Yes to the return issues. The State likes to keep the unclaimed deposits, MI was $1 million plus last I looked.

Nothing here in WI. I used to bring bottles/cans from WI to MI, the ones with a refund. I’ve since backed off the hassle.

https://www.bottlebill.org/ind...r-abandoned-deposits


One of the sneakier things is the low deposit on say a bottle of water, 5 cents. It will unlikely get returned, just another consumer tax for the State.

The whole "put the can in the hole" thing is one of the worst experiences of the Yooper grocery store:
Half the machines are full.
Idiots trying to repeatedly insert a bottle / can that the machine rejects.
The can room is filthy and disgusting.
After a weekend, our now tolerably sober college kids show up at the machine with a grocery cart full of cans, causing all the machines to fill up and shut down.
Idiots who let their toddlers put the cans into the machine.
After all this, you get to the check out lines (behind the same idiots you were behind at the machine) and forget to turn in your can receipt to the cashier, thereby screwing yourself out of the profits from your ordeal.
I have cut my losses and throw the damn cans away. Life is too short.

We were in Oregon and walked into a grocery. As we entered, something stunk. Turned out the stench was a bottle/can return.

Ours is kept fairly clean and they opened up 2 more machines finally dropping the covid rule.
The last time I was there someone had not pushed the button to claim their $1.20 receipt.
I added to it bringing the total up to $5.??, collapsed and filed my cardboard and promptly walked out forgetting the slip. I didn't remember until it was way too late.

Wife is from Michigan, she goes up to visit a few months back, has a canned drink, crushes the can and throws it in the garbage.

Dad has a mini-fit. She's been gone a long time and forgot about the deposits.

I am that person who waits until a decent amount of these are collected before going to the inconvenience of returning these to get my money back, rather than being inconvenienced on every trip to the store returning a few.

I absolutely detest the entire program. Eliminate the deposit so I can just crush these and throw them in the recycle bin without being out the ten cents each.

How much do you have to pay for the deposit on a 6 pack of bottles? Seems to me it might be cheaper to just drop 'em in the trash rather than put up with the wait, smell, etc.

OTOH, I'm from Florida and, so far, we don't have such things as deposits on bottles here. I may just not understand.

Bob

Before I left home, back Ohio way - deposit on 16 oz bottles was 10 cents each. Saw more than one person cruising the main road garbage bins early morning scrounging them up.

My father liked his Strohs beer in bottles (case) also, those always went back for credit when he wanted more.

We are very progressive here. We take the bottles and cans to the range and blow them up. No bottle deposit law here. We eliminated the auto safety inspection as well. We seem to do fine with fewer regulations.

Yeah my aunt told me about this nonsense in Oregon and how big of a pain it is.

Here in Arizona we don’t have this craziness, but I suppose if we did I’d just be out another 10 cents a bottle because there’s no chance it’s worth the hassle.

Seriously? You’re that worried about your $.30? Yeah, I’m the asshole with 200 cans in the bag to make my trip to the machine worthwhile. I’m not really that guy, but since I give my cans to the church, that guy could be my pastor.