Man arrested for paying with Northern Irish £20 banknote

[Tsippy]

Try spending a £50 note in Tesco, I was surprised their security did not pull out a taser on me

[Pesty]

TVR Moneypit said:

wakster said:

I do think Tesco have a rather admirable policy of never letting employees hang out to dry by undermining them in front of customers.

I've been on the recieving end of that a couple of months ago at a Tesco in Sheffield.

Along with £120 worth of shopping I also tried to buy a pack of three Cadburys chocolate mouses. The dumb bh on the till refused as I wouldn't show her any ID as the chocolate mouse "ad alcohol in it init" (it doesn't, it's just chocolate and cream).

Assistant manager was called and his response was "if my colluege thinks that something non alcoholic has alcohol in it then it is alcoholic and requires you to provide ID to purchase it, even if it is obvious you are old enough to be the till assistants father".

I walked out leaving my shopping at the checkout and went to the Sainsburys across the road.

Backing the till staff even when they are wrong is daft. If the customer can prove no alcohol the manager should admit a misstake has been made and instruct teh staff to continue with the sale/

TVR Moneypit said:

Pesty said:

I would like to think a place like Tesco would train their staff.

Yes I know. Problem is I am old fashioned I come from a time when people actualy knew how to do their jobs. Taking money is pretty much their only purpose

Edited by Pesty on Saturday 24th April 11:57

[ninja-lewis]

Trevelyan said:

A couple of weeks ago my local petrol station tried to give me a Bank of Ireland £5 note as change, and got most upset when I refused it and asked for a Bank of England one instead. I had to point out that Ireland had been using the Euro for several years before he relented.

To confuse matters further, the Bank of Ireland (Irish commercial bank) is still a clearing bank in Northern Ireland and therefore continues to print Pound Sterling banknotes.

andy_s said:

Over time I thought about it from the other angle, why does Scotland have to produce notes that are 'theirs' rather than notes which are 'useful'?

Historical leftover. Any bank used to be able to print their own promissory notes. Then the Bank Charter Act 1844 came in following a period of financial crisis (that time caused by the provincial English banks), which restricted new issues to the Bank of England and took away the printing rights of English banks when they were taken over (the monopoly provisions didn't apply in Scotland).

As the Scottish banks had proven a bit more prudent at the time and partly due to popular demand (once led by Sir Walter Scott), the Banknote (Scotland) Act 1845 was passed. This gave the Scottish clearing banks the privilege to continue printing their average circulation (about £3 million) in 1845 by themselves plus as much as they liked, provided it was backed by deposits with the Bank of England (about £3,000 million today)

They still do it today as its a nice moneyearner in terms of branding (RBS Jack Nicklaus £5 for example) and Seigniorage. They used to only have to deposit the funds with the Bank of England at the weekend - the rest of the week, they were invested in interest-earning instruments. Recently, they have to be left with the BOE fulltime although they continue to collect interest. It's also why Lloyds have retained the Bank of Scotland's licence (in addition to changes in that area requiring approval through Acts of Parliament).

[Tyre Smoke]

Eric Mc said:

Trevelyan said:

A couple of weeks ago my local petrol station tried to give me a Bank of Ireland £5 note as change, and got most upset when I refused it and asked for a Bank of England one instead. I had to point out that Ireland had been using the Euro for several years before he relented.

Bank of Ireland?

The Bank of Ireland is an Irish Republic based commercial bank.

And along with Northern Bank, First Trust and Ulster Bank produces sterling notes for Norn Iron.

[Eric Mc]

I didn't realise that Bank of Ireland printed off Sterling for use in Northern Ireland. One of the old anomalies hanging over from the partioning of the country in 1921, I guess.

Bank of Ireland also owns the UK Post Office's financial services wing.

[Porkbrain]

Seigniorage

Kinell, just learnt a new word

[Blue Meanie]

This is one of those stories that have a headline that is fk all to do with the story. Yup, he tried to pay with a bit of monopoly money, BUT he was undoubtedly arrested for being a cock afterwards. Non-story.

[PJ S]

Trevelyan said:

A couple of weeks ago my local petrol station tried to give me a Bank of Ireland £5 note as change, and got most upset when I refused it and asked for a Bank of England one instead. I had to point out that Ireland had been using the Euro for several years before he relented.

BOI has branches in the north, all working with and issuing Sterling notes, among the many other currencies they keep as well.
It was £5 not 5 punts? If so, then as above regarding legal tender nonsense, but if the latter, it should've been destroyed a long time ago when presented to the bank for its Euro equivalent at the time.

[PJ S]

TVR Moneypit said:

wakster said:

I do think Tesco have a rather admirable policy of never letting employees hang out to dry by undermining them in front of customers.

I've been on the recieving end of that a couple of months ago at a Tesco in Sheffield.

Along with £120 worth of shopping I also tried to buy a pack of three Cadburys chocolate mouses. The dumb bh on the till refused as I wouldn't show her any ID as the chocolate mouse "ad alcohol in it init" (it doesn't, it's just chocolate and cream).

Assistant manager was called and his response was "if my colluege thinks that something non alcoholic has alcohol in it then it is alcoholic and requires you to provide ID to purchase it, even if it is obvious you are old enough to be the till assistants father".

I walked out leaving my shopping at the checkout and went to the Sainsburys across the road.

[JuniorD]

Don't Bank of Ireland have branches in England anymore? They certainly did when I lived around Hounslow back in the day. Their ATMs dispensed Bank Of Ireland pounds Sterling notes, the same ones still circulated in Northern Ireland and usable in teh whole of the UK. All the Irish bank-issued £10, £20 etc notes are marked 'Sterling' which should alleviate any confusion.

[Odie]

I remember years ago they made it so that Euros could be used in the UK, but when ever I ask anywhere if I can use them im told no. So can they be used in the UK or not?

[s2art]

Odie said:

I remember years ago they made it so that Euros could be used in the UK, but when ever I ask anywhere if I can use them im told no. So can they be used in the UK or not?

Up to the person taking payment. Many hotels will accept payment in dollars or Euros (typically with a lousy rate)