TD Bank Penny Arcade counter reject tray blocked?

nickeloid · May 29, 2014

My TD Bank branch's Penny Arcade counter has a reject tray that I've never seen any coins come out of. Even when it seemed like I was getting a few rejects, nothing came out.

Each time, when I feel inside the reject tray, it feels like the hole inside is blocked completely by what I'd guess is probably a ballistic plastic coin bag.

They're a convenient pickup bank with friendly tellers, and I'm just enjoying a courtesy whenever they sell me rolls, so I haven't wanted to mention anything that could turn into a fuss for anyone there. I'm just curious.

50cent · May 29, 2014

Be careful feeling around, there are spinning blades in some of the reject chutes that can cut a finger off if you are not careful. The Penny Arcades are newer, but the older Brandt machines, will do this. Better safe than sorry and if you really are curious stick a pocket knife up before using your finger.

BuffaloBoy · May 29, 2014

I personally wouldn't fuss over a few cents, it's the "cost of our hobby" as I put it. If you're happy enough with their service and don't want to lose a pickup or dump bank, I wouldn't complain.

fish on! · May 29, 2014

There are certain TD branches where the reject tubes do not put all of the coins in the reject slot. One reason this occurs is a reject tube that has too gradual of an angle so the coins end up staying further up the tube. One of the other reasons is as you put it, a ballistic coin bag blocking the reject chute. What really happens is the machines have a rather poor design in that most branches have a smaller plastic bag in the half dollar spot. Some branches put a full size coin lock bag in the half dollar spot and because of the location of this bag as it fills up it blocks the reject chute and traps the coins in the tube.

Both of these flawed machine setups are things that I actively seek out. It's a shame for the average person using the coin machine because they are not getting all of their rejects. I look at these types of machines as an opportunity because I will go to branches like this as frequently as I can with about $100 in halves. That is enough to trigger a bag change and as soon as the open the machine I reach down and scoop out everything from the reject tube. Improper setups like this almost always guarantee me at the least a lot of extra clad and sometimes free silver. It is not rare at all for me to find $25-$30 worth of clad in these tubes.

DaytonaRacer · May 29, 2014

I echo fish on! The TDB's around me tend more often than not to have the bag blocking the chute. I was able to get about $10 in free quarters the last time I triggered a bag switch with my halves. If I don't have enough coins to fill a bag I at least try to reach up into the reject tray and move the bag out of the way to reach the chute.

TheMastermind · May 29, 2014

fish on! said:
There are certain TD branches where the reject tubes do not put all of the coins in the reject slot. One reason this occurs is a reject tube that has too gradual of an angle so the coins end up staying further up the tube. One of the other reasons is as you put it, a ballistic coin bag blocking the reject chute. What really happens is the machines have a rather poor design in that most branches have a smaller plastic bag in the half dollar spot. Some branches put a full size coin lock bag in the half dollar spot and because of the location of this bag as it fills up it blocks the reject chute and traps the coins in the tube.

Both of these flawed machine setups are things that I actively seek out. It's a shame for the average person using the coin machine because they are not getting all of their rejects. I look at these types of machines as an opportunity because I will go to branches like this as frequently as I can with about $100 in halves. That is enough to trigger a bag change and as soon as the open the machine I reach down and scoop out everything from the reject tube. Improper setups like this almost always guarantee me at the least a lot of extra clad and sometimes free silver. It is not rare at all for me to find $25-$30 worth of clad in these tubes.

This.

There was one branch that, way before getting a new coin machine installed, would purposely put those bags in front of the chute so that the teller's could reap the benefits. There were several occasions where I was more or less politely reprimanded by a teller for trying to free my blocked rejected coins. They also purposely let the foreign coins build up on the magnet in the metal hopper part so as to block it partially. They had a sweet racket going for sure.

One time, I was told that I was essentially stealing from the bank for trying to recover my coins. I was told that if I didn't stop my account would be closed. I opened the flood gates on this person, telling her that SHE was in fact the one stealing and that if I wasn't allowed to recover my rejected coins when I came in to dump that I would complain to her manager and higher up if I felt the need. I would complain that I was being harassed, intimidated, and stolen from by not only her but all of the tellers.

After that, the branch started supplying me with coin bags so that I could dump large amounts of coin for instant cash. So, I was placated enough to not complain.

