A motorist who wanted to pay for his petrol with £1 coins was refused because the cashier said the coins were dirty.
So the motorist went back a few days later, took another £133 in petrol, and offered shiny coins straight from the Post Office.
Again, the cashier refused to take them.
I can understand the cashier not wanting to take the dirty coins, but not the clean ones.
OK, the guy may be making a point, but I don't think the petrol station can complain of the occasional customer wanting to pay in this way, even if they don't like it.
blogs.news.sky.com/skyinvestigates/Post:6e428e2b-4a7f-4fb7-9331-5b2007ade195
What do you think?
And have you any stories about paying for petrol?
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Publicity seeking twerp!
Last edited by: CGNorwich on Sun 6 Feb 11 at 09:11
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I once filled the bike with petrol and they refused to serve me unless I removed my helmet, I was tempted to ride away after having offered payment and having it refused. After a chat with the Manager to make my point that they were being unreasonable in my opinion, I paid up so as not to ruin my day.
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>> I once filled the bike with petrol and they refused to serve me unless I
>> removed my helmet, I was tempted to ride away after having offered payment and having
>> it refused. After a chat with the Manager to make my point that they were
>> being unreasonable in my opinion, I paid up so as not to ruin my day.
>>
Tell them to GET STUFFED. Do the ruddy security guys take their helmets off. GGGrrrrrrr
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Not paying for petrol at Tesco but paying money into my old Clubcard Plus account at customer services.
We save £2 coins and the Owl they are kept in holds about £460 when it's full. We decided the old account would be an ideal place to pay them into as we could use the customer service desk at our local branch.
Every visit produced a different reason why we 'shouldn't really' be doing this.
It took them too long to count them.
They didn't have scales to weigh them despite being bagged up correctly.
On the third occasion we overheard the Supervisor telling the assistant to keep us waiting as long as possible as that would stop us doing it.
I wrote to Tesco head office and related the details, reminded them that when they started that high interest account some years ago they were desperate for us all to use it, and asked if they wanted my business or not.
I had a phone call from my local branch manager, who told me he had retrained all of his customer service staff, and assured me there would be no trouble in the future.
Two years on, we always get a cheery smile and a chat when we empty the owl!
So yes, they can be sniffy about coinage.
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The Royal Mints rules that:-
Coins are legal tender throughout the United Kingdom for the following amount:
£5 (Crown) - for any amount
£2 - for any amount
£1 - for any amount
50p - for any amount not exceeding £10
25p (Crown) - for any amount not exceeding £10
20p - for any amount not exceeding £10
10p - for any amount not exceeding £5
5p - for any amount not exceeding £5
2p - for any amount not exceeding 20p
1p - for any amount not exceeding 20p
If one offered legal tender in payment for petrol and it was refused could one legally leave without paying?
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"If one offered legal tender in payment for petrol and it was refused could one legally leave without paying?"
As far as the contractual posis tion is concerned the retailer can request settlement however he pleases. He does not have to accept the coins.
From the royal mint website: tender has a very narrow and technical meaning in the settlement of debts. It means that a debtor cannot successfully be sued for non-payment if he pays into court in legal tender. It does not mean that any ordinary transaction has to take place in legal tender or only within the amount denominated by the legislation. Both parties are free to agree to accept any form of payment whether legal tender or otherwise according to their wishes."
As far as any criminal offence is concerned if he does genuinely intend to pay he would not be guilty of theft. As the police said it is a civil matter.
The man is an idiot
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...The man is an idiot...
Quite possibly, but it's a good talking point for a Sunday morning.
This transaction is complicated by the unusual way in which petrol is sold.
Usually, the customer would take the item to the cashier and agree a price and a means of payment, if only tacitly in the majority of cases.
Any problems - 'we don't take that card' - are ironed out before the customer takes ownership of the goods.
With petrol, the customer has already taken the goods, so when he approaches the cashier he is settling a debt, rather than making an offer to purchase.
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Just from the reverse angle for a moment, if you handed over a large denomination note and were handed back a load of change how would you react?
