Call Kurtis Investigates: Coinstar Accuracy

You got to wonder if these machines are accurate. How would you ever know? After hearing concerns from a viewer, we put them to the test.

Joy Hauser thinks this Coinstar machine inside a Placerville grocery store shorted her more than five dollars of the $122.56 she says she counted first.

"That was our money and they kept it," says Joy.

But how would you ever know if you were shorted, unless you count them first?

"There are going to be some of those flukes," says David Lazier, Assistant Director, California Division of Measurement Standards.

The California of Division of Measurement Standards conducted 30 tests of Coinstar machines across our area.

Out of 30 transactions, the state says they were shorted four times... twice by a penny, once by a nickel. And at this Coinstar machine inside this Orangevale grocery store, the state was shorted $2.14 out of the $5.00 put in. That's more than 40% less.

"$2.14 out of $5.00, that is very disconcerting," says Lazier.

But Lazier also points out in three of the 30 transactions, he was overpaid a penny in two transactions and a dime in the third. If you do the math, 23 transactions were spot on.

He concludes in his report "... based on this limited survey, it appears that the Coinstar coin counting machines can accurately and repeatedly count and give the customer credit for their coins."

We wanted to see for ourselves so we checked 10 machines throughout Sacramento, Yolo, Placer, El Dorado and San Joaquin counties. Counted $10.00 worth of coins with the same number of quarters, dimes, nickels and pennies and sealed each bag.

9 out of 10 machines gave us the correct change minus the 9.8% commission it keeps. At the 10th, the Placerville Coinstar machine where viewer Joy says she was shorted, we actually got an extra penny!

Coinstar wouldn't talk about the discrepancies because they say they weren't there during the tests.

In a statement, they tell us: "... our machines are built to the highest standards of accuracy and are backed by a field service team of more than 200 A+ certified technicians who routinely service, clean, test and calibrate our equipment..."

They go onto say their "customer service staff is always available to.... resolve problems or concerns."
-- Sarah Ward Jones, Manager, Marketing Communications.

Joy never complained but learned once your money is gobbled up, there's no way to prove how much you put in.

"We trusted the machine would be accurate," says Joy.

We want to point out there are other machines like these out there too. In fact, a man in Santa Clara County says in February he was shorted eight dollars at a Safeway Coinmaster machine in Saratoga. He says he counted his coins first.

"I had a feeling that the machine might short change me because I had come here before and it seemed like it short changed me," says Joseph Enz of Santa Clara.

He complained to his county weights and measures department. They checked the machine, found a problem and pulled it out of service. Safeway returned the money and gave him a gift card. Safeway has switched from Coinmaster to Coinstar.

So what should you do if you think you were shorted? Coinstar says call the number on the machine. If you're not satisfied with the results, complain to your county weights and measures department.

Full Coinstar Statement:

"For 20 years and with more than 700 million coin-counting transactions, Coinstar machines have been recognized for the highest standards of accuracy and performance.

The California Division of Measurement Standards report stated, "based on this limited survey, it appears Coinstar coin counting machines can accurately and repeatedly count and give the customer credit for their coins." We're not able to comment on the specifics beyond their conclusion due to the fact that Coinstar was not present for the testing. However, the state's conclusion aligns with Coinstar's goal of consistently providing our customers with a satisfying and reliable experience.

To that end, our machines are built to the highest standards of accuracy and are backed by a field service team of more than 200 A+ certified technicians who routinely service, clean, test, and calibrate our equipment. Customer trust and satisfaction are paramount and our customer service staff is always available to consumers and trained to answer any questions and resolve problems or concerns as expeditiously as possible."

Best,
Sarah Ward Jones
Manager, Marketing Communications

Safeway Statement:

Thank you for contacting us regarding the Coin Master issue in February at our Saratoga store. We are currently using Coinstar machines which we feel will better meet our company's needs.

We appreciated Mr. Enz bringing the issue to our attention and worked with him to resolve the situation. The Coin Master machine was fixed and Mr. Enz received the amount of money due to him from his Coin Master transaction.

To show our appreciation for his business and to acknowledge the inconvenience this caused we also gave him a Safeway gift card.

While incidents like this are rare, the best thing customers can do should they encounter a problem with one of our machines is to report it to the Store Manager so that we can work to find a resolution.

-- Kara Noe
Public Affairs Manager
Safeway