...to complain about "Scottish money" fiasco?

[NotFromConcentrate]

I probably am BU, but i was mortified.

At the weekend, my DH and I took the children to Legoland Discovery Centre in Manchester, and stayed over the night before. We took a trip to the Trafford Centre, and the children chose McDonald's for dinner. When I paid, I handed over a Bank of Scotland £20 note. The cashier asked if I had any "English money" and, when I told her I didn't, she said she didn't think she could accept Scottish money.

The place was packed, but I asked her to check that with her manager. She then had a shouted conversation with him from one end of the counter to the other, discussing whether my cash was sterling and did it have a metal strip. I was absolutely mortified, and furious.

AIBU to complain on principle?

(I work throughout the UK and have never experienced this before)

YABU! Mac Donnalds I mean come on! What where you thinking

Scottish notes are not legal tender in England, but many places accept them as a courtesy. Not everyone will have seen a Scottish note before, so it is fair enough for them to check they can accept it.

It used to be before the 80's that lots of places in England would only accept Scottish notes at a lower value than English notes i.e. treat a £5 scottish note as only worth £4.50.

When the recession hit in the 80's that stopped as businesses became glad to have any money.

Scottish money is not 'less spendable' but it is unpopular. Many people in England do not want to get Scottish money in their change and would rather have 'proper' sterling instead. Around the Borders area it's a little more laissez-faire but elsewhere it's regarded with suspicion. Scottish money is also a target for forgers because people are less familiar with what the real McCoy looks like. The exchange rate overseas is different because the people taking Scottish money can't hand it out to the next customer... they have to swap it at a bank and hassle = expense.

scottish notes are prettier tho

If they didn't accept it, you'd have a complaint on your hands.

If I go abroad and want to exchange sterling in the country (cheaper than changing money before going in some countries) then I take English sterling with me as Scottish money can be refused.
I think the legal position is that although Scottish sterling is equivalent to English sterling, outside Scotland it is up to traders (and I think banks but am unsure on this) to decide whether they want to accept Scottish sterling or not. The girl was ignorant but did have the legal right to refuse Scottish sterling sadly. I presume the Scots could do the same with bank of england money, but are too sensible to refuse anyone's money!

My grandfolks live in Shetland so send us Scottish money for birthdays etc. We have encountered surprisingly little objections in shops, though some people look funny as if you're trying to give them rupees or dollars.

Dreams I know Of all the places to eat in the Trafford Centre, they chose there.

Sjuper that's what I thought - Sterling is Sterling is Sterling. What with it being the UK, I (wrongly) assumed that cash was cash!

Scottish notes arent legal tender, even in Scotland. Its just custom and courtesy that they are used and accepted. I wouldnt get het up about it. YABU

'Legal tender' is a narrow legal definition of payment used to clear a debt. No banknotes issued in the UK in and of themselves qualify as 'legal tender'. People are confusing 'legal tender' with 'legal currency'. Scottish and NI banknotes have been 'legal currency' authorised and approved by Parliament for use throughout the UK since 1845, most recent legislation being the Banking Act 2009. HOWEVER, although they are just as much 'legal currency' as Bank of England banknotes, there is no law compelling businesses to accept them.

Have found it hard to spend scottish notes in England , but never hard to spend english notes in Scotland. (We dont care, up here money is money)

Except in corby .... because Corby is lovely , .

Think its an anti-scottish attitude. Racism actually .
There is no reason for this , scottish money is LEGAL CURRENCY, just the same as english money. The only difference is we have nicer pictures on ours ! .

Hmmmm I work in retail and have always been told that as long as it has sterling on it you can accept scottish and irish bank notes. Yeah, most people don't like getting them in their change, (this happened last weekend) however I just put them to one side and incorporate them into the takings. Had no idea you could refuse them though, like someone has said money is money.

I had the same problem at my local Tesco store. Usually, I would exchange the notes at a bank beforehand, but couldn't always do this.
I had Irish notes/Scottish notes etc.

I phoned Tesco's head office and asked them to clarify which notes they accepted and which they didn't. They said they accepted all UK sterling. They asked me which store I used the most and said they'd speak to the manager of that particular store now I had raised the issue.

