My kid's Coinstar finds confiscated by employee

[Echoplex]

Mods, feel free to move this topic if you'd like, but it would have been Today's Find...

Today my kids came home from riding bikes around neighborhood pretty upset. They stopped at the grocery store to do their routine check of the Coinstar tray. My youngest son told me the return tray was full of coins that someone else had left and started pulling them out. As he was taking his loot an employee came over to him and said "Give me that" and confiscated his coins and the rest of the change that was in the return tray. My son was pretty upset. And so am I.

Can they do this? I was under the impression that any money left in the return bin is "finder's keepers". I'm pretty angry right now, actually. Part of me wants to go there and set things straight, but I also don't want to make a big deal about loose change. Thoughts? Was the employee in the right here?

Edit: to be clear, the employee was from the grocery, not Coinstar.

 

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[GaRebel1861]

I’d contact the store manager if it were me. Why is the employee entitled to the coins and not the kids?

 

[DeepseekerADS]

I’d contact the store manager if it were me. Why is the employee entitled to the coins and not the kids?

Unfortunately, that would tip more people off about checking the coin machines. Personally, I think everyone around here is onto the coinstars now as where I'd found goodies, I've only found two pennies so far this year - where it was productive before.

 

[jewelerguy]

sounds like the guy is just a jerk that likes to push around little kids. go back and act like you found something in there and see if he starts some crap with you so you can tell him where to get off

 

[IDXMonster]

Sounds like the employee knows about the machines rejecting silver,as nobody would battle a kid over some clad. But he would over a silver coin,or better yet...gold coin.

 

[DeepseekerADS]

That employee may also have access to the dirt box internal......

 

[BigWaveDave]

Your kids got screwed, and that sucks.
If that happens again, tell your kids to scream bloody murder, make a huge scene...

 

[jeff of pa]

there is also a Slight Chance he or someone he knew used the Coinstar Last.

personally I'd tell the kid next time be a little more Clandestine about it.
just reach in & grab. and walk. If he feels he only got part, wait a little & grab again.
Or have a Buddy to double dip if necessary

Odds are it was a Fluke he got caught anyway.
Most store Employees rotate very often here.
I rarely see the same employees in my Bi-Weekly Visits to the Store.

of course I like BigWaveDave's Suggestion Above Mine also as a Last Resort.

 

[tamrock]

Better have a lookout next time, but yes that employee was a jerk. We didn't have coinstar when I was a kid, but we sure did check and smack every payphone and newspaper dispenser we rode our bikes by.

 

[jeff of pa]

only Coin Op machines around here are the spring house where I buy my Drinking Water.

Occasionally Someone leaves a Quarter or 2 in the Change Tray or a Handful on top.

and the car wash.

The Laundry mat Never has any.
if anything is Left, They are on Top of it.
and no coin trays just a return slot.

 

[RTH]

On a matter of principal, I wouldn't let this go. Here are my thoughts:

- If the employee was acting on a store policy, then there should be a record of the amount, the time, and the NAME of the person who found the money. Including how long the money will be held until it is returned to the finder.
- If the store does not have a policy, then there should still be a record of the same information.
- If there is no record of the money being "turned in to the employee" (albeit forcibly so) then the employee committed a theft from your son and could face criminal charges.

The bottom line is that your son was a victim of a strong are robbery. The very least that should happen is the employee should be fired, and your son should be re-imbursed, (handsomely) and receive a formal apology from the employee and the store.

If I was the store manager or the owner, I would want to know how my employees were treating my customers. Chances are that this employee has a tendency to do questionable things, if he is willing to shake down a couple of kids for pocket change.

 

[1637]

i would at least go and talk to the manager,no one should be near your kids.
brad

 

[Ammoman]

My thoughts are simple on this one. The store is private property. Of course, most store employees could give a crap but i am pretty sure the store can claim the money as their own and no explanation is needed. I would just tell the kids to be more nonchalant when checking the coin returns. Making a mountain out of this will only make it bad on everyone who checks these machines.

 

[jeff of pa]

My thoughts are simple on this one. The store is private property. Of course, most store employees could give a crap but i am pretty sure the store can claim the money as their own and no explanation is needed. I would just tell the kids to be more nonchalant when checking the coin returns. Making a mountain out of this will only make it bad on everyone who checks these machines.

Yea I wouldn't risk Being Told All that Money Must be Turned In.
because That would Just put The kid on the Don't take List.
Someone who Wasn't told would then be able to Grab at Will.

It's like asking to detect a Park & being told No,
Yet the Persons who Didn't ask still have Free reign

 

[Rookster]

It sounds to me that the cat is out of the bag now and the employees will probably keep tabs on people using the machine getting the rejects. I'd find a backup store.

 

[Stringtyer]

Many good thoughts in this thread. The store may have the right or authority to keep whatever pops into the reject bin but having an employee harass children over a fistful of change is certainly p!$$ poor customer service. While it is probably not worth the fight - and will probably screw up the whole Coinstar shake down game - I'd be very tempted to speak to the manager and talk about an adult interacting negatively with a child. No story needs bullies interacting with anyone, much less with children.

The kids are certainly not hurting anything by taking what someone else didn't care enough about to take. Unless the kids are waiting and watching for someone to leave rejects, I can't see that they are doing anything wrong. As has been said earlier, I remember checking soda machines and pay phones for change. To extend my logic, I also remember picking up soda bottles to return for 2 cents apiece. If we found the bottles by the road, we assumed they had been thrown away.

 

[Echoplex]

Thanks for all the replies, everyone! I've decided not to contact them, but told my boys if someone tries to take change they find next time that they should tell the employee that their dad told them that the coins in the return tray are abandoned and they have no right to confiscate abandoned change that they have in their hands. Or to simply "call dad" on their cell phone to clarify the store's policy on abandoned change and what the store does with it.

 

[dts52]

Sounds to me like the employee is just a bully who routinely pockets the Coinstar rejects for himself. He's lucky your son didn't start screaming "Stranger Danger!!! ... That man tried to touch me!" I agree that if you do complain to the manager the store will certainly institute a policy if they don't already have one and there is a very good chance the store will take the side of their bully employee over the word of your son. It's a da*n cr*ppy world we live in.
HH
dts

 

[against the wind]

This is just a suggestion.
Without this employee's knowledge,, have your son point him out. Then make sure the store manager is on duty. Explain quietly to the manager what happened to your boy and ask about the store policy on confiscating reject coins from children. Then show him 8 quarters in your hand and tell him you are going to behave as though you just found them in the Coinstar reject tray. If the employee stops you, he will have to explain what he did with the money he took from your son. If he isn't authorized to confront you, then why did he confront your son. If he doesn't confront you, then he is preying on children. That can't be good in the eyes of the manager.
Now something else you want to consider. Having kids running in and out of the store just to check the reject tray may not be a good thing but it still doesn't give an employee the right to confront them unless he does so in the presence of the manager. If I owned that place of business, I would not encourage or permit kids to come in and out of the store for the purpose of raiding the Coinstar.

 

[FreeBirdTim]

If the store took the money, they should turn it in to the police. They have no legal right to keep the money. It was accidentally left behind by a patron of the store. If an employee of the store found a envelope with $500 in it, would they keep it? I would hope not. That's what I would tell those clowns at the store, anyway.

Bottom line, let the kid have the money or go through the hassle of turning it into the police. I think most managers would say forget it and let the kid have the chump change.