The above video correlates a bit to my money pit:
Business has been slower than expected during the past week so I had to resort to my "Holy Shit! Funds." This is my emergency fund set aside which consists of change collected in a container during the span of many months. I do not use change when I purchase things so when I pay for things with paper money, I keep the change and just stick it in that container you see above and fill it up to the rim until a situation like this arises.
I grabbed my container of HSF (Holy Shit! Funds) and headed to my bank, Bank of America. Yea, I know what you are already thinking after what has been going on lately but I'm not going to open that can of worms... or am I?
I arrived at the bank, parked, grabbed my HSF and headed through the door... only to find a man who already beat me to it, although I didn't expect this at all when I walked in. There was an older man with the bank greeter lady standing next to a table, putting his change in those "rollers."
*The following quoted texts are near identical to what has actually been said.*
I asked the lady, "Hello, I'd like to deposit this here."
The lady responds, "I'm sorry, we can't take it like that. You have to put them in rollers."
I then said, "You don't have a machine here?"
She answered, "No, we don't have that here but you can take it to Publix but they'll charge you a fee or you can put them in rollers and deposit it here."
I said, "OK, thank you!" I was about to just head out the door and she interrupted, "Do you want to get rollers and deposit it here or take it to Publix?"
"I guess I'll do it here."
"Ok, you can get the rollers up front."
"Ok, thank you."
So, I went up to the front, got a crap load of rollers, left the bank, and went back in my car and said, "WTF?! I don't have time to sit here and roll all this shit nor do I want to! This is justin sane!" I decided to then take a trip to the credit union down the road my mother and sister have an account at because they have a machine thing there.
I arrived at the credit union, grabbed my HSF, and walked in. I got on line and after less than a minute, a man left the line saying, "Have a Happy Monday!." I thought that was pretty stupid then went to the next teller available. I said, "Hi, I just have a quick question. I just came from my bank and they don't have a machine to put the change in. My mother and sister come here and they told me there's a machine here. Can you take care of this?"
She said, "Do you have an account here?"
"No."
"I'm sorry, the only way I can use the machine is if you had an account here. The money goes in the machine and gets deposited into the account and you can withdraw it."
"Oh, alright, thanks anyway!"
"You're welcome. Have a nice day."
"You too!"
So, I grabbed my HSF and headed out the door and back in my car. There I sat, HSF sitting in the passenger seat wondering what the heck to do now. Sure, I could go to Publix and have the machine take care of it for me but I don't feel I should pay for such a "convenience" of something so simple. It was now a little after 3PM and I was running out of time. Maybe my family can assist with the "rolling" of this change so I can have it all finished before the bank closes. I gave a couple a call.... no answer. So, there I sat, in my car with no choice left but to dump the HSF on the car seat and start rollin.... some coins! So much change, so little time. I took care of all of the quarters then some dimes, ending up with a total of $65 in rolled HSF. During that time, I got a business call and told him I'll be there within an hour. So, I put the rest back in the HSF container and deposited the rolled coins through the drive thru. Of course, I needed a deposit slip. I didn't have a deposit slip. I got a deposit slip. I filled out the slip, gave back the slip, then got back another slip with the deposit amount. I was all set... all to prevent my account from getting a $35 charge for dropping down to below 0. With the check I got from the customer, it was enough anyway but I didn't know that until after the rolling started.
Now.... to get to the meat (or, if you're a vegetarian, tofu) of the story...
Coins (also called "change") is a form of money just like paper bills are. Money, no matter what kind it is should be deposited at any bank with no questions ask. A person should be able to take a container, box, or sac of any amount of coins to either deposit or get some other form of cash or even a money order or cashier's check. If the bank does NOT have a machine to put the coins in, such as the case with BANK OF AMERICA, they should PURCHASE one to make this task simple instead of making it the customer's obligation to roll the damn coins themselves, which, as you know, is time consuming. And, before you mention it, I know there are "consumer-based" devices out there which do this task for you automatically but I don't believe we, as a consumer, who are even paying banks monthly fees, should have to purchase such a thing if the bank should do it for us with no questions asked.
Teller: "Good afternoon, sir/mam. How can I assist you today?"
Customer: "Hi, I would like to deposit this bag of coins."
Teller: "I'll be happy to assist you with that."
Customer: "Thank you."
Teller: "I'm going to put it all in the machine over here and deposit it right to your account or if you cash back, in any form you wish, back."
Customer: "Sounds great, thank you!"
Badda bing, badda boom, done! How hard is that, Bank of America? Is that really too much work? I'll tell you what, I'll even buy the machine for the bank for you. Oh, wait, I already have! I'm already spending $144 a year for the "convenience" of having MY money in YOUR bank. I also, a LONG while back, spent over $500+ in overdraft charges so that should cover the price of the machine you fail to have in your banks as of yet.
Or, if you don't want to provide a machine in your bank, hire a "change roller." This person's job will specifically be to just roll change:
Teller: "Good afternoon, sir/ma'am. How can I assist you today?"
Customer: "Hi, I would like to deposit this bag of coins."
Teller: "I'll be happy to assist you with that."
Customer: "Thank you."
Teller: "I'm going to hand this bag to our change roller, who is sitting in the room right over there. He/she hasn't had much change today, so he'll/she'll be glad to roll your change.
Customer: "No offense, but how can I trust he/she doesn't take any of my change while he rolls?"
Teller: "I understand your concern and there is no need to worry. We have multiple cameras in the room above and under the desk. If he/she slips some change in his/her pocket, he/she will be terminated and the money he/she took will placed into your account where it belongs.
Customer: "Sounds great. Thank you very much."
Teller: "It's my pleasure. Would you like to wait for the roller to be finished with your change to get money back or would you like the amount to be just deposited into your account?
Customer: "You can just deposit it into my account."
Teller: "Ok, you're all set. Have a great day!"
Customer: "Thank you, you too!"
There, so there are two options for you. I'd say, the better option, in my opinion, would be to hire "change rollers" because that will put more people with jobs instead of without. They must be able to pass a change rolling test though which will consist of being able to roll quarters, dimes, nickels, and pennies. They should also be paid at LEAST $10/hr so they can afford to live in this area somewhat comfortably.
That's it! So, Bank of America and the other banks out there who still make your customers roll the change to make it more convenient for YOU, get to it!
This concludes the first part of this two part blog post.
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