To give you an example, we have a float which we take out, but one day I'd used up all the fivers and most of the pound coins and was handed a twenty quid note for a fare of less than £3... I had enough change to give him (including some spare cash I had of my own), but he ended up with about a fivers worth of 20p, 10p and 5ps... He wasn't very happy, but there wasn't a lot I could do, he's walked past a booking office and said he had no other change or a card...
As regards the helmet, I sympathise with the cashier, having worked at branches where they were robbed by people with helmets on, its no great deal to take the thing off, and I'd be suspicious of someone who refused...
Last edited by: hobby on Sun 6 Feb 11 at 10:06
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And, that, hobby is the justification for carrying a fiver's worth of change in one's pocket - his own fault for trying to pay a small fare with a large note - given the well known shortage of fivers !
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I'm glad you said that, I did feel a bit of the "poetic justice" at the time as well! Its also a well-known dodge to get out of paying...
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I wouldn't expect a bus driver to be able to change a £20 note for a £3 fare.
Things are a bit different in a shop.
While I wouldn't offer a £20 note for a 60p bar of chocolate, I would for something £3 to £4 and above.
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>> As regards the helmet, I sympathise with the cashier, having worked at branches where they
>> were robbed by people with helmets on, its no great deal to take the thing
>> off, and I'd be suspicious of someone who refused...
>>
If this sort of thing was "across the board" then I'd have more sympathy with it.
I use an open-face crash helmet, my choice. I recently filled up at the new Tesco at Llandrindod Wells; hardly a hotbed of serious crime. Cashier asked me to take my lid off when I entered the kiosk to pay, holding a crisp tenner in my grubby paw. I politely refused; pointed out that my face was clearly visible, and then asked if they would insist on a Muslim lady removing her veil. Cashier mumbled, took cash, I left.
For one thing it was a lousy wet day and I was in a hurry to get home; removing my lid would've held up the rest of the queue behind me, and if you've ever removed a motorcycle helmet when it's raining you'll know that it never goes back on quite comfortably, always a few drops of water get inside your suit. If I was going to rob the store, I certainly wouldn't have done so with a load of other people in there anyway.
For another it was the first time I'd ever been asked in a Tesco store, and over the years I've filled up in dozens of them all over the UK. Can only surmise it was because the store was new and therefore the staff were sticking to the rules and had not yet learned the value of discretionary comon sense.
If I wore a full face helmet, then yes I probably would remove it, since to do otherwise makes conversation difficult.
Another point; they have ANPR so presumably they'd be able to trace me?
Last edited by: Harleyman on Sun 6 Feb 11 at 11:30
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I have a flipfront helmet (which I tended to use more on the GS preferring a full face on "faster" bikes) - I used to lift it out of deference in garages, but I won't take it off - as HM says - my ugly mug is in full view when I wear it and it is a faff to take a helmet off and put it back on in the wet and having to re-arrange glasses.......
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Bear in mind, though, that most helmets are not flip tops or open face, but full face... I respept what you are saying re the two types you have mentioned. Re "across the board", every business is different and have different experiences, as far as I was aware it is across the board in banks and b/societies, re other businesses, well, its up to them.
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> Another point; they have ANPR so presumably they'd be able to trace me?
>>
If you were a thief you wouldn't be using your own bike!
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"The man is an idiot" I dont dispute this.
Devaluation over the last 100 years has caused inflation of prices which has made our coinage ridiculous. The inflation trend rate is increasing. In 1983 the pound coin was issued. A tank of diesel would have cost less than £20 and now costs £100. 2 years ago petrol was 90p and now it is £1.30+ which is getting on for a 50% increase in price or decrease in the purchasing power of our currency. This is theft of peoples savings as the interest rates are less than the inflation rate which are also understated. This is a direct result of fiscal incompetence, loose monetary policy, the fiat money system that most of the world uses which has led to the banking credit crisis which the man in the street will now have to pay for in falling living standards and theft of savings.
There is not much we can do about it but at least I did something about it by drawing attention to the amount of coins it is possible to pay for a simple tank of fuel, and highlighting the issue on the 40th anniversary of decimalisation when most people agree that they were ripped off by the increase in prices.
