The Coinstar Conspiracy.

Keeping the occasional Ike, steelie and 90% dime is what's keeping coin star in business. If they had to rely only on the 9% fee, they'd have folded many years ago for sure.

 

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If the machine takes things without crediting then it's stealing. If it were only Ikes I still wouldn't approve but the sign does provide some warning if people read it. What logic is there for having coins not returned to the user? You can call it a "bin" or anything you want but if the machine is designed to take things then it's not right. What good is terminology to the guy who just saw his missing 1/2 ounce gold eagle disappear into the counter and not be ejected? Will the company come out and pull it out of the "internal rejection bin" for him? Imagine how much unhappier he'd be if he knew it didn't even credit him 25c or 50c for it.

Of course not. This is abandoned property. If the half ounce gold coin were in it it would be retrieved. What does the average person want with coins that won't go through a coin counter? If they're left they apparently are not wanted or are abandoned.

We're jumping on the big guy because there's an accusation he's stealing from people. This would be wrong. It doesn't become right just because the CEO makes millions per year.

 

I think it's worse than that.

It's more like offering to give out $100 bills for five twenties for a 9% fee and then just keeping the twenties. Or maybe just keeping the twenties that have serial numbers starting with a "6" without warning people in advance.

Again this should be considered hearsay that they are actually stealing but this seems a better analogy.

 

Yes. I agree.

And so long as any coins going into it are credited there is no problem.

If the machine design is bad and they can't get it to eject Ikes then this should be boldly placarded in plain sight. I wouldn't expect them to redesign all their machines simply because it can't handle one legal coin properly.

 

As for your first point, the company can design themselves right out of business. Then we'll just go back to coin rolling. And jump on the tellers who recognize the more valuable coins in the roll, and keep them for themselves at face value. And we'll still be crying thief. At some point it is your responsibility to look out for yourself.

 

Wow, we are really making a big deal out of somebody else's stupidity, blaming everyone but the stupid one.

 

It is, in two different languages.

 

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Please, make sure that quotes are properly attributed - I didn't say the stuff in bold that you attributed to me.

Let me repeat number three above, since you seem to have missed it:

Let me repeat number three again, since it is relevant to this paragraph, as well:

I don't have any problem with them charging a fee. I do, though, have a problem with them keeping coins that they aren't crediting the customer for, especially since the only change is redirecting the stuff that currently goes to the second bin to go to the first bin, instead.

I would appreciate it if you would explain how you got from my statement:

to

I don't see any logical relationship between my statement and your conclusion.

Thanks.

 

i think he's saying that to redesign all the machines would cost more than they can handle. I don't know if that's the truth or not.... But as long as we're debating: If they had designed them right in the first place, this would not be debated now. Really it would seem that what goes into the internal bin could fairly easily be rerouted to one, single, accessible reject bin. Who knows? Maybe it would be worth it in the long run to avoid costly lawsuits. Case in point: a teller told me a few weeks ago that an elderly woman came in with 200+ Ikes. Whatever the reason, if she could or did not see the posted sign and dumped them in, she'd have been a BIG TIME loser on the deal. The only coin counting machines anywhere around me are not coinstar and are behind the counter at the bank. I have no access at all, whatsoever. Can't even see the total personally.

 

also, legally, signs aren't good enough anymore:
A person was sentenced to life in prison after, having had his home burgled numerous times, filed police reports etc. he rigged a shotgun to the inside of his door. (Burglars kept just kicking in his front door) On the outside of the door was a sign that said WARNING IF YOU ENTER THIS DOOR A RIGGED GUN WILL SHOOT YOU. Burgler dead, victim in jail.

Every year small children, inebriated adults and people with mental problems drown in pools. It is well known that signs by themselves are inadequate. These hazards must be fenced in to avoid liability.

Which brings us to the point. Simply to avoid possible liability, a simple reroute could occur during any routine machine maintainance. Escpecially since, as has been pointed out, machine serviceman would take whatever they want from it before it ever got to the company, and why would the company want to accept such liability?

