Grocery cart damages

In article . com>, Tush Smells Bush Kills!!!!!!!!!!! wrote:
> I have a great idea for this. Stores should charge a quarter for the
> use of the cart. Then refund the quarter when you return the cart to a
> designated stall. Most are such penny pinchers, they would definately
> return the cart. Some may even grab other carts.

Ever shop where people steal carts?

I have, seen this system, it doesn't really help much.

In article ch.edu>, Daniel J. Stern wrote:

> That's how it works at virtually every supermarket here in Toronto. Each
> shopping cart has a little chain-and-slot device on the handlebar. There's
> a key at the end of the chain, which is just long enough to reach the next
> cart when the cart has been nested into another cart. To obtain a cart,
> you put a quarter in the coin slot, which pops the next cart's key out of
> your cart. When you're finished with your cart, you put it in the stall,
> and put the next cart's key in your cart's keyslot. Pop! You get your
> quarter back.
>
> There are almost never stray carts in the car park.

At the chicago grocery store I used to go to with that system many years
ago, instead of one cart floating, they'd float in pairs... or people
would just bust the mechanism.

Brent P wrote:
> In article . com>, Tush Smells Bush Kills!!!!!!!!!!! wrote:
> > I have a great idea for this. Stores should charge a quarter for the
> > use of the cart. Then refund the quarter when you return the cart to a
> > designated stall. Most are such penny pinchers, they would definately
> > return the cart. Some may even grab other carts.
>
> Ever shop where people steal carts?
>
> I have, seen this system, it doesn't really help much.


Some stores have carts that lock up once you leave the parking lot.

And how do you know they're "stealing" them? Maybe they just don't have
cars and can't carry the heavy groceries home w/o the aid of the cart.
I see people do this all the time and they don't "steal" it, they leave
it on the curb for the cart collector to come pick it up.

Go back to where you came from...

Tracey wrote:
> "Tush Smells Bush Kills!!!!!!!!!!!" > wrote in message
> ups.com...
> >I have a great idea for this. Stores should charge a quarter for the
> > use of the cart. Then refund the quarter when you return the cart to a
> > designated stall. Most are such penny pinchers, they would definately
> > return the cart. Some may even grab other carts.
>
> Aldi's does that. There are still carts all over their parking lot.
>

Aldi's? Never heard of it. In Los Angeles, none of the large chains do
it: Ralph's, Albertson's, Vons, Stater Bros, Target, K-Mart, etc.

The reason might be because there's so much competition between these
stores that if they inconvenienced the shopper, they're afraid that
they'd just walk 50 ft to the store next to it.

In article .com>,
Tush Smells Bush Kills!!!!!!!!!!! > wrote:
>Aldi's? Never heard of it. In Los Angeles, none of the large chains do
>it: Ralph's, Albertson's, Vons, Stater Bros, Target, K-Mart, etc.
>
>The reason might be because there's so much competition between these
>stores that if they inconvenienced the shopper, they're afraid that
>they'd just walk 50 ft to the store next to it.

In the mid-80s, there was an Alpha Beta grocery store in Santa Ana
that did a charge a quarter for a cart system. Unfortunately, after a
short time, the cart return mechanism got damaged and wouldn't return
quarters. I think it was removed shortly after that.

In article . com>,
"Tush Smells Bush Kills!!!!!!!!!!!" > wrote:

> I have a great idea for this. Stores should charge a quarter for the
> use of the cart. Then refund the quarter when you return the cart to a
> designated stall. Most are such penny pinchers, they would definately
> return the cart. Some may even grab other carts.

One or two supermarkets in the Philadelphia area tried that system a few
years ago. It caused a lot of rancor among customers. American consumers
can be very touchy (and lazy).

In article .com>,
"Tush Smells Bush Kills!!!!!!!!!!!" > wrote:

> Tracey wrote:
> > "Tush Smells Bush Kills!!!!!!!!!!!" > wrote in message
> > ups.com...
> > >I have a great idea for this. Stores should charge a quarter for the
> > > use of the cart. Then refund the quarter when you return the cart to a
> > > designated stall. Most are such penny pinchers, they would definately
> > > return the cart. Some may even grab other carts.
> >
> > Aldi's does that. There are still carts all over their parking lot.
> >
>
> Aldi's? Never heard of it. In Los Angeles, none of the large chains do
> it: Ralph's, Albertson's, Vons, Stater Bros, Target, K-Mart, etc.
>
> The reason might be because there's so much competition between these
> stores that if they inconvenienced the shopper, they're afraid that
> they'd just walk 50 ft to the store next to it.

Aldi's is a small European discount grocery chain with stores in some
American cities. Aldi's sells no name brands at pretty heavily reduced
prices off name brands that regular supermarkets sell. Aldi's also does
not offer any grocery bags. Customers are responsible for bringing their
own grocery bags, or they can use any empty boxes they find in the
store. Some of the items at Aldi's are very good, but some are lousy.

A couple years ago, I was parked at a large grocery store parking lot
that had a steep slope. I was just starting to pull out when I
noticed a cart headed down the hill toward my car. It was moving at a
pretty good clip - no way I was gonna be able to get outta the car and
catch it. The only thing to do was gun my car in reverse and get
outta the way. I made it in time, which was unfortunate for the guy
parked next to me (who was also in his car). Ouch.

Obviously, there wasn't much time for an internal policy debate on the
ethics of saving my car at the expense of his. Would you have done
the same thing?


===================

Hospitality is making people feel at home when you wish they were.

....Garrison Keillor

Bill wrote:
> "Tush Smells Bush Kills!!!!!!!!!!!" wrote:
> >
> > I have a great idea for this. Stores should charge a quarter for the
> > use of the cart. Then refund the quarter when you return the cart to a
> > designated stall. Most are such penny pinchers, they would definately
> > return the cart. Some may even grab other carts.
>
> Yes, but it's a pain to have to have a quarter to get a cart. I
> guess if you shop there all the time you know to have it
> available, but if not, you end up with a hand basket, or have to
> go get change, or shop elsewhere.


Which is probably why none of the major stores in LA has instituted it.
They don't want to inconvenience shoppers because if they don't have a
quarter, they'll simply walk 50 ft to the competitor next door.

I think a better idea would be for the cashier to ring up the 25¢
"cart fee" at the cash register. Then they can get the quarter back
once they return the cart. Or charge 24¢ then they can feel good about
earning an extra penny.