front premium.

They changed the interest rules on an account without making it clear, and I got no interest for a couple of months until I spotted it.

Sometimes they're programmed to insert a little sales pitch into the agenda, e.g. if you have an expensive-looking mobile phone, they tell you how nice it looks and ask you if it's insured. If you're alert, you'll see where they're going with it.

And the winner - I went to talk to them and they made me use their internal telephone to talk to an adviser, who wouldn't tell me anything unless I gave him my telephone PIN, which I'd left at home because I was going to talk to them in person.

That's why going to a bank is an issue for me.

Supermarkets have coin machines where you put in the coins and the amount there is put on a credit card or gift certificates.

Curse these vile monstrous demons who only pay in copper pieces! I've had to deal with a person who purchased a pair of $30 headphones and paid penny by penny. The poor cashier looked irritated. I even opffered to pay for the headphones with my cash to spped things along, but the person declined. Seriously, something must be wrong with these kinds of individuals.

TD, everybody has a "dishonest/difficult bank" story. But, swapping out coins is usually pretty straightforward. At most, they ask for a bank card to prove you have an account with them.

My old bank was terrible. But, swapping coins was never an issue.

It's not just based on a single anecdote. Apart from opening accounts, simple withdrawals and paying in cheques, they have been consistently useless, in my direct experience. It's not impossible that they could just accept the coins (though after so many bad experiences at their hands I really don't feel like putting it to the test), but they'd at least expect them to be counted out and in the proper bags, and "no mixed coin." Contrast this with the supermarket self-checkout, where I can just fling in mixtures of uncounted coins and I don't have to argue with muppets. Its the logical choice.

I think it's the rat-race world that's at fault here. The young are always in such a hurry.

I expect the shop could have legally refused to accept $30 in pennies:

http://www.royalmint.com/aboutus/polici ... guidelines