A Penny For Your Thoughts-
Just don’t try to turn 50 of them in for two quarters.
Snigs is annoyed. Very, very annoyed.
My kids have been saving change for a year now. They amassed quite a pile of it in fact. I spent one evening counting it for them (Not that they can’t count to 40 & 50, but I prefer things to be VERY accurate when it comes to money) and they rolled it.
Let me back up- the husband went to the bank last week and got coin rollers for this endevour. He asked for rollers and TOLD THEM he would bring them back “full”. The teller said, “Ok.”, and smiled at him.
Now, we’re back to the other evening. I counted, they rolled. There was over $130 worth of coins, mostly nickels and pennies. It took David AND me to lug them to the van. We lugged them into the bank.
First thing the teller said- “I wish you hadn’t rolled them.”.
Pardon my french, but how the fuck am I supposed to know how much money I have if I don’t roll it? Count it into a big pile? Yeah, that’s productive. Furthermore, when we got the rollers from the bank, why in the hell didn’t that teller mention they wouldn’t want them?
Head meet desk.
So, she goes on to tell me she’ll have to run the money through her counting machine and re-roll it all. Check back before the end of the day.
Good time to remind you I live 15 miles from the frickin’ bank. TWO trips to town to turn in change. Gah.
I called the bank at 3:30 (they close at 4:30) and they still weren’t through. Seems there was “mutilated” money in the batch.
Mutilated money? What they meant by mutilated turned out to be discolored. Pennies oxidize and turn green. They have been doing such for the last 38 years. Someone, somewhere GAVE me or the kids that change as money and now the bank is telling me it’s worthless? She went so far as to tell me if she found a discolored penny like that in her till, she had to “throw it in the trash” and come up short for the day. I’m sorry, but I’ve never seen bank folk throw money in the trash and I know damned good and well that coming up short is unacceptable there. At least it was 25 years ago when my aunt worked at the bank. Maybe that’s changed since there is an abundance of people out there who can’t count to start with, but I digress.
Anyway, if you have change, spend it. Screw saving it and screw teaching your kids to save it. Just spend it, it’s the American Way.
July 21, 2008 at 9:22 pm
Well, around here we have machines that we deposit money in. That way it all gets counted and no one cares if it’s “mutilated”.
Anyway, that’s not right. Mutilated money makes no sense. The only difference is that it’s a different color. That means nothing.
July 22, 2008 at 1:03 am
The banks are supposed to swap it out with the Fed. Throwing out legal tender…in a bank? Idiots!
July 22, 2008 at 4:58 am
Sounds like you need to find a new bank. The workers there sound goofy.
July 22, 2008 at 11:48 am
We have to write our ten digit account number on every single roll we turn in.
Needless to say; We eventually found a bank that took them; “The Jacksonville Bank” (shameless plug) and they just measured the size against the rolls they had in the drawer. After checking 4 of them randomly she counted the remaining rolls. We had the cash in our hands in 15 minutes.
July 22, 2008 at 12:21 pm
What a bunch of jerks. I use a Coinstar for my change. we have one at the Kroger’s near us. Nice lesson to teach kids, don’t bother saving. sheesh. Cheers Snig!!
July 22, 2008 at 1:43 pm
This happened to me recently when I was going through a pinch. I decided I’d better take in my change, so I could buy milk, eggs, and bread. Went, got rolls from the bank, spent my valuable time rolling, only to have them all unrolled at the bank with a disapproving glare. And I had the mutilated money issue too, but they didn’t talk about throwing it out, they just gave it back to me.
Well really, you’d best get both the kids credit cards NOW! So they can build up their credit (debt) right from the start. Now that is the American way.
Good on you for attempting to teach them to save despite the lovely support from the bank.
July 22, 2008 at 8:10 pm
I’m just about to take a huge pile of money to one of those counting machines that spit out a reciept for the change they take 9 cents per dollar but I think it may be worth it.
I hope I don’t find any more bullets in this batch.
July 23, 2008 at 2:26 am
Smart move Hammer! Some banks actually have put the coin counter machines in the lobbies for the convienence of the customers… Snigs, I agree, go find a different (better) bank. I think that teller was smoking something, I agree coming up short is NOT acceptable at a bank!!!!
July 23, 2008 at 11:53 am
If they get so upset when you roll the change, why do they give people the rolls in the first place?! What do they THINK you plan to do?