Coin Counter Broke - Bank Ties Up My 1K - Advice? UPDATE

[MentalUnrest]

Got a call from the bank and they said they got machine working and reran coins. They said it came out $5.00 short of 1K but deposited the full 1K. I was very impressed with that and thanked her for handling the situation the way she did. I have had a few incidences with poor customer service from this bank but this time they did a outstanding job.



Went to Bank of the West and had 1K in dimes to dump. Teller comes and tells me the counter jammed and they could not finish running. Said they got more than half run, so I am expecting about $500 with half the bag left. She tells me total is $537, alright....then gives me the bag back with what feels like $150-200 in bag. I have changed out enough bags with 1K in dimes to know what is left in bag by weight. I say, no way is there $463 in this bag to which she gets very short and starts giving me a fast explanation on how they will have to rereun all the coins, compare totals and how it would take several days to do this as they have to get a technician in to fix it before they can rerun.

I explained to her that this was not a penny bank collection where I have a rough estimate of what is in there and that I knew to the penny what was in there. I had brought 1K in dumps in there nearly every week for the past 2 months and she acknowleged she knew this. She went on to say that whatever the counter came up to, then that is what I would get. When I pressed her about if the counter said I did not have 1K coming to, she in a nutshell, said that I would get what it said.

She then tells me, "that is the risk you take when you bring in coins and have them counted." I stopped her right there and said, "I wasn't aware there was risk involved with getting your money at this bank." Aren't these risks associated with...maybe going to a casino or buying a lotto ticket? I told here I would not take the remaining coins in bag as that would leave me open to them saying I took coins out of bag or something so they sealed the remaining coins in a bag and put in the vault.

So right now, I have 1K tied up, most likely, until next week. Is there anything I should do or say when I call the branch manager tomorrow besides explaining what I have outlined above?

 

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[Dok Holliday]

Re: Coin Counter Broke - Bank Ties Up My 1K - Advice?

This isn't in Cedar Rapids, is it?

 

[Dok Holliday]

Re: Coin Counter Broke - Bank Ties Up My 1K - Advice?

Allow me to elaborate:

I hate Wells Fargo...been thinking about opening up an account @ Bank of the West. If this is how the tellers treat their customers, I won't be going there.

 

[clovis97]

Re: Coin Counter Broke - Bank Ties Up My 1K - Advice?

I'd play this one cool until you find out if you are shorted or not.

The bank should be able to re-run the current bag that is on the coin counter and see how it matches up with the current balance they had before you brought in your bag.

 

[FormerTeller]

Re: Coin Counter Broke - Bank Ties Up My 1K - Advice?

I understand your frustration, but quite honestly, what did you expect her to do? Count out the remaining dimes by hand? Even if she did, all it would show is that you were correct in saying you had only a couple hundred dollars left. It would still be your word that more dimes were left in the machine. In any event, what she said is true: when the machine is fixed, the coins will be rerun, everything will be totaled out, and your money returned/credited/whatever.

Admittedly, the teller's attitude sounded unprofessional. However, from your post it sounds like both of you lost your cool a little. The bottom line is you have a reputation of bringing in 1k dimes each week, and they know this. Realistically, no one there is going to try to steal a couple hundred dollars, in dimes or otherwise; it's just not worth the risk. They'll balance their drawers the best they can until the machine is fixed, and then they'll go over everything with a fine tooth comb. They would do this whether you made a fuss or not. I will say that you were probably correct in leaving your uncounted coins there, as that gives you more credibility.

As far as what to say to the branch manager tomorrow, be sure to keep calm. Explain what happened, emphasizing your history with their branch, but try to avoid casting the teller in a negative light, especially if this bank has any value to you as a dump.

Be sure to update us once you get your $$ back!

 

[ArkieBassMan]

Re: Coin Counter Broke - Bank Ties Up My 1K - Advice?

I understand your frustration, but quite honestly, what did you expect her to do? Count out the remaining dimes by hand? Even if she did, all it would show is that you were correct in saying you had only a couple hundred dollars left. It would still be your word that more dimes were left in the machine. In any event, what she said is true: when the machine is fixed, the coins will be rerun, everything will be totaled out, and your money returned/credited/whatever.

Admittedly, the teller's attitude sounded unprofessional. However, from your post it sounds like both of you lost your cool a little. The bottom line is you have a reputation of bringing in 1k dimes each week, and they know this. Realistically, no one there is going to try to steal a couple hundred dollars, in dimes or otherwise; it's just not worth the risk. They'll balance their drawers the best they can until the machine is fixed, and then they'll go over everything with a fine tooth comb. They would do this whether you made a fuss or not. I will say that you were probably correct in leaving your uncounted coins there, as that gives you more credibility.

As far as what to say to the branch manager tomorrow, be sure to keep calm. Explain what happened, emphasizing your history with their branch, but try to avoid casting the teller in a negative light, especially if this bank has any value to you as a dump.

Be sure to update us once you get your $$ back!

I pretty much agree to this. Although you DO take a risk when you use a coin counter, or buy bags from a coin counter for that matter. No machine is perfect, and although I've never had much of a discrepancy, there have been a few horror stories told on this forum about counts/bags being very short.