DaytonaRacer · May 29, 2014

I suspectg that purposeful blocking by the tellers is more prevalent than we'd expect.

ugotit22 · May 29, 2014

DaytonaRacer said:
I suspectg that purposeful blocking by the tellers is more prevalent than we'd expect.

Happens alot

fish on! · May 29, 2014

TheMastermind said:
This.

There was one branch that, way before getting a new coin machine installed, would purposely put those bags in front of the chute so that the teller's could reap the benefits. There were several occasions where I was more or less politely reprimanded by a teller for trying to free my blocked rejected coins. They also purposely let the foreign coins build up on the magnet in the metal hopper part so as to block it partially. They had a sweet racket going for sure.

One time, I was told that I was essentially stealing from the bank for trying to recover my coins. I was told that if I didn't stop my account would be closed. I opened the flood gates on this person, telling her that SHE was in fact the one stealing and that if I wasn't allowed to recover my rejected coins when I came in to dump that I would complain to her manager and higher up if I felt the need. I would complain that I was being harassed, intimidated, and stolen from by not only her but all of the tellers.

After that, the branch started supplying me with coin bags so that I could dump large amounts of coin for instant cash. So, I was placated enough to not complain.

I totally forgot to mention the magnet. Foreign coin build up definitely leads to extra coins for me as well. I actually have much better dumping options than the TD machines, but I still use them on occasion because of all the free clad, free ikes, free foreign coins/steel pennies and the chance at free silver. I never dump at TD to actually get rid of a huge volume of coins, I really just dump about $100 per branch when I have some free time to reap the freebies.

By the way, you, mastermind, are the master of the coin machines as far as I am concerned. I have never seen anyone else come close to matching your results from the coin machines. I wish I had extra time to really pinpoint the best TD counters to target weekly. I have found one that consistently has a lot of the benefits we have spoken about here, but it is just far enough away from my house to be an inconvenience to hit regularly.

dchism4601 · May 30, 2014

I am fortunate in that my dump CU lets me have the "debris" cup contents any time I ask. I am told, "We just dump that in the trash anyway."

DaytonaRacer · May 30, 2014

fish on! said:
I totally forgot to mention the magnet. Foreign coin build up definitely leads to extra coins for me as well. I actually have much better dumping options than the TD machines, but I still use them on occasion because of all the free clad, free ikes, free foreign coins/steel pennies and the chance at free silver. I never dump at TD to actually get rid of a huge volume of coins, I really just dump about $100 per branch when I have some free time to reap the freebies.

Where in the machine is the magnet? And is it easily accessible relative to the reject tray? I find that I have limited reach up the chute even when the bags are clear of it.

TheMastermind · May 30, 2014

fish on! said:
I totally forgot to mention the magnet. Foreign coin build up definitely leads to extra coins for me as well. I actually have much better dumping options than the TD machines, but I still use them on occasion because of all the free clad, free ikes, free foreign coins/steel pennies and the chance at free silver. I never dump at TD to actually get rid of a huge volume of coins, I really just dump about $100 per branch when I have some free time to reap the freebies.

By the way, you, mastermind, are the master of the coin machines as far as I am concerned. I have never seen anyone else come close to matching your results from the coin machines. I wish I had extra time to really pinpoint the best TD counters to target weekly. I have found one that consistently has a lot of the benefits we have spoken about here, but it is just far enough away from my house to be an inconvenience to hit regularly.

My dump bank network is within a 12-mile diameter, and I am fortunate to have a lot of TD branches in that area. It includes low-income economically-depressed communities, middle-of-the road blue collar communities (the epicenter and where I live), and hoity-toity well-to-do communities. It is also sandwiched between two major cities.

All of that comes together to create a perfect storm of reject and teller tray finds. With the new coin machines having been installed a month or two ago, the finds have definitely slowed down. More teller tray finds than reject tray finds for sure.

TheMastermind · May 30, 2014

DaytonaRacer said:
Where in the machine is the magnet? And is it easily accessible relative to the reject tray? I find that I have limited reach up the chute even when the bags are clear of it.

The removable metal hopper has a magnet in it. When dumping at the machines, I usually take that out and then just dump right into the machine itself. The rotating disc inside of the machine also has a magnet that is situated above it.

While the coins are spinning around in the machine being sorted, that's when I take the time to check the magnet in the metal hopper.

CC-Hunter · May 30, 2014

Fish on is spot on and Mastermind knows the deal too.