Since then, I have had no funny looks, no confused looks from the staff. They have taken my notes and there has been no queue hold ups or embarrassment.

Imo, the staff are possibly not well trained to spot a forgery, so decline the notes because they don't know how to tell a genuine note from a forgery. There are so many different notes, and not all staff have the means to check the notes properly. Thats just my experience.

So if you want to use your notes in Tesco stores, feel free.
If they refuse, ask them to phone their cash office or their head office who should say they are ok.

AFAIK English retailers don't have to accept Scottish notes.

Sometimes they can be difficult, sometimes they refuse it altogether which is annoying especially if it is all you have and they don't take cards but legally they are entitled to do so.

As it was McDonalds I would be tempted to complain. A UK wide chain very rarely refuses whereas a small corner shop often does IME.

I now try to steer myself away from the cash machine at Edinburgh airport and instead use the one at London City when I arrive......it causes less hassle!

I worked in a shop when I was 18 and had to check whether we accepted Scottish notes. I had never been to Scotland before, why would I have known what a Scottish note looks like?

We go to Scotland a lot now and I always make a point of spending my Scottish money before we get back to England after getting sick of having to persuade shop assistants to take the notes.

I love Scotland but why do they have to put the word 'Scotland' in front of everything up there? Scottish Gas instead of British Gas, STC instead of ITV, The Scottish Sun instead of The Sun, etc?!

I have never ever had a problem having Scottish money accepted in England.

In the days of cheques, I did have a problem trying to get a shop in Hull to accept a Royal Bank of Scotland cheque with a cheque card, until I pointed out that they actually had an RBS branch in the city.............dumbnuts :o

I kicked up a fuss in Tesco once when they said they couldnt accept my Scottish money. Went on about how it was legal tender and to get the manager. I'm not usually like that but I'm Scottish and it gets on my nerves. They accept English notes without a fuss in Scotland so why can't they down here. I also refuse to enter shops with notices saying they don't accept Scottish notes due to fake ones being around. Yeah right!

"Think its an anti-scottish attitude. Racism actually . "

:o

Aha ha hahahah ahhaha ha haha ahhah hahaha hahah

in the time i spent down south i suffered racism many times including from the police. it happens.

You can complain but you probably won't get anywhere since they are legally allowed to refuse Scottish money.

"Think its an anti-scottish attitude. Racism actually."

I really, really don't think it is. The places that I have found where Scottish notes are less likely to be accepted are small shops, and chains that insist cashiers make up a shortfall in their till from their own pocket.

I know in my area there have been periodic problems with forgeries. If you are running your own small business or have to make up the till, then you can't afford to accept forged money.

Outside of the borders, most people in England rarely see Scottish money. So they can't tell if the note looks kosher or may be forged. So from their POV it makes sense to refuse it.

I am from Scotland, but actually the attitude that perfectly reasonable actions are down to anti scottishness or racism really annoy me. People in shops don't say I am not accepting that note because I don't like the Scots. A bit less of the victim hood perhaps?

It might well happen.

But you can't be racist against MONEY

Traders in England often don't accept the many types of banknotes widely used in NI and Scotland because they are NOT widely used in England and Wales, and so the notes are hard to pass back in change.

They are under no legal obligation to accept them, and you have to have a real chip on your shoulder to think that they should and that if they don't it's because they hate Scotland.

<a class="break-all" href="http://www.google.com/imgres?q=rab+c+nesbitt+on+holiday&hl=en&biw=1024&bih=525&gbv=2&tbm=isch&tbnid=rxyehma-bWs7TM:&imgrefurl=www.webtvwire.com/watch-rab-c-nesbitt-full-episodes-online-season-1-9-video-streaming-torrent-search/&docid=DxwrtuMVBBjCpM&w=396&h=222&ei=pu5xTviFN4ek8QPs4c2GCg&zoom=1&iact=rc&dur=660&page=1&tbnh=153&tbnw=195&start=0&ndsp=8&ved=1t:429,r:0,s:0&tx=69&ty=89" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">its real money im tellin'ya did you use this pose as you insisted it was 'real money'?

Also never had a problem having Scottish money accepted in England. MIL spends hers in asda. :)