As I was packing the house before I left Durham, I began accumulating all the loose change we had around, so I could cash it in before leaving town. The last time I had done this, I had gathered all my change and taken it to Wachovia, only to be told that particular branch didn't have a coin sorting machine. After carrying several pounds of change around in my car for a few days, I ended up taking it to a Coinstar machine at the grocery store. If you're not familiar with Coinstar, here's the description of their coin counting service from their website:
Coinstar's patented self-service kiosk is easy and fun to use. Just pour in your jar of mixed coins and watch them add up. The Coinstar Center accurately counts up to 600 coins per minute, saving you the time and effort of sorting, rolling and taking them to the bank. When you cash in, you'll get a voucher to redeem for cash at the store checkout or apply to your purchases. Check your voucher for special promotions or sweepstakes that Coinstar may be offering. In the U.S., the fee for our coin counting service is 8.9 cents per dollar counted (9.8 cents Canada).
I hadn't realized before that Coinstar took such a big cut of your total, but I didn't feel like calling every Wachovia branch in town and asking if they had a coin counting machine, so I gave in to the lure of Coinstar. It was unbelievable to me that I couldn't simply take my coins to my bank and have them counted, as I had done at banks in both Iowa and Colorado. But I bought into Wachovia's excuse that not all the branches had a coin sorter, and vowed to find one that did for my next coin counting venture.
So just before the move, I called Wachovia to find out which locations had coin counting machines. I dialed the number for my local branch, and got connected to a customer service representative. I asked which branches have coin counting machines. She said that she didn't know the answer, and that I needed to call my local branch. Which I had. Evidently, I had bypassed the local branch and been connected to their national customer service line. So she connected me back to my local branch, where I again asked which locations have coin counting machines. The man I spoke to informed me that none of the local branches have coin counting machines. None of them? He informed me that I could put my coins into rolls and cash them in, but I was still reeling at the idea that the bank doesn't have coin counting machines. The bank. Where they keep the money. You've got to be kidding me. I actually made him clarify it for me one more time: "Let me get this straight. NONE of the banks have coin counting machines?!?" Yep, that's right. "So my only option is to purchase coin wrappers, manually pack them up, and bring them to the bank?" And that's when he said the most incredible thing of all. The guy who works at the bank (where they keep the money) actually said to me: "You could take your change to one of those Coinstar machines at the grocery store." Unbelievable.
Bwahahahahaha... ah. The joys of banking. I can't add and I work at a bank, too! Don't you feel better now about the safety of your moolah?
Posted by: laurie | September 08, 2005 at 04:26 PM