Ron Schenone

Would You Pay A Quarter To Use A Grocery Shopping Cart?

Posted by on Apr 15, 2008 | 34 Comments

There is an article over at the San Jose Mercury news about Safeway stores now charging a quarter to use a shopping cart. Seems that grocery stores are trying to recover some of the costs associated with shopping cart thefts that happen ever year. According to the article it states:

 The shiny new shopping cart at my neighborhood Safeway called out to me. It said: “Pay me a quarter or carry your own groceries.”

And I said: “I’ll see you rust in hell first.”

Yes, shopping cart theft is a global problem. I’m told California retailers spend $15 million a year on replacement carts, retrieval companies and security systems. Like puppies trained to live within invisible fences, we’ve learned not to take our carts beyond the yellow line where the electronic sensors make the wheels lock.

And now, after years of making carts bigger and bigger to lure us into buying more and more of their stuff, the retailers want us to think they are doing us a favor, that driving a cart is some kind of privilege conferred only on those who are willing to pay – like valet parking?

I inspected the new “pay before you shop” cart. It had something similar to a bike lock dangling from the handle and a little slot where you insert the quarter. Return the cart and you get your quarter back, like those luggage carts at the airport.

But a luggage cart is just a convenient amenity. A shopping cart is a basic necessity – unless you enjoy shopping before every meal.

This is going to go down as the stupidest idea ever. I’ll be surprised if this cart rental idea doesn’t go down in flames. It will only be a matter of time after Safeway starts to lose business that the rental scheme will fade away.

What do you think. Would you pay a quarter to do your grocery shopping and use a company owned shopping cart?

Comments welcome.

Full article is here.

[tags]shopping, cart, rental, quarter, use, grocery, theft,  [/tags]

  • stefan

    well, as you read to the bottom of the article you find that the carts (trolley in the UK) were meant for Canada.
    As a matter of fact, this kind of trolley is de facto in most European countries, and youll only really find trolleys without them at larger retail parks and stores on the outskirts of a town.

    and is having a coin to use a trolley such a big deal? you get it back once you return it, or you can keep the trolley as a memento of your successful shopping trip.

    Personally, though, I tend to use the baskets which are also provided (but free). It ensures that I dont spend as much and can carry my shopping home.

  • Steve Poirier

    We recently had a new store, ALDI – http://aldi.us, show up in our town that does the same thing. At first my wife and I thought that we had to pay a quarter too. After realizing we would get our quarter back we had no problem with this practice. Most people are too lazy to take the cart back to the building so we started to see cart corals in the parking lot. I have seen people not even walk 10 feet to put a cart in the coral, talk about lazy. With this system if you want your quarter back just bring it back to the building. The extra steps might all do us some good.

  • Garth Johnson

    You are not paying a quarter. You get it back unless you are too lazy to return it to the rack. It has nothing to do with cost of carts and everything to do with keeping the carts in a few spots and not spread out all over the parking lot so when the wind picks up they go sailing about bashing cars. The only people affected are those who can’t take the time out of their busy schedule to put the cart back.
    It’s a great idea (how many time have you had to move carts so you could park?).
    It works well where I live, and it has been a standard here for years. The only downside is the kids wanting to take your cart back so they can get the quarter, but that’s a bit better than just begging.

  • Don Naphen

    The problem of cart theft has been going on forever Ron. Stores are reluctant to enforce their rules about carts not leaving the parking lot, so as not to “offend” the customer. Yeah, and then those that do do the right thing get socked with this new surcharge! Nationwide, most of the habitual offenders are homeless people who use them to round up cans/bottles and their worldly possessions. After them come the ones who live maybe a mile or so from home and feel it’s their right to take the cart home and then leave it on the sidewalk for collection, or whatever.
    Lastly are the kids who use them for play toys, giving each other rides around the neighborhood. Oh yeah … also the mommies who use ‘em to wheel their laundry uptown to the laundramat … again, no car.

  • http://wp3.lockergnome.com/nexus/blade/ Ron Schenone

    Thanks for dropping by and sharing your thoughts everyone. It is appreciated.

