Woo hoo! Take THAT lazy SCs!!!

[Dark-Star]

Aldi's does that here. It's a lil annoying to make sure you have a quarter, but nice to know that you won't hit a cart pulling into a spot

Some Wal-Mart's go even farther: the carts have a built-in wheel locking system that gets triggered if you try to take them beyond a boundary - not unlike the 'invisible fence' system for dogs. Once they lock down (so I hear) it takes proper tools and a bit of time to get them reset. And this is on all 4 wheels @ once.

If they'd couple that with a quarter deposit they'd have the perfect combination. The wheel-lock keeps the local riff-raff from stealing the carts (and WM seems to attract them for some reason) while the deposit would keep the parking lot free of strays.

[MrSunshineState]

I don't recall this store having scooters. It was a relatively small store. If they do, I highly doubt they charge for them.

[Pairou]

This sounds pretty awesome... what store is it?

[OfficeSlug]

That is SO flipping awesome!!!!

They'd learn the second trip to the store to bring a quarter.


And no breaking of dollars for quarters at the registers!!!

[NorthernZel]

Some Wal-Mart's go even farther: the carts have a built-in wheel locking system that gets triggered if you try to take them beyond a boundary - not unlike the 'invisible fence' system for dogs. Once they lock down (so I hear) it takes proper tools and a bit of time to get them reset. And this is on all 4 wheels @ once.

If they'd couple that with a quarter deposit they'd have the perfect combination. The wheel-lock keeps the local riff-raff from stealing the carts (and WM seems to attract them for some reason) while the deposit would keep the parking lot free of strays.

Actually, my local supermarket har just enabled that combination. One has always had to pay a deposit for the cart, but now they've enabled wheel locking systems as well since many people had a habit of paying the deposit by putting a coin in a slot on the cart itself, take the cart the whole way home, smash the coin slot to smithereens in order to get the deposit back and then leave the cart somewhere in the streets. I once spotted a cart worker roaming around approx. 1 kilometer away from the supermarket itself, looking for abandoned carts.

[Fufu487]

It really surprises me that this is post-worthy... Where I live, I can't think of any grocery store where this isn't common practice. Some companies even manufacture slugs for your keychain that are the same size as a quarter or a loonie to work in the carts, so you don't have to dig for one every time you get a cart.

Where in Canada are you?? We dont really have ANY coindeposits for our carts around where I am, and that's Ottawa...

[Jack7957]

Some Wal-Mart's go even farther: the carts have a built-in wheel locking system that gets triggered if you try to take them beyond a boundary - not unlike the 'invisible fence' system for dogs. Once they lock down (so I hear) it takes proper tools and a bit of time to get them reset. And this is on all 4 wheels @ once.

My local grocery store has had that system for a couple years now, just on one wheel though. I watch a woman just a couple weeks ago try to take a cart out of one exit of the parking lot, and sure enough, the flipper on the wheel popped and locked it. After trying to get the wheel unlocked, she takes her bags out (three if I remember), goes to the cart return, grabs another cart and tries the other parking lot exit. Same thing happens. Later I see her waiting at the bus stop which was only 50 feet from the store.

[Kiwi]

Where in Canada are you??

In BC (at least where I have lived in BC) every single supermarket requires a coin to unlock the carts.

[wynjara]

A lot of the places near here have the quarter requirement, which has led to my family leaving quarters in the car at all times. It does cut down on the number of loose carts, and occasionally leads to my earning a buck or two after shopping by putting carts back that people were too lazy to do. I kinda feel bad if the cart people usually would get those, but random carts in parking spots make me crazy.

[jedimaster91]

It totally makes my day to find abandoned carts at Aldi. Extra quarter for me! Woo! I love Aldi to pieces. We get most of our basics there for much cheaper than WalMart. And even when they do have name brand stuff, it's dirt cheap. Can of Pringles for $0.99? Win!