Cerulean
Sr. Member
Yesterday afternoon, my wife and I took the remaining $120 in halves to the bank. The goal was to cash them in using the free coin counter, which sits at a kiosk near the front door in the lobby. The last time I used this machine was a few weeks back, when it jammed up on me. The employee who cleared the jam explained that it can't do too many coins at once, and that I should load the hopper more gradually. I did so, and encountered no problems.
This time I wasn't as lucky. I started with just a modest handful, and pushed the start button. The coins went into the machine, and proceeded to rattle around for about ten minutes. The machine then stopped, told me it had counted $2.50, and prompted me with the choice of counting more or printing a receipt. I knew there was more of my money in there, so I pressed the start button again. The rattling sound recommenced for five more minutes. It counted two more halves, and gave me the same decision.
My wife beckoned for an employee to help us. A manager-looking man in a suit came over, opened the front of the cabinet, and sprayed the machine's moving parts with a can of compressed air. He said "It has a hard time counting larger coins." After that, we pressed the start button again, and the machine started counting normally. It got up to $37.51 before jamming again.
At this point, my wife suggested an option. What would happen if we pressed the Print button to get a receipt? It would be a gamble, since there were still uncounted halves rattling around inside. Would they be dumped in the reject tray, or would we lose them? We lost the gamble... the halves were lost to us.
I took the receipt for $37.51 (it must have picked up a stray penny) over to the teller, and set my jar of uncounted halves in front of me. "You have a very frustrating machine. It jammed on us several times," I said. The teller replied, "Hold on, I'll get someone out to help you." She cashed out my receipt, and a more technical-looking employee helped us with the machine again. He opened it up, did some things, and then said "Okay, let's test it." I carefully counted out $5.00 (10 halves), and put them in the hopper. It counted to $3.50 before jamming.
Twenty minutes and three employees later, they just took the three uncounted halves right from the sorting drum and handed them back to me. I cashed the $3.50 receipt, and decided to try a machine at a different branch. My wife is convinced the machine is missing some part that helps it sort halves easier.
I noticed some things about the machine as it was open. There's an inch of sound insulation on the inside of the cabinet, and even with that it's a loud rattler. The coins appear to be only sorted by size. The bags inside are in order by coin diameter. The floor of the machine was littered with coins of all types. Most frustrating of all, the machine has TWO reject trays, one of which stays inside the machine! It was full of halves, older coins, and foreign objects including a small light bulb. It was very frustrating to see all these random coins and not be able to get them. Confound my coin-addicted curiosity!
Has anyone else had trouble with coin counters accepting halves? Did I happen upon the one bad machine in town, or should I expect this trouble more often?
This time I wasn't as lucky. I started with just a modest handful, and pushed the start button. The coins went into the machine, and proceeded to rattle around for about ten minutes. The machine then stopped, told me it had counted $2.50, and prompted me with the choice of counting more or printing a receipt. I knew there was more of my money in there, so I pressed the start button again. The rattling sound recommenced for five more minutes. It counted two more halves, and gave me the same decision.
My wife beckoned for an employee to help us. A manager-looking man in a suit came over, opened the front of the cabinet, and sprayed the machine's moving parts with a can of compressed air. He said "It has a hard time counting larger coins." After that, we pressed the start button again, and the machine started counting normally. It got up to $37.51 before jamming again.
At this point, my wife suggested an option. What would happen if we pressed the Print button to get a receipt? It would be a gamble, since there were still uncounted halves rattling around inside. Would they be dumped in the reject tray, or would we lose them? We lost the gamble... the halves were lost to us.
I took the receipt for $37.51 (it must have picked up a stray penny) over to the teller, and set my jar of uncounted halves in front of me. "You have a very frustrating machine. It jammed on us several times," I said. The teller replied, "Hold on, I'll get someone out to help you." She cashed out my receipt, and a more technical-looking employee helped us with the machine again. He opened it up, did some things, and then said "Okay, let's test it." I carefully counted out $5.00 (10 halves), and put them in the hopper. It counted to $3.50 before jamming.
Twenty minutes and three employees later, they just took the three uncounted halves right from the sorting drum and handed them back to me. I cashed the $3.50 receipt, and decided to try a machine at a different branch. My wife is convinced the machine is missing some part that helps it sort halves easier.
I noticed some things about the machine as it was open. There's an inch of sound insulation on the inside of the cabinet, and even with that it's a loud rattler. The coins appear to be only sorted by size. The bags inside are in order by coin diameter. The floor of the machine was littered with coins of all types. Most frustrating of all, the machine has TWO reject trays, one of which stays inside the machine! It was full of halves, older coins, and foreign objects including a small light bulb. It was very frustrating to see all these random coins and not be able to get them. Confound my coin-addicted curiosity!
Has anyone else had trouble with coin counters accepting halves? Did I happen upon the one bad machine in town, or should I expect this trouble more often?
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) and typically let me have the "stuff" in there. Plus, while they're replacing a bag I've filled, I'll throw away the true junk for them; while commandeering the odd'/rejected coins.
I have a list of banks with coin sorters and by it I keep track of which banks I drop off at by date and also the ones that are slower and jam often. 
