that they should not make £50 notes as so many places won't take them

[cofingalthetime]

So, I was in Costa, queued for ages - I know, my bad - the particular shopping place I was in, Costa seems to have a monopoly and is the only coffee shop there, apart from one in M&S and I can't stand their coffee... So anyway, queuing up for about 40 minutes, no joke, did my order, gave a 50 and no, they did not accept them. I said it was 'legal tender' but no, so just had to walk away. No biggie. But...it's happened a lot recently, to the point where we went in to get ds some trainers, and I went to the till before we started to ask did they accept £50 notes. As ds said, why make them, if hardly anywhere will accept them...

I have never had a £50 note and I'm almost 50! Never been given one from a cash machine or the bank. Have had notes of that value or higher in other countries before, but £50 notes seem very rare in the Uk.

I'm surprised you have had several tbh or that your ex partner gets them from his bank ATM.

In London it is not uncommon in smaller independent shops. I expect these business owners have looked at the total cash transactions and have made a business decision based on the overhead cash brings, I doubt they are willfully choosing a less profitable model because of some anti cash philosophy

Ultimately cash will cease to be supported in retail - there are no benefits beyond being easier to use for people less comfortable with digital means, which is a problem that will disappear over time

I would guesstimate that 90% of shops on my local high street have a sign on the door or at the till saying they are card only (and contactless preferred)

The self service checkouts in the supermarkets have had the cash slots disabled but the manned tills probably accept cash

I find it strange how £50 notes are not acceptable and yet €50 notes are very common in ROI. They even give them out in the atm and in fact it's rare to get €10 or €20 notes. No one blinks an eye at handing over a €50 note. Dh and I were in Austria and when in a coffee shop I noted a man paying his bill and he produced a €100 note and the server didn't blink an eye and just gave him their change.

I cannot believe there is an ATM in the UK that routinely dispenses £50 notes…

I'm surprised that places are allowed to refuse them with them being legal tender. I work in a Tesco store and we accept them

We don't always take them either unless its a very large amount as they wipe out the float for change. We only hold a £30 float for change so unless someone else pays in cash beforehand, we don't have enough.

I'm surprised that places are allowed to refuse them with them being legal tender.

You obviously have no idea what ‘legal tender’ means. Shops can refuse any type of payment they like.

Who queues for 40 mins for coffee?

That's nuts, as is thinking you can pay with a fifty. That's such an obvious way to swap a fake £50 for real twenties and coffee and cake on top.

ATM at Barclays in Sloane Square in London gives them out regularly. I forget and go there sometimes. It’s a total pain! 😡so yanbu.

I own a car repair garage and plenty of people pay with £50. I’ve never had a problem using them.

LOL at the poster who said they must be “dodgy” money.

I was given 10 fifty pounds notes from my mum as a present for me and my child.
She lives abroad and got them in her small local bank- I was with her. I asked for 20s instead but the bank clerk had none, they actually had to order them for her.

I used to work in a shop near China town and a casino, we frequently had a lot of Chinese and UAE customers come in and try and break a £50 when purchasing something under £10 ..... we had to refuse as we didnt hold sufficient float to keep giving out £40+ in change.

There's some fake notes doing the rounds on my area at the moment and they aren't fifty pound notes.

However I don’t understand the dramas about 50s.
in my mums country the highest note is 5000 and that’s about 90 pounds and no issues to use it.
Other countries have same high notes too.

What I find more annoying than a €50 note is people who don't understand the concept of just because something is legal tender it doesn't mean a shop has to accept it.

I've never experienced this in my life. I have only had a £50 note on my 16th Birthday and people/places were wary to accept it.

I took two £50 notes today in my shop. We see them most days. I'm surprised people think they are in some way rare. We do get a lot of people from overseas though, so I think when they change their currency before they come to the UK they must be given £50 notes.

Wierd that people don't see £50s. I get them regularly for my business and just use a scanner to fraud check. I would rather cash than card any day.