My kid's Coinstar finds confiscated by employee

[RGINN]

Where I work, any property mistakenly left behind by a customer and found by an employee must be turned in to lost and found, where if the customer returns they can get it back. Technically, that would apply to even a penny found on the floor. You can be disciplined up to and including termination for violating that policy. Most of our employees are a pretty honest bunch. We have a CoinStar, but that's an outside vendor, so if I saw the kids I would probably just say cool, what did you find? If they weren't trying to break in to the machine, most of us wouldn't give them a second look, as they're not doing much wrong. I didn't know about that thing rejecting silver coins, maybe I should start checking it, haha?!

 

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[DeepseekerADS]

Isn't TreasureNet a wonderful site ?

When I joined here, I didn't even know about checking Coinstars, and now I also do a whole lot of ground scanning in parking lots and where ever. So much comes alive here!

That's what treasure hunters do

 

[Tommybuckets]

Yes any lost property- even coins in the chute should technically be turned over (generally to police but in a store the rules could be more dicey) with a recourse that if they are unclaimed they can be retrieved after a certain period.
I would go to the store with my son and have him wait outside for a moment behind me. Ideally he has given you a description of the employee so you could time it where the employee is near the front or at least in the store. I would turn on my camera phone camera and record myself putting some coins in the reject chute and stroll by the window so your son knows its time. Then have him come in and make a bit of a production finding the change. you'd have to film unobtrusively. I pretend like I am texting lol. If the guy tries to say something let him dig himself a hole first lol. You've got everything on film including the fact that its your change.
You could even really turn it around by saying you were trying to get your son over the initial trauma of being shaken down so you planted some change for him to " find" so he could have a little happy moment at your favorite store and this is what happens! On occasion if I am slighted I'll find a way to get back at a business or person. Nothing illegal or mean but I'll spring an elegantly simple prank or do something to bring about some karmic justice. I realize that this is rocking the boat and could result in me getting as wet as the target so its best done sparingly in small doses. Still, its tough to take one on the chin and walk away but in this game that is often the easiest but least satisfying conclusion.

 

[Duckshot]

Echoplex, you might want to teach your kids that they are under no obligation to hand property over to anyone but the rightful owner and certainly not to some grocery store peon committing piracy.

If it was my kid I would march him/her down there asap and have my boy point out the store employee. I would then ask the employee to return the property. Ask the employee while the store is busy with lots of customers in case you need to make a scene. I would not bother the manager, if you use your outdoor voice indoors the manager will appear in due time.

Don't accept a substitute. You need your kid's exact find returned.

 

[Keith Jackson]

IIRC, there was a thread a while back about who actually had legal ownership of any change left in reject tray. Since it was rejects and neither the store nor Coinstar paid out money for it to the customer, it would probably fall under the heading of "lost" or "forgotten" property. I don't think any conclusion was ever reached, though.

As for everyone knowing about checking them now, I know that at one grocery store I visit, at least one of the employees routinely checks it. I haven't found much anywhere lately, just a couple chewed up zincolns and a silver Rosie.

 

[Duckshot]

I've used a Coinstar to count change. The machine tells the user verbally to check for returned coins. It also gives written instructions to check for returned coins, and there is a depiction of a severed hand reaching into the return tray.

If you wanna piss away 10¢ on the dollar so you don't have to take change to the cashier, then leave the remainder behind, I say it is fair game for the next person, and it is most certainly fair game if you throw two dimes, a nickel, and four pennies in the Coinstar for it to count BEFORE you reach for the return slot. If there is nothin' there it cost you four cents to look.

 

[boogeyman]

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

By huge scene do you mean a few "Hey! quit touching me!"s thrown in for effect?

Should've gone back with your kid, and claimed he didn't understand which cup the money went in & the employee walked over yelled at your kid & took everything. This day & age all you have to do is touch a kid & you're dust. Years back we taught a friends little girl to just stand there holding her self saying he grabbed me here. Worked!! His daughter could pull it off, she was cute as a bug! But inside? She was an evil conniving devil. Now that I think of it maybe we would've done better to steer her towards being a politician.....

 

[kudzu74]

How about a DECOY...bring a jar of coins with you...check the tray for rejects...pocket rejects...decide not to use after seeing fee charged for use...anyone says anything you can claim its your coins...just sayin'!

 

[Nitric]

Find the Employee and Take the air out of their tires? Leave some change on the hood for a calling card?

I'm joking!!!

It was wrong, They shouldn't have taken it from the kids. Finders keepers!

 

[RustyGold]

How does the employee know it wasn’t their own change they were retrieving? I would not involve taking it up with the employee, only the manager and then I believe your kids will get the money back. The manager will know what company policy is and if they don’t ask for the district managers phone number.

 

[Honest Samuel]

I am outrage as you in# 1. Days ago, I went into ShopRite and a employee told me that I was late and he found many coins that he kept. First come, first serve. I am outrage, but, that is life.

 

[Ripcon]

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.

Actually, I just checked my coinstar yesterday and found a 1963 silver Roosevelt dime in there. It certainly pays to check.

 

[Duckshot]

Whoops! Did i say that?
Deleted.

 

[Honest Samuel]

Not a good idea.

 

[Duckshot]

Not a good idea.

You're right. I apologize.

 

[Monstarules]

I've been straight up told it was "stealing" by an employee when they wanted the coins. I walked in and snagged a Merc, before she says "You're stealing, I need that right now." I asked her what she was going to do about it, and she threatened to call someone. I smiled, said "no, you have no rights to these coins, they were abandoned, regardless of where they were", and walked off. She just started stammering and muttering.

 

[NSR60]

In practice, it's usually finders keepers, but I'd say Coinstar and the store would have a superior claim if they choose to assert it.


If I find more than a couple of clad rejects, I usually run them through the machine again. This completes the transaction as intended, and doesn't cost them anything. They take their 11.9% (and I take the other 88.1), so everybody wins. And my silver removal services are always free of charge.

 

[pulltabfelix]

yeah loved those pay phones. When I was about 12 rode my bike around our small town of 6,000 and hit maybe 12 pay phones. One day I for some reason pressed the receipt lever and 2-3 coins came out. Did it again of course and 2-3 more. Emptied the whole machine I guess. must have had two jean pockets full of coins. Immediately went to buy a Revell plastic air plane model. Lucky day.

 

[RGINN]

Well, I have been lookin at that Coinstar return chute all this time but never spotted nothin, haha!

 

[Davers]

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.

Without reading all the reply's , "I'm Lazy" .

My first thought was "OH HECK NO!!"