said by fatness :

If someone can invent good wheels for shopping carts they'll make tons of money. There's always at least 1 wheel on a cart that wobbles or freezes, imperiling condiments and rutabagas.

said by fatness :

There's always at least 1 wheel on a cart that wobbles or freezes,

said by fatness :

imperiling condiments and rutabagas.

said by Heshup :

Carts are about as nasty as they come. Think of the all people that had there hands on that bar. When is the last time any one has seen them clean the carts? It would scare the hell out of people if they seen what grew in a petri dish and we put our hands right on that bar.

said by wilbilt :

The local grocery store here has antibacterial wipes in a dispenser just inside the door for customers who wish to wipe the handle off.

said by wilbilt :

The local grocery store here has antibacterial wipes in a dispenser just inside the door for customers who wish to wipe the handle off.

said by DonLibes :

The wipes are pointless given that all the stuff on the shelves has been handled by people. And just to be sure everyone shares, your cashier will handle everything again, passing the germs from the previous customer on to your goods.

said by wilbilt :

A visit to the supermarket is a lesson on how disgusting people really are.

said by Heshup :



Carts are about as nasty as they come. Think of the all people that had there hands on that bar. When is the last time any one has seen them clean the carts? It would scare the hell out of people if they seen what grew in a petri dish and we put our hands right on that bar. LOL Yes the wheels piss me off in a bad way. It all comes down to one thing SAVE A BUCK!

said by Heshup :



Carts are about as nasty as they come. Think of the all people that had there hands on that bar. When is the last time any one has seen them clean the carts? It would scare the hell out of people if they seen what grew in a petri dish and we put our hands right on that bar. LOL Yes the wheels piss me off in a bad way. It all comes down to one thing SAVE A BUCK!

said by Mele20 :

In our grocery stores now cashiers wear gloves or use hand sanitizer between checking out each person.

said by Mr Neutron :

Maybe it's just me, but when I see a cashier wearing disposable latex gloves, I feel like I have some sort of dread disease.

I mean, I'm cool with the hand sanitizer, but I really don't see the need for wearing gloves, so long as you don't touch your nose or mouth (something I don't want to see a cashier doing anyway).

said by thedragonmas :

[sarcasm] maybe we should have all cashiers where hasmat suites? actually would be kinda cool. [/sarcasm]

said by Heshup :



Carts are about as nasty as they come. Think of the all people that had there hands on that bar. When is the last time any one has seen them clean the carts? It would scare the hell out of people if they seen what grew in a petri dish and we put our hands right on that bar. LOL Yes the wheels piss me off in a bad way. It all comes down to one thing SAVE A BUCK!

said by lew_b :

Woe to anyone who dare go shopping without a quarter !

said by Mr Neutron :

I'm not familiar with those. Do you get your quarter back at the end?

I wonder if the hassle of having to produce a quarter before you get to use a cart drives away business?

said by lew_b :

Yeah, plugging the end of the cable from the cart in front of you into your cart releases the quarter.

said by mcd :

Oh dear!! Here I thought I was purchasing the carts for a quarter all this time!!

said by Mr Neutron :

I wonder if you can fool the mechanism with slugs?

said by fatness :

I doubt it. Slugs are very slow and not too bright. And if you have salt on your hands just forget it.

said by Mr Neutron :

I wonder if you can fool the mechanism with slugs? A coin acceptance mechanism in something like that isn't likely to be too sophisticated.

(I ask because I would probably walk off without reclaiming my quarter, too.)

said by fishacura :

However, I don't remember seeing my grocery prices go down and to be honest, sometimes it's just easier to leave the cart wherever.

said by fishacura :

I think it's some sort of incentive to bring your cart back to the appropriate place. Theoretically, it should reduce costs because the market should then not need a person to do this work. Or if people don't bring them back, the store generates revenue...those quarters add up. However, I don't remember seeing my grocery prices go down and to be honest, sometimes it's just easier to leave the cart wherever.

said by patcat88 :

You wind up with homeless bums fighting over getting carts back to the station.

said by Mr Neutron :

I have to wonder if stores have actually lost business as a result of forcing the "coin carts" onto their customers.

As you point out, coin-filled carts are one hell of an attractant for the local homeless population. Who then have a strong incentive to start hanging around the parking lot and make a nuisance of themselves.