Put yourself in the teller's shoes. What can she possibly do in this situation other than what she did? Just hand over $1000 on your say so? She is pretty much forced to pay you whatever the machine says. Its the banks money, not hers. If she just hands you $1000, and the machine (after its fixed) says that you only cashed in $800, she's going to lose her job and probably have to pay the bank back the $200. Her hands are very much tied here. As are yours.

Why are you calling the branch manager? If its to complain, I fail to see where you have a complaint. The machine broke down. Sucks, but its no one's fault. I don't see how the teller was out of line in any way by honestly telling you that "you'll get what the machine says." In fact, I'd be shocked if the manager didn't back the teller 100% on that one.

Odds are, your "missing" dimes are in the machine and everything will work out just fine. If not, you're gonna get shorted and there probably isn't anything you can do about it.

 

[MentalUnrest]

Re: Coin Counter Broke - Bank Ties Up My 1K - Advice?

Thanks for the input - As far as the location, no, it was not in Cedar Rapids - It was in West Des Moines. I will post the results when I get word, which most likely will be next week. I agreed with everything the teller told me and understand this is what needed to be done. What I took issue with was her telling me people taking coins in to be counted are taking a risk. I didn't like being told I that as when you take money to a bank, you should never feel "at risk" to get your money back and not come up short.

 

[ArkieBassMan]

Re: Coin Counter Broke - Bank Ties Up My 1K - Advice?

...I agreed with everything the teller told me and understand this is what needed to be done. What I took issue with was her telling me people taking coins in to be counted are taking a risk. I didn't like being told I that as when you take money to a bank, you should never feel "at risk" to get your money back and not come up short.

I completely understand, but she's just being honest. We do take a risk every single time we use a coin counting machine. None are perfect and there will be malfunctions by those machines. Thats just common sense. Usually they are small enough that it is insignificant, but not always. I remember reading about someone (Phrostie?) that bought a bag off a machine that was $90-$100 short once. On the other side, once my count came to around $70 more than what I had cashed in. I informed the teller of this and got the same reply as you, "You get what the machine says."

The only way to avoid the risk is to re-roll your dumps. Is the elimination of risk worth the extra hassle? Only you can answer that.

 

[65gt350]

Re: Coin Counter Broke - Bank Ties Up My 1K - Advice?

Thanks for the input - As far as the location, no, it was not in Cedar Rapids - It was in West Des Moines. I will post the results when I get word, which most likely will be next week. I agreed with everything the teller told me and understand this is what needed to be done. What I took issue with was her telling me people taking coins in to be counted are taking a risk. I didn't like being told I that as when you take money to a bank, you should never feel "at risk" to get your money back and not come up short.

More than likely everything will work out. It actually may work in your favor if they will give you bags to put your dimes in so they can send it off with the carrier instead of putting it through their machine. However, your money is at risk until the bank accepts it and either gives you a receipt or exchanges it for a different form of cash. An example of at risk is if you would have brought in $1000 in $20 bills and 10 of them were counterfeit they would have given you credit for $800 and the $200 would be gone and you would not get it back. They have not been able to verify the amount and cannot give you credit for something that they have not officially received.

I used to dump at an Indian Casino and every now and then would get and extra 20-80 cents from the coins that got jarred loose during the count. Those counters are mechanical and need to be serviced to be accurate. You have just experienced my number one reason for not doing anything but clear wrapped dimes.

HH,
65GT350

 

[Diver_Down]

Re: Coin Counter Broke - Bank Ties Up My 1K - Advice?

Just ask to buy their cent bag in the meantime. Your dimes were counted as cents. That's the largest risk when dumping dimes.

 

[quiksilver]

Re: Coin Counter Broke - Bank Ties Up My 1K - Advice?

This has happened to me [having an account helps] but you need to PUSH THE ISSUE nicely until a manager says they will count the coins and refund [deposit into account] the difference. Actually it has happened more then once and ONLY BY INSISTING did i get my money back. Note also that one time the real problem was that their machine never had a problem before and they didnt know what to do until i nicely [ and forcefuly] expained it has happened to me before and what the usual procedure was. Again having an account in banks with machines helps.

 

[minton7]

Re: Coin Counter Broke - Bank Ties Up My 1K - Advice?

there is always a risk in cashing in coins... we have no proof of how much was there... push it too much and the branch manager will just close your accounts.. after all what does the bank get out of the hassle of all this?

 

[kat_wsale]

Re: Coin Counter Broke - Bank Ties Up My 1K - Advice?

I keel 1k in halves and 50.00 or 100.00 in pennies in my dumps. I did put 3 machines out of order this week. lmao. I think it was just bad luck.

 

[jrf30]

Re: Coin Counter Broke - Bank Ties Up My 1K - Advice?

I keel 1k in halves and 50.00 or 100.00 in pennies in my dumps. I did put 3 machines out of order this week. lmao. I think it was just bad luck.

YOu put threee machines out of order this week, and you follow that with laughing?

How is that good for teh hobby or for you?

 

[Bigheed]

Re: Coin Counter Broke - Bank Ties Up My 1K - Advice?

dump at a main branch and use coin vault bags not counters, let the processing center do the work.

 

[MentalUnrest]

Update above original post

 

[Bigheed]

glad it worked out in your favor!

 

[65gt350]

Good to hear about the update. It might be a good idea to bring in a few doughnuts to thank them since you have had issues with them in the past. Who knows it may lead to better service in the future when it happens again.

HH,
65GT350