The half bag, empty or full, often blocks the reject slot. It can take some doing to move it out of the way. I used to find more in TD reject tubes, but now content myself with the magnet in the hopper. No branches give me a hard time for pulling out the hopper (which sometimes has some of your coins that did not make it through the hopper) and scraping the magnet with my hand. I have quite a stash of foreign coins from this. There also is a strong magnet inside that you can't get to unless the machine in opened up and taken apart. On rare occassions a teller lets me pull foreign off this magnet.

TD is the only bank with machines that I have access to now. I have been pretty happy with the TD machines overall, but was burned last weekend dumping a little over $244 and losing about $40 in the process. They had to fix a problem with the machine. I don't think my coins ended up uncounted anywhere, but I think it reset or something and wiped out the coins I dumped before it was fixed. The two silver Roosies I found in the CWRs I dumped don't make up for the loss, but over the years I have probably recovered well over $40 in foreign alone, not to mention clad in and around the machine and in the reject tube, and the occassional gold dollar coins that didn't make it into the bag.

DaytonaRacer · May 31, 2014

TheMastermind said:
The removable metal hopper has a magnet in it. When dumping at the machines, I usually take that out and then just dump right into the machine itself. The rotating disc inside of the machine also has a magnet that is situated above it.

While the coins are spinning around in the machine being sorted, that's when I take the time to check the magnet in the metal hopper.

The hopper is the tray at the top where you pour your coins into, correct? If so, I'm surprised that the banks don't give you a hard time for removing it when you dump. I'd think they'd pitch more of a fit thinking that you're messing with their machine.

CW3(ret) US Army · May 31, 2014

TheMastermind said:
This.

There was one branch that, way before getting a new coin machine installed, would purposely put those bags in front of the chute so that the teller's could reap the benefits. There were several occasions where I was more or less politely reprimanded by a teller for trying to free my blocked rejected coins. They also purposely let the foreign coins build up on the magnet in the metal hopper part so as to block it partially. They had a sweet racket going for sure.

One time, I was told that I was essentially stealing from the bank for trying to recover my coins. I was told that if I didn't stop my account would be closed. I opened the flood gates on this person, telling her that SHE was in fact the one stealing and that if I wasn't allowed to recover my rejected coins when I came in to dump that I would complain to her manager and higher up if I felt the need. I would complain that I was being harassed, intimidated, and stolen from by not only her but all of the tellers.

After that, the branch started supplying me with coin bags so that I could dump large amounts of coin for instant cash. So, I was placated enough to not complain.

I've seen it happen at more than 1 branch but there was 1 TD branch in particular that always had the bag blocking the reject chute & they had 2 machines. They would also come out from behind the counter to clear the reject chute when I came in to dump in case the bag wasn't blocking the reject chute. They still do it now (block with a bag) even though they have new machines with the greatly sloped metal reject chute. I always make sure no matter what branch I dump in, when they change the bag that the new back doesn't block the reject chute. It p****s them off when I do that.
HH
Gary

fish on! · Jun 1, 2014

I actually ran into one of the td employees yesterday that try to keep stuff for themselves. They had the hopper so jammed with coins that barely anything would pass through to the counter. I scraped about 30 foreign coins off and kept them. I could hear a large coin rolling around on the wheel. When the guy came over to help I told him I thought a large dollar was jammed on the wheel. He said: "oh that will come through the reject shoot". I said: "no, the large ones do not make it to the reject shoot they are on the wheel". Once all my coins were in I said: "do you hear it? it's on the wheel". He said: "do you have anymore coins?" and was ready to roll the machine back in. I said: "nope, but can you give me the large coin on the wheel". He opened the machine and opened the secondary wheel which never has the large dollars on it and said: "nope, it must have went to the reject tube". this was the most persistent bank employee ever. Usually once they realize you are in the know they give it up and let you have the coin. I said: "no, under this hopper, it is on that wheel. Do you want me to take it off so I can get my coin or are you going to do it?". He finally relented and with a defeated look on his face opened it up so I could get the coin. It was only a 1 dollar casino chip, but I wasn't letting him have it by playing dumb.

TheMastermind · Jun 3, 2014

DaytonaRacer said:
The hopper is the tray at the top where you pour your coins into, correct? If so, I'm surprised that the banks don't give you a hard time for removing it when you dump. I'd think they'd pitch more of a fit thinking that you're messing with their machine.

The only bank that gave me a problem was the one that I mentioned above who first threatened me and then placated me with coin lock bags when I flipped the script on them.