quarter/dollar coin abuse

[splashndash98264]

Folks, I have started to have a recurring issue where someone is coming on an almost daily basis and depleting our quarter and dollar coin bins at our change making machine. I am sure we are not the first to deal with this issue, what have others done to help prevent this mis-use?


Thanks!

 

[Keno]

Are they cleaning out both? When are they coming? I have seen changer put on timers to force them away if they come at night. Some changers also have a setting to stop making change if too many of the same bill come through in a certain amount of time, ie 3x $20s in 5 mins and the machine will stop taking $20s for 10 mins - all is adjustable. What changer do you have? Tokens will totally alleviate this issue, but they come with their own issues also.

 

[splashndash98264]

I've owned the wash since last March and this was my first car wash, so pretty new to the whole experience. For most of the past year it seemed like the dollar coin abuse would fluctuate and there would be some weeks where the depletion was high but then it would just go back to normal. Until about 2-3 weeks ago the quarter depletion has never been an issue, I think I only had to replenish the quarters twice, other than that it would just recycle itself. We are the only wash in town that still accepts cash, so I would like to keep that advantage. Since the problem is new, I don't know if it is happening at certain times of the day, but I did think about putting the machine on a timer so it would just power down after 8pm or something like that. I have an ancient bill changer, it is hamilton but I couldn't tell you the model off the top of my head. It has to be like 20-30 years old though!

Do you know what manufacturer makes the type of machine you describe above, that sounds like an interesting solution?

 

[Randy]

I’ve been in the Bill Changer repair business for a long time and I don’t know of a bill changer like what Keno is talking about. Do you count the coins you put into the changer and then keep are record of how many coins your hoppers have dispensed? How much do you lose per week? Some weeks we will be down $80 or $100 this last week we were up $200 in coin. About the only thing you can do is put the Bill changer on a timer but then will come when the changer is On. Do you get a lot of one denomination of bills? If you do you could turn off denomination off.

 

[splashndash98264]

Over the past year, I have generally had to buy about $500 worth of dollar coins every 2-3 weeks due to depletion. This is reasonable and easy to stay on top of. Quarters have never been a problem since about 2 weeks ago. We are getting our bin depleted every 3 days or so. For example, my wife found 9 $20 bills in the quarter dispenser this morning. I like the idea of turning off certain denominations, that is something easy for me to do. I will also probably put it on a timer so it powers down at night. I did ask the laundromat down the street if their bill changer is working and they said it is, so I don't think people are taking quarters from my place to use over there. I hope this is just a temporary problem that works itself out, having to load the hopper every 2-3 days is not sustainable!

 

[washnshine]

Too bad there isn’t a machine that can be programmed to dispense quarters for $1 and $5, but dispense $9 for a $10 bill and $18 for a $20 bill. In other words, a 10% processing fee for $10’s and $20’s. It would be similar to when you go to a machine at a store that counts your coins/change and gives you bills or a credit. They charge a percentage.

I know this wouldn’t really fly - even with ample signage you’d still have people wrecking your equipment if they didn’t get 100% back.

 

[Keno]

American Changer universal boards can do it, and this replacement board for American Changers can do it. They call it a stringing deterrent, but it can be used to prevent people from wiping out your coins also.

Also, just because the laundromat is claiming their changer is working, doesn't necessarily mean it has been working the whole time. I can tell at one of my washes when the laundromat changer is down - which is quite often. Never really understood people having such a critical piece of equipment be unreliable, especially since that particular laundromat is coin only.

American Bill Changer Parts; Control Board

Service and Parts for American Bill & Coin Changer. Our upgrade parts kit for bill changers from American improves the functionality of your change machine.

billchangers.com

 

[Overachiever]

Too bad there isn’t a machine that can be programmed to dispense quarters for $1 and $5, but dispense $9 for a $10 bill and $18 for a $20 bill. In other words, a 10% processing fee for $10’s and $20’s. It would be similar to when you go to a machine at a store that counts your coins/change and gives you bills or a credit. They charge a percentage.

I know this wouldn’t really fly - even with ample signage you’d still have people wrecking your equipment if they didn’t get 100% back.

Pretty sure my bill breaker / coin combo can give less than the amount inserted. It's a standard change makers BCX1020RL. It also has the option that Keno mentioned to go out of order for whatever you program it to do after so many of the same bill, which helps a little bit, but they will still take what they can get, you also get reports that tell you when the bills were inserted so you can figure out who they are on your cameras.

It's acceptable to charge a fee at an ATM so seems like if people are using your change machine as an ATM it should be acceptable their too, lol.

 

[Spray it down]

Folks, I have started to have a recurring issue where someone is coming on an almost daily basis and depleting our quarter and dollar coin bins at our change making machine. I am sure we are not the first to deal with this issue, what have others done to help prevent this mis-use?


Thanks!

 

[Spray it down]

I have had the same problem. I took the easy way out and put a time on it. It pretty much solved my problem.

 

[jack954]

$1 tokens solves that problem. it also deters theft from your vaults when you put “tokens emptied daily” stickers on everything. some customers will spend more as well because they now have to add more time in $1 increments. i always thought that i would never switch to tokens but did it during covid, i wish i would have done it 20 years ago. the only downside was having to put new coin acceptors in everything to accept them, unless yours already does. i went with the high security ones that are just a touch bigger than a $1 coin. the other upfront cost would be a coin counter. mine was $400.00 and it can separate a 5 gal bucket of tokens and quarters in about 10 minutes. i accept quarters as well, i just don’t dispense them

 

[washnvac]

As Jack said, tokens, tokens, tokens. Geeeez!

 

[I.B. Washincars]

I programmed my changers to give at least one token and the rest in dollar coins. The last several years I was in the business, I didn’t dispense any quarters at all. This will put a halt to any changer abusers.