Also, why should my metal detecting coins not be accepted? It might be inconvenient but they are legal tender and I was within the law. Why should I have to use a coinstar machine at a 15% fee? Why should I have to take them to the bank? I did this and there was a restriction of five bags and they were not happy about accepting the tarnished coins.
Tesco are the biggest retailer in Britain and their view was that it is a crime to try to make payment in ridiculous numbers of coins. I admit that I was exploiting the legal tender rules and the garage for letting me have fuel before paying for it so as to make a point about inflation and high petrol prices.
Last edited by: Brett on Fri 25 Feb 11 at 19:01
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..."The man is an idiot" I dont dispute this...
Brett,
No problems with that, this country needs its idiots.
Stick around the forum, you'll probably fit right in.
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Thanks for the welcome. Although I admit I'm an idiot, at least I didn't bankrupt the country, sell the gold reserves and destroy our currency with hyperinflation. Its a shame most people in this country are so passive and apathetic so as to not do anything about the corruption. I feel ashamed when I see what the Arabs are doing. We are so spineless.
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Welcome Brett - you're amongst friends...!
Rob - Moderator..
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Brett sounds like quite an opinionated idiot.
He'll definitely fit in.
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Brett, how long does it take you to find £130 in pound coins with a metal detector and where do you go searching? Sounds like a worthwhile hobby.
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I found about £100 in modern coins in the six months I have had a metal detector. I found them in many places. I found nearly £10 in my garden from the previous owner. BBC radio devon covered the story today. www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/console/p00dxcj3/Good_Morning_Devon_25_02_2011 they covered it throughout the show but a good summery can be found at about 2:52 mins in. What is interesting is the variety of opinion that has come from it. Some people think im an idiot, some think I have raised some important issues in an interesting way. Some think its quite funny. hahaha. Even the BBC news has covered it. www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-devon-12580705
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>> most people in this country are so passive and apathetic so as to not do
>> anything about the corruption. I feel ashamed when I see what the Arabs are doing.
>> We are so spineless.
I think the people currently rioting and being killed have a little more to be upset about than Tesco refusing to take a few coins to be honest.
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"I think the people currently rioting and being killed have a little more to be upset about than Tesco"
I regularly get upset enough to riot and kill people in supermarkets.
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Yes we know. We remember the tale,
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It has been said many times on the news that one of the reasons the people are so angry is because of the inflation. Hence, Gaddafi giving payments to families and pay rises to public sector workers. Brown had been giving payments to families for years in the form of family tax credits and the current lot continue with it. We are not immune from hyperinflation and the people may react in much the same way.
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Brett
How old are you. I bet you have never lived through, or been affected by Hyper inflation.
I bet you don't even really know what the word means.
The Arab people are rioting because they have been cruelly repressed for years by ruthless dictators, who think nothing of killing them or throwing them in jail and throwing away the key without trial, by ruthless leaders who have stolen tens of billions of dollars into private Swiss bank accounts.
Now Brown may be a dick-ed, but family tax credits are not exactly stuff to riot about now are they.
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Open your eyes!! Fuel has gone up 50% in two years. Never in the history of the BofE has interest rates been this low and with money printing. This is the early stages of hyperinflation, with rising asset prices and free money for those who cant be bothered to work and anyone on less than £40,000. 125% liar loans for people with no incomes as the investment banks sell on their loans backed by insurance policies backed by governments with printing presses competing to devalue against other currencies in a race to the bottom. Do you really think this is the end of price rises or are there more to come? Has there ever been an end to price rises and are they not accelerating?
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www.independent.co.uk/news/business/news/inflation-unprecedented-says-britvic-2225076.html
Inflation 'unprecedented' says Britvic
the pace of price rises in recent weeks had been "unprecedented",
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This is inflation pure and simple. Do you remember Wilson and "pound in your pocket"? I remember inflation of 6, 7 8%
Hyper inflation is where you get paid in the morning, and your wages wont buy a loaf of bread in the afternoon.