    I think this is fair. It’s like why we pay for uninsured car insurance, when the law requires that everyone have auto insurance, but some knot heads don’t. :-)

  • Don Naphen

    Ron, I didn’t realize the article pertained to Canada, but I guess they have the right idea, since a reader pointed out that the quarter was returned if the cart was returned. In my town (just south of Boston), I wish they had a realistic deposit required if people attempted to leave the parking lot, along with positive i.d.

    WHERE IS FRED LANGA WHEN YOU NEED HIM! LOL

  • http://wp3.lockergnome.com/nexus/blade/ Ron Schenone

    I think I saw Fred collecting quarters from abandoned shopping carts in Canada.

    Heck, I didn’t realize the carts were meant for Canada either. In that case its OK. LOL

    Just joking my Canadian friends. :-)

  • NewJohnny

    Here in Canada, we’ve had these carts for well over 20 years. How did this make the news?

  • GOOSE

    See what you started Ron? This whole article could of been avoided if you read the whole thing. And I’m going to make sure that Karen see’s what you think about Canadians…….

  • http://wp3.lockergnome.com/nexus/blade/ Ron Schenone

    “Here in Canada, we’ve had these carts for well over 20 years. How did this make the news?

    I think you Canadians have been keeping this a secret and we just found out about it! :-)

    Heh Goose,
    Yeah buddy. Thanks for the hot news item. What’s next? You gonna tell me the Titanic sank?

  • GOOSE

    It did?

  • http://wp3.lockergnome.com/nexus/blade/ Ron Schenone

    Yes it did. They were selling lifeboat seats for a quarter as well. But you got your quarter back if you brought back the lifeboat to the ship. :-)

  • Denny

    Geeeeeeeeeezzzzzzzz,,,,,,,

    . . . I’m Shocked About Ron’s Canadian – - Comments

    What Until Karun Reads This . . Stuff . . YUR IN TROUBLE NOW RON . :-)

  • http://wp3.lockergnome.com/nexus/blade/ Ron Schenone

    I give up……
    what’s a Karun ? :-)

  • GOOSE

    Karun is Canadian for Karen….although I don’t think Denny knows that.
    And about the Titanic, are you sure you read all the way to the end?

  • Denny

    It’s Canadian For Karen . . .

    - – - – AND – - – -

    . . .Karun Said She is Not Speek-In-to-Ya . . .:-)

  • http://wp3.lockergnome.com/nexus/blade/ Ron Schenone

    The story of the Titanic is never ending………………. did you hear about the third section of the ship they found??????

    Karun isn’t speaking to me? If she puts up with the Woodson she can take anything! :-)

  • Denny

    . . . -GO–0ERS- . . . :-)

  • http://wp3.lockergnome.com/nexus/blade/ Ron Schenone

    GO-OERS ?
    Must be another secret code. :-)

  • Denny

    ——-9ers——– :-)

    . . I Thinks I Need a key-Board-Tech . . Do you Know any Ron . . !

  • GOOSE

    DENNY! Start lookin at the keys when you type! Or maybe have Karun proofread for you…..

  • Denny

    Thank–You . . . Gooose . . I’ll Do-Dat

  • Bob Wilson

    Hey Ron,

    You think a quarter is bad. Some stores are now demanding a Loonie to use their carts, but you do get it back. A Loonie is a Canadian one dollar coin. I guess some people still won’t return the cart for 25 cents but for a dollar….

  • http://wp3.lockergnome.com/nexus/blade/ Ron Schenone

    Hello Bob Wilson,
    Interesting. Makes one wonder how many carts still are not returned.Could be a way for some teens to pick up some spending cash.

    I remember long ago speaking to a guy at a popular beach who had a metal detector. He stated that during the summer months he was making over $50 a day finding loose change on the beach. He said it was very lucrative around the volleyball areas. :-)

    Plus it’s tax free.

    Have a good one and thanks for sharing this. Ron

  • Erika

    I’ve been shopping at Aldi for years and think nothing of inserting a quarter in the cart. In fact, as a child, it was a treat to be allowed to insert it. It’s not a big deal. It’s just a way to keep prices down.

