Euro coins: Which ones might be useful to have?
#61
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That's the thing. Here in Canada, they won't give you a token or blank or whatever you want to call it. The cashiers/customer service will exchange currency for you, but if you don't want to pay, they'll direct you to a plastic basket (if available). And this is certainly understandable as too often people take the carts off-site and dump them where convenient to to the taker (often in other parking lots or dumped in ravines/sewer intakes)
I used to see that kind of cart taking and dumping happening even where the coin slots were required to be used to detach shopping carts for use in Europe. In Europe, when it comes to stores/malls that went from using the coin slots in this decade to removing the coin slots on shopping carts, I used to see the dumping happening more often when coin slots needed to be used than after they have been removed and this kind of change even at stores/malls that had the same or increased traffic. Broken plastic tokens in the coin slots and people using wooden and other workarounds to unlock the carts have their own problems, but I think that some people who used coins seemed to be behaving as if more entitled to take the carts away and dump them. Maybe they will go back to using money for cart release, but then it may be using contactless forms of payment/payment hold, but thats a mess in its own right with costs of various sorts for the cart owners and users.
#62
Join Date: Jan 2015
Posts: 2,937
Reminds me of what I used to see in the South a lot but seems to have dropped off without any move to coins.
I used to see that kind of cart taking and dumping happening even where the coin slots were required to be used to detach shopping carts for use in Europe. In Europe, when it comes to stores/malls that went from using the coin slots in this decade to removing the coin slots on shopping carts, I used to see the dumping happening more often when coin slots needed to be used than after they have been removed and this kind of change even at stores/malls that had the same or increased traffic. Broken plastic tokens in the coin slots and people using wooden and other workarounds to unlock the carts have their own problems, but I think that some people who used coins seemed to be behaving as if more entitled to take the carts away and dump them. Maybe they will go back to using money for cart release, but then it may be using contactless forms of payment/payment hold, but thats a mess in its own right with costs of various sorts for the cart owners and users.
I used to see that kind of cart taking and dumping happening even where the coin slots were required to be used to detach shopping carts for use in Europe. In Europe, when it comes to stores/malls that went from using the coin slots in this decade to removing the coin slots on shopping carts, I used to see the dumping happening more often when coin slots needed to be used than after they have been removed and this kind of change even at stores/malls that had the same or increased traffic. Broken plastic tokens in the coin slots and people using wooden and other workarounds to unlock the carts have their own problems, but I think that some people who used coins seemed to be behaving as if more entitled to take the carts away and dump them. Maybe they will go back to using money for cart release, but then it may be using contactless forms of payment/payment hold, but thats a mess in its own right with costs of various sorts for the cart owners and users.
#64
Join Date: Jun 2012
Posts: 3,410
That's the thing. Here in Canada, they won't give you a token or blank or whatever you want to call it. The cashiers/customer service will exchange currency for you, but if you don't want to pay, they'll direct you to a plastic basket (if available). And this is certainly understandable as too often people take the carts off-site and dump them where convenient to to the taker (often in other parking lots or dumped in ravines/sewer intakes)
in usa, a lot of stores put anti-theft on carts. if you push them too far away, the lock triggers and you can't use/push it. prevents someone from taking it away too far from store.
some stores go even more extreme (eg:IKEA, there are barricades to prevent cart from leaving building)
different priorities... we can swap/combine technologies
#65
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#67
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#69
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#70
Join Date: Jan 2015
Posts: 2,937
Back to the original topic, I would keep all coins. I keep them in separate wallets in case I need to use them again. For those that I don't think I will ever use again, I give them to my nephew who makes coin collection books. A day or two before I'm scheduled to leave a country, I start disposing of the coins. Often I will dispose of them at the airport (my favourite is via those coins for charities booths).
I've also never heard of any stalls at the airport rejecting the use of coins/bills.
I've also never heard of any stalls at the airport rejecting the use of coins/bills.
#71
Join Date: Dec 2010
Location: DEL
Posts: 1,060
Since you get the coin back, it's not as if there's much reason to prevent the use of worthless coin-like objects. They just want you to put the cart back instead of leaving it out to get run over.
Back on topic, unless I know I'll be back to the country soon, I try not to have a massive amount of change left over but at the end of the day taking a couple USD/EUR worth of 'useless' change home just doesn't bother me. Plus, little kids love foreign change.
#72
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I just keep my leftover change in little snaplock bags, like the ones banks give out. Then when I next go to a particular country, I throw the relevant little bag into the front pocket of my hand luggage.
CHF, I just keep in a little box in the centre console in the car for whenever I stray over the border.
CHF, I just keep in a little box in the centre console in the car for whenever I stray over the border.
#74
Join Date: Dec 2008
Location: London
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