Is inflation coming? yes Everyone has known for 18 months to 2 years it would, your right 0.5% bank rate is unsustainable.
Hyper inflation? no as I said you don't know the meaning of the word.
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Yes we have high inflation with higher inflation to come. Hyperinflation is a loss of confidence in store of value of the currency. We are already seeing this as people spend their savings before they loose more value. We are in the early stages of hyperinflation and the onset of severe hyperinflation may not be far away. Everyone has NOT known for 18 months to 2 years that this would end with inflation. The media have been banging on about deflation and falling prices for the last 3 years and many people fell for it.
You do not know me, so how can you claim to know what I know and do not know? I have spent much time studying the subject thankyou.
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Brett, your insistence on using the term hyperinflation shows you know next to nothing about this.
Also if you "studied it" you would know that people have been predicting this for 18 months for two years, indeed if you search back through this forum and the previous one we were all on you will see posts from me, 18 months ago, predicting this. Along with many others.
You have no idea what hyper inflation is. Clearly you haven't studied history as well as economics.
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Do you take the Daily Mail by any chance Brett?
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If you do, you're in good company...
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...If you do, you're in good company...
Aw, thanks, Clk, I like you, too.
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>> The Royal Mints rules that:-
>>
>> Coins are legal tender throughout the United Kingdom for the following amount:
>>
>>
>> If one offered legal tender in payment for petrol and it was refused could one
>> legally leave without paying?
>>
Not sure, but the applicability of 'legal tender' is actually quite narrow, it's only relevant for settling certain types of debt IIRC.
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...Not sure, but the applicability of 'legal tender' is actually quite narrow, it's only relevant for settling certain types of debt...
Yes, debts settled by money paid into court.
From the Royal Mint website: "It does not mean that any ordinary transaction has to take place in legal tender or only within the amount denominated by the legislation."
www.royalmint.com/Corporate/policies/legal_tender_guidelines.aspx
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Two years on, we always get a cheery smile and a chat when we empty the owl!
I used to be able to do the "cheery smile" thing whilst thinking something else and mouthing particular words - F and T are always hard to mouth whit a painted on grin I found !
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I guess it will all be solved when we catch up with Europe and move over to Auto Card only pumps. We are a bit behind.
This would be quite an effective protest against a chain of petrol stations if enough people tried it though.
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Money as we know it now will disappear soon....it's very last century to be scrabbling for smal change to pay for parking etc. My local council make a packet for not giving change at parking machines - according to the local paper's FOI request they made 75k last year in "over-payment" another local council allow you to use your mobile phone to pay for and top up parking.
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...Money as we know it now will disappear soon...
Not until it's safe to use a card in every petrol station.
Pay at the pump has something going for it in that respect.
The card never leaves your sight and no one else gets the chance to look at it, let alone copy it.
Not much can go wrong provided the card reading machine has not been tampered with.
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Pay at pump has always slightly baffled me - I've used it half a dozen times at most (since my local Tesco garage has no longer been manned 24hrs), each time when I've generally had between £15 and £30 in my bank account. Each time it says it will allow me to dispense up to £60. What's to stop the unscrupulous taking petrol for which they can't pay?
The "Pay at Pump ONLY" pumps at Morrisons won't accept my debit card at all. Fortunately they still have a "pay at kiosk" option, so now I use that option all the time and no longer join the 4-5 car queue at each normal pump :)
Last edited by: Dave_TD {P} on Sun 6 Feb 11 at 10:56
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Pay at the pump is the only option in lots of places in France and an UK credit/debit card may not work...!
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The future might not be cards either, never mind cash. It might be waving phones about, which seems decided iffy, as it were.
crave.cnet.co.uk/mobiles/orange-and-barclaycard-waving-phones-for-contactless-payment-this-summer-50002408/
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One point to add about the OP. I understand that a considerable quantity of £1 coins in circulation are in fact forgeries; some reports say as much as 15% I believe.
Could it be that the cashier was aware of this, and therefore suspicious?