  • TK_M

    Welcome to our rip-off world here in the UK!

    Note that Safeway is British and Aldi is German – Both European countries, where it is normal to charge to “borrow” a trolley.

    You are lucky is is only a quarter, here in the UK it is a £1 coin – That’s 2USD. Children are helpful and offer to take your trolley back for you – But you will never see your coin again of course!

    The locks provide fun for lock-pickers and you can actually buy special keyrings that have “fake” £1 coins on them, so you always have “change” for a trolley. The problem than is that your keys are locked onto your trolley and a lot of people do walk out, forgetting them… Not only that, but for some reason, these keyrings cost more than £1 each, so why not just use a £1 coin – It’s cheaper than a special keyring!

    Funnily enough, I’ve yet to see washers used in them, probably something in the mechanism that makes washers tend not to fit – After all, why make your countries coins the same size as comon washers? You’re inviting people to try washers in vending machines if you do.

    The only store near me who doesn’t charge for trolleys is Asda, which is owned by Wal-Mart. Good for them! I dislike having to keep my eye on the trolley all the time as kids have already found out a decent pair of pliars can get your coin in a second, without you ever knowing…

  • Lauren Glenn

    We had a Pathmark in Freehold, NJ USA do this with the quarter on the carts for a similar reason. It only lasted a few months and they did away with it. Why did they do this?

    It turns out that there wasn’t a change machine nearby so the Courtesy Counter had to keep giving out change to people in order to give them quarters to unlock the carts. They started to give out red keys that would fit out in the quarter slots so frequent customers wouldn’t have to do this.

    After a while, they disbanded the idea because competitors across the street and a couple down the street weren’t doing this and customers were going there. It was more of an inconvience and didn’t really stop anyone from stealing the carts. Put it this way….. if you were going to steal the cart, paying a quarter wouldn’t deter you in anyway from doing so. The only thing it did was to annoy your frequent customers and your casual ones.

  • Lauren Glenn

    Also, for the ones who are joy-riding down the street, how about someone in law enforcement actually enforce the laws about theft of shopping carts. The carts and signs near the carts generally say around here that the carts are not to leave the premises. If a cop sees someone with a cart a couple of blocks away from the store, chances are that they stole it or are not using it for the intended purpose of the store.

    Still, a “loonie” or a 1 pound coin would make me return the cart, but if I wanted to steal a cart, I could say that I paid for the cart and probably some sheisty lawyer would make a claim to that, at least, in the US.

  • http://wp3.lockergnome.com/nexus/blade/ Ron Schenone

    Hello Lauren,
    Thanks for the comments and observations.

  • Jennifer

    I just had my first experience with this sort of thing here in the South(Florida). I think the idea is offensive personally. I always return my cart when I don’t have my children with me. If I have my children I take it to the nearest cart coral. The store I was in never has had such a coral and the employees were put out when I quesitoned their new system. I used their cart and left my quarter behind-that will be the last time I ever shop there. If they were really worried about loosing 30 carts a year, as the employee told me, they would be the ones who would WALK outside and get the carts. More than once I have been in that store and seen front check out employees just standing and talking to floor employees. Then the employeees sit on a bench and smoke right outside the store-why couldn’t they have walked while smoking?

  • Pingback: Pay For Shopping Cart Debate Continues - Canadians Pay $1 ~ The Blade by Ron Schenone, MVP

  • http://www.cartquarter.com Olaf K.

    No i would pay a quarter to rent a shopping cart, because, I bought my liftetime quarters at http://www.cartquarter.com I can use them and never ever have to ask for Change or digging for a quarter in my wallet again. It great good to know that people have smart ideas

  • dread

    Cart Quarter? Holy crap and OMFG. Has that company made a single sale? How about 1/2 the people I know “invented” this about 20 years ago by keeping a *real* quarter in their wallet. It used to serve double duty being my emergency phone call money, when that used to matter and there were actually phone booths everywhere. I guess the Boy Scouts taught me well.

  • http://100changes.com Damon Talbert

    I tend to buy less at my local Aldi that has the carts. I grab a box.