It started before I even got into work

[Food Lady]

There's a Target store attached to our mall. The mall didn't want people taking the carts out into the mall, and probably leaving them everywhere, so there's a system on the carts that locks the wheels if you push them too close to the door leading into the mall. Now if they could just modify that.... Years ago the store my mother worked for tried putting a fence around the entrance/exit to the store so that carts wouldn't go through. You were supposed to leave your cart full of groceries and pull your car up to the store (designated area) to load up. It was supposed to be staffed. Of course, they didn't have enough people to have someone working there all the time and people's bags got stolen, so they soon quit that.

Our Target is in the mall and doesn't have that. It should, 'cause when I go to the mall, I see people pushing them all over. Would they go to a free-standing Target and take the carts a mile away? I don't think so.

[Becks]

everyone has a quarter.

I seldom carry change, unless I got some from a previous shopping trip that same day.

[El Pollo Guerrera]

There's two stores here that do that. One takes a quarter and there's always carts everywhere. The other takes a loonie (a $1 coin) and the lot is always clean of stray carts.

[Mystic]

This would be a nice way for the US Mint to start pushing that dollar coin they keep trying to get out en mass.

[Mytical]

Aldi's never has a stray cart, even with only a quarter. I agree with somebody, however. Have them take a credit card or large bill only..then you would almost never have to worry about it (something like a $20 or something so thieves are less likely to bother with it).

[DGoddessChardonnay]

Some of the stores around here have it so you have to put in a Quarter. Across the street at WalMart, there are carts everywhere. At Aldi, where you have to "pay" a Quarter all the carts are always put away. It's effing hilarious.

The Save-A-Lot near me has those shopping carts too. It's not only hilarious, but a good way to keep from having to continually replace shopping carts.

Frankly, I wish the Litter Box would invest in those carts that have the locking wheels so they can't be taken outside the parking lot. It's keep carts from accumulating behind the shopping center in the nearby apartment complexes (we have 3 behind our store and another one around the corner and just down the road a short ways.)

[sirwired]

There's a Target store attached to our mall. The mall didn't want people taking the carts out into the mall, and probably leaving them everywhere, so there's a system on the carts that locks the wheels if you push them too close to the door leading into the mall.

This works on a wire loop emitting a magnetic field at a certain frequency (or something along those lines.) A few years ago, some hacker figured out a way to build a portable battery-powered emitter that would lock up all carts in about a 20-ft radius. Hilarity ensued.

(Note: The device could only run about three to five minutes before heating up to the verge of meltdown, so we need not fear an epidemic of such devices.)

[Andara Bledin]

Our local grocery has lock-up carts. You can tell the system works, because there's almost always a least one cart with a locked wheel in the foyer.

^-.-^

[cinema guy]

I seldom carry change, unless I got some from a previous shopping trip that same day.

You can get keyrings that have a disc the size of a £1 coing to use on a trolley. My mum keeps on attached to her shopping bag. Some examples.

[EricKei]

cg - Those are pretty cool ^_^ Nothing wrong with that -- after all, you would still need to return the cart if you want your keyring back.

This would be a nice way for the US Mint to start pushing that dollar coin they keep trying to get out en mass.

I know the vending machine operators and arcade runners (when the latter still existed -- it's all but disappeared in this country these days) were pushing for that, big time (to make it easier to charge a dollar or more for *everything*)....My problem is, whenever they re-do the coin, they make the SAME EXACT mistakes they made the first time -- i.e., it is still easy to mistake it for a quarter due to the shape, size, weight, and the face on the front. The difference in color is also easy to overlook if you're in a hurry of in bad lighting. That, and they don't make enough for it to get into serious circulation.

[Miss Maple Leaf]

A few years ago, some hacker figured out a way to build a portable battery-powered emitter that would lock up all carts in about a 20-ft radius. Hilarity ensued.

Oh, that is evil!

Did they ever find out who did it? And more importantly, is there a video of this up on YouTube somewhere?

[Geek King]

That, and they don't make enough for it to get into serious circulation.

Actually, the biggest impediment to the dollar coins in the U.S. is that they keep printing dollar bills. If they'd stop printing new dollar bills, and remove the old ones at the same rate they do now (only when considered damaged by the bank and mint), they could switch over 99% of the dollar currency to coin in just a few years, and wouldnt have to mint a huge number of coins all at the beginning.

[It's me]

Actually, the biggest impediment to the dollar coins in the U.S. is that they keep printing dollar bills. If they'd stop printing new dollar bills, and remove the old ones at the same rate they do now (only when considered damaged by the bank and mint), they could switch over 99% of the dollar currency to coin in just a few years, and wouldnt have to mint a huge number of coins all at the beginning.

A related issue is lack of five, or even two dollar bills. Canada had both when we went to the dollar coin, so using a tenner for a fairly small purchase didn't result in a pocket full of heavy coins. Even with the two dollar coins we also have now it still works well.

[Mike Taylor]

Some of the stores around here have it so you have to put in a Quarter. Across the street at WalMart, there are carts everywhere. At Aldi, where you have to "pay" a Quarter all the carts are always put away. It's effing hilarious.

One of the many reasons I love Aldi so much. I wish we had them here in Naples.

[Lots42]

When my crazy dad encounters 'pay to use cart' he makes sure to give the cart to the person coming in as he is going out. THis is the same guy who taught me not to steal tickets from a badly designed amusement park machine.