On Thu, 18 Dec 2008 11:11:12 +0000, Robert
wrote:

I have seen supermarkets (on the continent I will admit) where the
change (in coin) was held in an automatic machine at the checkout. You
handed the check-out person your money, the amount was registered in
the till and the change was automatically delivered down a chute. Only
notes were handed out by hand. It was very quick.

Very common in Germany. It's not complex technology - basically just
part of a vending machine. The clever thing about it is that the
chute leads to a "pot" that's exactly the right size/shape for picking
up your coins in one go. Far better than the cashier handing you them
together with the notes underneath which has always seemed to me to be
the wrong way around.

Wouldn't surprise me if these popped up in Aldi and the likes, to be
honest, these being German supermarkets where costs are kept down by
making the checkout service very quick rather than throwing staff at
the problem as UK ones tend to.

This could be adopted for all sorts of other transactions. even
ruggedised to work on buses. The buses in Munich are fitted with coin
operated ticket issuing machines and I have never yet found one that
hasn't worked.

It would be ideal for buses, and if change was only issued because the
machine determined it should be, and not on demand from the driver, it
would offer the security of a farebox system yet the flexibility of
the driver giving change.

But could UK bus operators maintain them properly?

Neil

--
Neil Williams
Put my first name before the at to reply.