Did you even read that guys article? I assumed you were sending us to a cunsomer site where there was going to be some massive list of complaints. This guy here from that site summed it up best,
Juggler314
"That’s not what I’d say – his two lead paragraphs espouse on not paying someone (coinstar) to count money for you…he then said as an addition that the machines are often off, so it could be even worse. Then he points out that coins are real money…not needing to be changed in, and if you want to do so, just go to the bank and get paper money in exchange."
I do not know how you value your time but mine is sure worth a heck of a lot more than the % they charge for counting. I take between 50-100$ each time I go, about once every other month. It saves me atleast 4 hours of coin wrapping to take it to my bank, since they will not accept it unrolled. I have also not noticed any error in the counting. I generally have a fair idea of how much change I have because I track what I spend very carefully and their machines seem close enough, shrug.
Yea, it would make since that they could cut a break to the merchant for deposits with bills. The trouble is that Coinstar machines are not currently configured to accept bills. They only accept change, atleast as far as I'm aware. I could see them eventually upgrading their machines to take bills if they can find enough demand for such a function in their research.
edit; I see thier newer machines generate some sort of card for your ecertificates and accept bills now.
http://www.coinstar.com/HowToVideos/CoinsToCard We could probably find information directly from them via their website or a phone call about the process for a merchnat to get listed with them.
edit2; I sent them an email, "How would a prospective merchant go about getting added to the list of choices for e-certificate type deposits?"