 

I don't attribute the stuff in bold to you. The bold type is my response to those statements they follow. I was too lazy to break the reply into different quotes.
(It's been done on internet forums before)

No, I didn't miss number three, but two-thirds of your blame falls directly on the company, even through they have taken the necessary steps to warn the user not to put that stuff into their machines.

Sure there is. It would take a redesign and refitting of the machines to do what you think may solve the problem. With the number of machines out there, this would be an enormous expense to solve what basically is a minor issue. The only real change would be that the stuff goes into the outside reject bin, then the coin collector walking past can see it and claim it for himself as "abandoned property". So it's no longer theft by the big boy, but...

Is it a minor issue? Yep. It's not like the internet is afire with accusations of Coinstar's "deceptive and greedy" practices. None of the major news networks have sent their investigative reporters after them. So really, what's the big deal. People are warned, they throw in the stuff anyway, and don't seek any means of getting it back.

 

so whats the final verdict? Is this company just a front to steal your ike dollars

 

No I am pretty sure they not only make a killing charging their 9% (9% of millions or billions in change adds up). But they also gain huge profits from all the silver coinage people dump in the machines. After all if I give you a silver dime and you give me 9 cents back thats a good 2 dollar profit. Multiply that by the tens of thousands or maybe hundreds of thousands of times that happens per year between all the machines nationwide, well thats serious money.

 

Plus I never have more then a 100 bucks in change anyways (excluding my collection). Personally I have no problem giving the drive through my bill in change.

TBH if anyone ever wants to get bills for their change I will one up coinstar and give you 92 cents on the dollar instead of 91 cents on the dollar like coinstar. Just come pay me a visit .

 

After reading a few pages of this thread, I cannot take a solid stance on the argument. While I agree that it is possible that Coinstar would try to take the valuable coins and sell them, I cannot be sure that it is true because of what a few people have said. In any case, Coinstar is a ripoff--in my opinion. It's worth it to just roll them if you have more than 100 dollars.

I will say this however.. the few times that I have used a Coinstar machine, it seemed like I was shorted more than 8-9 cents on the dollar.

 

Personally, I have found many silver dimes and foreign coins in the reject tray.

I have never used the machine (never will) but everytime i go by one i always look in the tray

 

Coinstar is nothing more than a convenient and expensive way to get your coins counted. Nothing more, nothing less. I can't believe they would be allowed to operate in the places they operate if they were stealing money or doing something else illegal. There are too many OTHER powerful interests would come down hard on them including the banking industry which reserves the sole right to take advantage of people via their deposited money.

• If you don't trust Coinstar or think it's a ripoff, then don't use Coinstar.
• Don't expect Coinstar to examine your box load of coins and return the valuable dates and silver. Coinstar does not provide a roll searching service.
• The instructions say "Don't Do This" and you "Do This", then don't be upset at the results.
• It's not Coinstar's fault that you put your rare gold dollar coin into the machine. I'm sure the Coinstar design engineer didn't think of this either.

Considering some of the very unreasonable demands that people have made in this topic about Coinstar, I'm surprised they can design, manufacture, and operate these machines for the general public and charge as little as they do.

 

" . .

A person was sentenced to life in prison after, having had his home burgled numerous times, filed police reports etc. he rigged a shotgun to the inside of his door. (Burglars kept just kicking in his front door) On the outside of the door was a sign that said WARNING IF YOU ENTER THIS DOOR A RIGGED GUN WILL SHOOT YOU. Burgler dead, victim in jail. . ."

This is outrageous. Where can I read more about the case.
​

"

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Like I said earlier, Coinstar probably never sees those. My guess would be the machine is serviced and emptied by private contractors, so the company itself never has possession of the "stolen" items to sell. If anything, the truck driver makes out by pocketing what he finds, just like the guy walking past and taking the stuff from the outer reject tray.