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There was a nice little documentary on BBC Wales about the Royal Mint - dunno if it was broadcast nationally that made mention of a similar proportion of forged coins.
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The Royal Mint say 2.5 per cent of £1 coins are counterfeit:
www.royalmint.com/Corporate/facts/CounterfeitPoundCoins.aspx
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>>The Royal Mint say 2.5 per cent of £1 coins are counterfeit:
Whenever I read about this I check my £1 coins (usually find about twenty or so scattered around the house) but have never yet identified a forgery.
In my wildest imagination I see an elderly chap with a couple of machine tools in his shed, noisily churning out fifty or so coins a day to be be spend on petrol, baccy, charitable donations, and a pint and a bag of crisps when he takes Fido for his evening walk.
Probably barking up the wrong tree, though.
Last edited by: Clk Sec on Sun 6 Feb 11 at 12:59
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>> Whenever I read about this I check my £1 coins (usually find about twenty or
>> so scattered around the house) but have never yet identified a forgery.
>>
I'm going back 10 years but at daughter's school (in a "nice" rural area of Cheshire) they stopped taking £1 coins in the canteen as so many were found to be counterfeit.
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Detecting fake pound coins
It is illegal to make counterfeit coins, naturally, but it is also criminal to use them. The Mint was quoted as saying:
"Any member of the public who suspects they have a counterfeited coin should not attempt to spend it." The penguin adds that this gives you a problem as you can't take it to a bank and change it for a real one
With that, detecting a fake coin is important. It is perhaps more difficult in Britain given the design of the pound changes each year. Keys are checking a coin’s edge lettering, the Queen’s head and reverse pattern alignment, and matching a design to the year.
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>> Detecting fake pound coins
I think I can probably count on the fingers of one hand the number of fake pound coins I know I have had.
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I reckon hundreds have passed through my hands - so many coins that just dont quite look sharp enough or are slightly misaligned.
Wouldn't be surprised if 10% or more are fakes.
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>> Could it be that the cashier was aware of this, and therefore suspicious?
>>
That is not in their job description.
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I'd have dumped the correct amount on the counter and left him to it.
Having paid, you've then done nothing illegal and a free to drive away. It's not like they would have called the police is it?
"Hello, is that the Police?. Yes, I want to report a man for paying for his petrol..."
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Yes but this guy didn't just want to pay for the petrol did he.
He wanted the publicity and his name in the paper. I doubt that there was a reporter standing behind him or that Tesco contacted the papers; it was obviously him - it was this twerp's his intention to create a problem in the first place. Pathetic.
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25 yrs ago Bank of Scotland looked down their noses at £2000 - £1200 in notes (OK) but £800 of Bagged coins. Proceeds of a Scout Jumble sale - we ended up with supervisor, then assistant manager before they agree to take the cash - this was BoS Head office Branch in Edinburgh.
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My debit card wouldn't work in the chip n' pin machine one night at a Texaco garage in Swindon. Worked perfectly earlier in the day so knew there wasn't a fault with the card. Anyway, the till operative was unable to utter any English except hello and thankyou, so communicating with him was difficult to say the least. He pointed me toward the cash machine in the corner of the shop, and therefore I guessed that he wanted me to draw cash out to pay for my petrol. Card worked perfectly in the cash machine, but I didn't draw any money out when I noticed that I would be charged £2 for the privilege. Back to the till once more and tried explaining that I wasn't drawing cash from the machine and to try the card once more in the chip n' pin reader. The language barrier was still there. At that point I said that I wanted to speak to his manager. He must have understood that as off he went out the back of the shop shortly followed back out again by someone else who also spoke little English. Finally managed to explain the problem and they tried the chip n' pin machine once more and it worked fine.
I don't want this to come across as being racist, but if someone is employed where they have a lot of dealings with the public, then at least employ someone who can speak the language of the country they are working in.
Afterwards I wrote a strong letter to Texaco. Never heard back from them.
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I went into the local Halifax to get a bit of money with my Halifax debit card.
I tried the indoor machine...' Sorry, due to a fault we cannot proceed with this transaction '
I hadn't even put my PIN in. The outside machine said the same so I got my cash at the counter.