This can't be an endearing thing for a store to have happen and I'm guessing that if additional measures aren't taken to keep away the local homeless population, (i.e. measures that will cost money, you know, like the money the special carts were supposed to save) their presence in the store parking lot is going to cause at least some customers to start shopping elsewhere.

said by dvd536 :

The smart retailer would convert them to token based coins for the carts that have no cash value. putting the homeless at bay.

said by Mr Neutron :

I wonder if you can fool the mechanism with slugs? A coin acceptance mechanism in something like that isn't likely to be too sophisticated.

(I ask because I would probably walk off without reclaiming my quarter, too.)

said by lew_b :

Yeah, plugging the end of the cable from the cart in front of you into your cart releases the quarter.

said by lew_b :

Yeah, plugging the end of the cable from the cart in front of you into your cart releases the quarter.

said by Mr Neutron :

Is there a magnet contained in the red cable end, perhaps? Is that what pops out your quarter?

said by lew_b :

Yeah, plugging the end of the cable from the cart in front of you into your cart releases the quarter.

said by Thinkdiff :

I really hate these carts. They have them at most pathmark's in the Bronx.

said by Thinkdiff :

All it does is attract the local bums who wait for you to unload your items and then take the cart so they can get the quarter. They always get pissed when I bring my own cart back and get my quarter.

said by Mr Neutron :

Is Pathmark an American store? Or is it a European outfit doing business in the US?

said by lew_b :

A local law forces stores to put a device on the cart that chains the cart to the one in front of it. You have to put a quarter in it before the cart can be unlatched from the cart in front of it. This is to get you to return the cart to the corral and not litter the parking lot with carts.
Woe to anyone who dare go shopping without a quarter !

said by lew_b :

A local law forces stores to put a device on the cart that chains the cart to the one in front of it. You have to put a quarter in it before the cart can be unlatched from the cart in front of it. This is to get you to return the cart to the corral and not litter the parking lot with carts.
Woe to anyone who dare go shopping without a quarter !

said by Combat Chuck :

Interestingly there have been studies done about the similar practice in airports. You know where you pay $2 for a cart and get a $0.50 reward when you return it.

More carts were returned than when they just charged a flat $2 than if they charged you $1.50 with a $0.50 deposit. The theory is that charging $2 to rent the cart and giving nothing in return makes people feel guilty for not returning the cart; but when you give them money back for returning it they see that as a "return charge" and just leave the cart if they don't feel like returning it.

Similar things happened when they looked at charging parents a penalty for being late picking their kids up. When they instituted the charge more people started showing up late.

said by Combat Chuck :

Interestingly there have been studies done about the similar practice in airports. You know where you pay $2 for a cart and get a $0.50 reward when you return it.

More carts were returned than when they just charged a flat $2 than if they charged you $1.50 with a $0.50 deposit. The theory is that charging $2 to rent the cart and giving nothing in return makes people feel guilty for not returning the cart; but when you give them money back for returning it they see that as a "return charge" and just leave the cart if they don't feel like returning it.

said by lew_b :

A local law forces stores to put a device on the cart that chains the cart to the one in front of it.

said by wilbilt :

If I had to put a quarter in a cart for the privilege of shopping at a certain store, I would go elsewhere.

I almost never carry any cash - quarters included - so such a scheme would insure the loss of my business.

said by shaner :

Every single grocery store here in Canada uses the "quarter lock" system

said by sivran :

I don't hate the carts. I hate the lazy twits who leave them in the parking lot...

said by fireflier :

I've never done it, but I've been tempted.

said by quatrix :

I use those straps to attach the seat back to the front of the cart and make it harder for the next overbreeder to fold it out. Hold your applause.

said by PhoenixAZ :

My rant is with shopping carts in general...They use them to place only one item in the cart, then they leave the cart astray in the parking lot, driving their GMC Yukon with only one person and their one item in it home...across the street.

Laziness..ugh

said by fatness :

Leaving the kids in the frozen foods coolers slows them down a lot.

said by rspsas :

anyone hate shopping cart designs

said by MysticGogeta :

What I hate is how the wheels are always screwed up. I stock for Target and we have to put the boxes from the truck in them because we can't have pallets out (Guests sue if they trip on them) when you have to push 10-12 alone and half of the carts pull to the right it pisses you off. Only thing that bugs me about carts.

said by dvd536 :

Thats what happens when they're pushed in long trains and all the stores cart guys do that.
the thumping wheel issue is caused by turning long trains of carts.