Automatic Bottle Deposits

CORE can attach an automatic deposit to an existing item. The deposit itself is also an item. In some jurisdictions the tax or foodstamp eligibility status of the deposit may differ from that of the base item.

To set up automatic deposits:

• Create one or more deposit items.
  • Deposit items typically have a positive price.
  • Deposit items should have a blank Deposit setting.
• Attach the appropriate deposit item to the appropriate base item.
  • Edit the base item
  • In the Deposit field enter the appropriate deposit item's PLU or UPC

When the base item is keyed in or scanned at the lane, both that item and the attached deposit item are added to the transaction. The total amount charged will be the price of the base item plus the price of the deposit item.

There is no corresponding mechanism for returning bottles or other containers that require a deposit. Different approaches are possible depending how critical it is to track different types of deposits.

• A cashier can ring a refund using the original deposit item
  • Pro: no additional deposit related items required
  • Pro: tracks which type of bottles are returned
  • Con: cashier may require menu or reference with many deposit PLUs
  • Con: monitoring cashiers' refund rate for abnormalities requires filtering
• A cashier can ring a separate, negative priced deposit return item
  • Pro: tracks which type of bottles are returned
  • Pro: does not add noise to refund reporting & rates
  • Con: cashier may require menu or reference with many return PLUs
  • Con: more PLU numbers dedicated to deposits
• A cashier can ring a special, zero-price return item then enter the correct price
  • Pro: minimal extra PLUs for returns
  • Pro: cashier does not need to reference many PLUs manually
  • Con: cashier needs to know different deposit amounts
  • Con: no way to tell which type of bottle was returned
  • If different types of returns have different tax or foodstamp eligibility status this approach may be less helpful. Multiple zero-priced return items with different tax/foodstamp settings removes the simplicity of using a single item.
• A cashier can do open rings to designated bottle return department(s)
  • Largely the same as a zero-priced item. May be slightly fewer keystrokes in some setups.

There are currently two configuration options related to bottle returns that are not necessarily compatible with one another. On the Extras tab of the lane configuration is a setting for Bottle Return Department number. This setting makes a zero-priced item (see options above) in that department interpret price entries as negative so the cashier does not need to press a "-" key. On the Scanning tab there's a special department module named BottleReturnDept. Open rings to department(s) entered here will be interpreted as negative so the cashier does not need to press a "-" key.

With CORE versions > 1.10, always use the Scanning tab setting. It will negate prices for both zero-price items and open rings in that department. With CORE versions <= 1.10 only use the Extras tab setting with zero-priced items and only use the Scanning tab setting with open rings. Using both settings at once can cause problems.