First off I didn't go in there asking for a bag of halves, I didn't know such a thing existed. I went in there with my six year old to introduce him to coins and what seemed a safe hobby that he could have fun with. I was looking for a roll or loose, they offered the bag. If they would having mentioned that there is a chance of the bag being short, I wouldn't have purchased it. Instead they sold me an item they sealed and marked as accurate.
Second, I definitly didn't expect "big" rewards. It was in a clear bag sitting on a counter, I was pretty sure that it had been "looked" through numerous times. I was hoping for a fun experience to get my son interested. Instead I got the "opportunity" to try and explain why a business who specializes in the transaction of money signed, sealed, and said one thing but gave us another. I told the bank specifically the money we were using was from my 6 year olds savings. I of course am replacing the missing money with my own.
Hearing from others that this is not an uncommon occurance is good on one hand since it sounds like most likely they have a degree of error due to mechanical issues, sad though since it would have been nice to know of it prior to involving my son at that point.
Live and learn, I will probably just let him work on getting loose coins and occasional roll if they ever occur.