I tried again a few times if I was passing but it never worked. It worked in all other machines I tried, no problem. The HX said they'd get me a new one....it came...still wouldn't do the biz. Last week, I got a third card. Called in while I was down the village and tried it...didn't need cash so tried for a mini statement......result at last !
Mind you, it did enable me to keep chatting up the lass on the advice/help desk ! .....Got to find another excuse now.
Ted
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>> Afterwards I wrote a strong letter to Texaco. Never heard back from them.
>>
These places are in the majority owned and run by franchisees. Texaco has no say over who they employ, how many people they employ, or their employment contracts. Whether they can speak only Swahili or Ubuntu, it does not matters not to them; as long as Texaco Retail HQ get the franchise fee, they are happy.
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i always put my hands in a double cup when some tart at checkout fills me with silver rather than a £5 note citing shortages of notes
i hate it so im with the guy making a stand im afraid
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Having checked my pockets before strolling down to the newsagents for the saturday morning paper, I found a Manx £1 in my change - do they have any validity outside the IoM ?
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Fraid not - nor do Channel Island coins outside CI
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they can be refused, but a machine will never tell the difference...
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Yup, sounds like car park fodder to me !
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Yup, its that or start a riot.
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Yup, sounds like car park fodder to me !
Wouldn't that compromise your fundamental honesty Humph? :-)
Last edited by: CGNorwich on Sat 26 Feb 11 at 10:57
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Nope, I can totally separate that in so far as the next user could still hand it in at a bank if they choose to exchange it.
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No - can't get away with that. UK banks won't accept foreign coins for exchange. Pretty sure that using a foreign coin to obtain parking space constitutes fraud. You could be going down for a very long time. How may similar cases do you want to declare?
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None actually. Merely theoretical. I stand corrected and forewarned...
:-)
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The hypocrisy comes when the shops have no qualms in trying to hand me £18 worth of change in £1 coins when they have 'ran' out of suitable notes.
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>> The hypocrisy comes when the shops have no qualms in trying to hand me £18
>> worth of change in £1 coins when they have 'ran' out of suitable notes.
Yeah because people hand over a 20 quid note for 2 quids worth of stuff.
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>> Yeah because people hand over a 20 quid note for 2 quids worth of stuff.
>>
>>
Tough.
That's business.
If I go to the hole-in-the-wall, and it pays me out in notes of X denomination; while I wanted notes of x/10, then WTF am I supposed to do if I want a packet of chewing gum/tin of pop?
I hate it when folk look at hi-denomination notes under a UV light. Try that, and I WILL demand that they hand me the change AFTER putting it through a UV light.
Suspicious gits.
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>> >> Yeah because people hand over a 20 quid note for 2 quids worth of
>> stuff.
>> >>
>> >>
>> Tough.
>> That's business.
>> If I go to the hole-in-the-wall, and it pays me out in notes of X
>> denomination; while I wanted notes of x/10, then WTF am I supposed to do if
>> I want a packet of chewing gum/tin of pop?
You get your change in 18 coins and you shut your trap and stop moaning. I am runnning a shop here not a bank, if you dont like it sod off and shop somewhere else.
Last edited by: Zero on Sat 26 Feb 11 at 13:55
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>> You get your change in 18 coins and you shut your trap and stop moaning.
>> I am runnning a shop here not a bank, if you dont like it sod
>> off and shop somewhere else.
You won't be running it for long with customer service like that...unless you're in an area where repeat business isn't required
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The old taxi excuse: pay with 50 quid.
"I can't change that!"
"well, sunshine, that ain't MY problem."
Obviously inflation has done for that - tell me, english types, what is the highest denomination note available?
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A 50 quid note.
Few places will take them tho due to forgeries.
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I don't want his business, A packet of gum with a 20 quid note? He can sod off. I know him anyway, he is a trouble maker.
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so, dear Zero, as a shopkeeper, what would you consider a fair purchase in order to change a twenty?
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10 marlboro and a copy of playboy.
