As I mentioned I went to BJ's last night. When I got there I first waked inside expecting to find carts, nope. I then walked back outside to one of their "Cart Corrals." What I found was all the carts chained together. It took me a second to realize there was a big sign up instructing you how to remove cart. Now point one, if you need instructions on how to operate a shopping cart then the solution may be overkill. Anyway, the carts had these locking mechanisms that you had to force a quarter into which would then release it from the next cart and lock the quarter in place. This is fine and dandy if you have a freaking quarter! I of course did not. I luckily found one that was not currently chained to anything.
This method of cart control is one I have never seen before. I can understand the reasoning behind it I guess. The theory seems to be that the incentive of retrieving your quarter will make you return the cart rather than leaving to flail about in the parking lot. However the toll (even temporary) to remove the cart seems very cumbersome. I mean what if someone like I could not find a free cart, would I have to go inside to get change to free a cart? That is not exactly the best way to start a shopping experience. I guess I just usually return the carts sans incentive and don't want to be bothered to find a quarter.
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