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>> 10 marlboro and a copy of playboy.
Would 5 woodbines and a beano suffice?
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thats the kids special rate only.
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You speak in riddles, dear Zero!
I have NO idea how much a packet of 10 marlboros are in the UK!
Probably an arm and a lung, these days.
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I notice you know how much playboy is tho...
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>> I notice you know how much playboy is tho...
>>
I don't even know what a scruff mag costs here! - but with ciggies, I do a packet a day.
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>> I do a packet a day.
That would cost £6.75 or so here. Yes, each coffin nail will set you back six or seven shillings.
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>> I hate it when folk look at hi-denomination notes under a UV light. Try that,
>> and I WILL demand that they hand me the change AFTER putting it through a
>> UV light.
And if they refuse, will you refuse to accept your change and just leave? That'll teach 'em.
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I make life very easy for myself by carrying nothing bigger than a tenner. I don't think I've even seen a £50 note.
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...I don't think I've even seen a £50 note....
Scottish banks issue £100 notes.
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I've got a five billion dollar Zimbabwe banknote. Literally not worth the paper it's printed on.
I love economics. The highest comedy.
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Note to brett: now that's hyperinflation (see my post above).
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>> I've got a five billion dollar Zimbabwe banknote. Literally not worth the paper it's printed
>> on.
5 billion? Ha. Chicken feed compared to my 50 billion dinar note from Yugoslavia.
;-)
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pah
Nothing
Zimbabwe printed Z$100 trillion notes. At one point inflation was 231,000,000%.
Zimbabwe has since stopped measuring inflation, and the Zimbabwean dollar officially ceased to exist as currency, with ZA rand, Stirling and the Dollar being widely used and accepted.
Last edited by: Zero on Mon 28 Feb 11 at 13:20
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>> Zimbabwe printed Z$100 trillion notes.
Impressive.
British or American trillion?
;-)
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At that level of inflation, I don't think it matters...
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An estimated 1 in 36 £1 coins are counterfeit, so it's a good idea not to accept too many all at once. You need to have the time and patience to check for, and reject, fakes. www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-10774366
I offered one (which I had been given in change) to my bank for purely for inspection and it was promptly confiscated!
Last edited by: L'escargot on Sat 26 Feb 11 at 16:13
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Offer them another one and you may end up in Guantanamo Bay gastropod.
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>> I offered ...a £1 coin... (which I had been given in change) to my bank for purely
>> for inspection and it was promptly confiscated!
I hope you asked for and were given a receipt!
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>> >> I offered ...a £1 coin... (which I had been given in change) to my
>> bank purely
>> >> for inspection and it was promptly confiscated!
>>
>> I hope you asked for and were given a receipt!
>>
I got the impression that the bank had the authority to confiscate the coin without recompense.
Last edited by: L'escargot on Mon 28 Feb 11 at 15:20
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I hope you asked for and were given a receipt!
Receipt for what - a counterfeit coin has no worth.
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It has worth to the person whose pocket it's in. You twig?
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>> It has worth to the person whose pocket it's in. You twig?
>>
Seems some did not twig.
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>> I got the impression that the bank had the authority to confiscate the coin without
>> recompense.
>>
So next time you hand over a £50 note to the clerk, and he/she tells you it is forgery, will you accept it as a given and let them pocket it?
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On a similar vein, what is it with petrol stations asking for payment in advance?
Tried to get some diesel at a Total station at 4am this morning, and after looking at the pump and trying to work out why it wouldn't work, I eventually heard "pay first" in broken English over the tannoy.
I didn't have any cash and the bloke said he wanted to keep a credit card as deposit while I filled up. Not happy with this so went back to the car, scrounged about £4.50 in loose change, and then filled up to exactly £4.49 simply to have an argument.
Naturally, his till wouldn't allow him to open it with no transaction present and I wasn't keen on his suggestion that I just go. After all, I'm willing to bet the idiot would have reported me for driving away without paying if I'd put £4.51 in the car...
I take three things from this story:
1) It's REALLY hard to do fuel to the penny now the price is £1.35/litre.
2) I enjoy arguing with small-minded petty people over stupid things, mainly because deep down I'm equally small-minded and petty myself.
3) Don't let your car get so low that you don't think you can make it to the Shell petrol station two miles down the road.
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>> It's REALLY hard to do fuel to the penny now the price is £1.35/litre
You're not just imagining it - the pumps are dispensing fuel in units of 1/100th of a litre, and displaying the price rounded off to the nearest penny. So if 10ml costs 1.35 pence then the price displayed will go up by 2 pence every 3rd or 4th 10ml measure... Like this: 1, 2, 4, 5, 7, 8, 9, 11 pence and so on. So at some fuel price points it is actually impossible to hit £20.00, £30.00 etc square on the head.
Last edited by: Dave_TD {P} on Mon 28 Feb 11 at 16:36
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>> So next time you hand over a £50 note to the clerk, and he/she tells
>> you it is forgery, will you accept it as a given and let them pocket
>> it?
They could call the police instead. Either way you wont get any recompense, Its not the policy of the bank to pay forgers.
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>> They could call the police instead. Either way you wont get any recompense, Its not
>> the policy of the bank to pay forgers.
>>
recompense? What are you going on about? AFAIK, no one advised L'escargot to ask for recompense. He was advised to request a receipt. No more, no less.
>> Receipt for what - a counterfeit coin has no worth.
What are you going on about? Who said it was worth anything?
Last edited by: John H on Mon 28 Feb 11 at 17:54
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"He was advised to request a receipt. No more, no less."
A receipt is a document acknowledging the receipt of a sum of money. The bank did not receive any money. They can't issue a receipt.
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>> "He was advised to request a receipt. No more, no less."
>>
>>
>> A receipt is a document acknowledging the receipt of a sum of money. The bank
>> did not receive any money. They can't issue a receipt.
So the bank can't acknowledge receipt of the forged coin? I can't acknowledge receipt of a letter? Call it a chitty if it makes you feel better.
It would still help address the point made in my post of 28 Feb 11 15:44.
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>> >> So next time you hand over a £50 note to the clerk, and he/she tells
>> >> you it is forgery, will you accept it as a given and let them pocket it?
>>
>> They could call the police instead. Either way you wont get any recompense, Its not
>> the policy of the bank to pay forgers.
You too miss the point. No-one's talking about "recompense". What is being discussed is the latter part of the first quoted sentence.
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I'm sure the bank would have written L'escargot a letter acknowledging the handover of a counterfeit £1 coin if he really wanted one. Probably charge him though.
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>>A receipt is a document acknowledging the receipt of a sum of money. The bank did not >> receive any money. They can't issue a receipt.
Try looking up the other meanings of receipt in your dictionary.
>> I'm sure the bank would have written L'escargot a letter acknowledging the handover of a
>> counterfeit £1 coin if he really wanted one. Probably charge him though.
>>
Now you are talking sense, partly.
Charge him for it? That is nonsense. They may want to try to charge him for it, but they are not entitled to charge for it.
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"Charge him for it? That is nonsense. They may want to try to charge him for it, but they are not entitled to charge for it."
It was an attempt at satire.
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...It was an attempt at satire...
I expect the bank would regard it as a good idea.
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>> It was an attempt at satire.
>>
Sorry, as I didn't spot it! ;-)
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>> >> I got the impression that the bank had the authority to confiscate the coin
>> without
>> >> recompense.
>> >>
>>
>> So next time you hand over a £50 note to the clerk, and he/she tells
>> you it is forgery, will you accept it as a given and let them pocket
>> it?
(a) I never have notes greater than £20, (b) I never have the occasion to hand notes in at a bank, and (c) on the basis of my experience of the £1 coin I wouldn't ask a bank for their opinion as to whether a note was a forgery or not. If I was in any doubt I might just ask a cashier at our local supermarket to run their forgery-detecting pen across it. Once bitten, twice shy.
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>> Once bitten, twice shy.
Always check your change. :)
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Petrol station refuses payment in £1 coins - CGNorwich
