Tesco refusing £50?!

[frankiesamson]

Is Tesco really legally allowed to refuse £50 notes? It seems to me if we allow such huge chains to refuse any legal tender they wish, it isn't good for society in so many ways..

I have just been to Tesco to buy £46 worth of shopping, I was v organised, brought a £50 note with me to pay for it, and they refused on the basis that they don't have any staff to open a til, and only have the self payment machines available, which don't take £50 notes. They also said they can't give me change for a £50 note to enable me to use the self payment machine.

I felt like saying "I have a £50 note, if you can't take it, that's your problem! "

Having spent almost an hour getting my shopping, i'm now faced with having to leave it behind and drive home which is around 35 min round trip!

There are so many rules and regulations the average joe has to contend with in the UK and it often feels like the odds are against the small person, please someone tell me it isn't legal for these big stores to refuse legal tender?!

I must admit I think you are an idiot to rock up to Tescos at 2am with a £50 note expecting them to accept it!

I was once given some Christmas money in 50 pound notes (PIL live abroad and got them in the exchanged currency). I think i did manage to spend them in the shops but it was always a bit of a palaver with managers called, discussions etc.

Yet people start being weird when you hand them a £50 note, and treat it like they have never seen one before and are trying to con them.

But many people have never seen one before, I've never seen had one in my possession again and PIL now have my bank details

I cant believe people have never seen £50 note.Im speechless.

Sure they can refuse. Doesn't make it any less ridiculous that they do.

I don’t think I have ever had a £50 note. Cash machines don’t dispense them and that’s the only place I get cash. I’m no spring chicken either. Other than by asking for them in a bank I’m not sure where I would ever come across them.

you must find yourself in positions to be baffled all the time in society!

Yes the fact I am baffled someone would go shopping with only a £50 note at 2am in the morning means I am often baffled.

I just cannot fathom how anyone would think only having a £50 note on them to pay for their shopping would be a sensible idea. It's not like cash machines dispense them freely, you would have to go out of your way to find one, so it seems reasonable to question why someone would be using it for their weekly shop.

I don’t think I have ever had a £50 note.

I've had one once like a previous poster in a card for a significant birthday. The sender had to physically go into the bank and ask for it. Like you I'm not sure how else you would acquire one.

Like you I'm not sure how else you would acquire one.
Would the bank link not give them out.

I work for a dealership so most payments over £100 and regularly get £50 notes. We did have a couple of fake ones. I hate cash. Its a nuisance.

If it's legal tender then I don't see why they can't take it, unless they have suspicions it's a fake note then they have the right to refuse it.

They're not obligated to sell anything to you. If you offer the £50 as payment and they agree then find but they are entitled to refuse if they so wish.

I had a £50 recently as sold my daughters bed and was given it then (work colleague so not worried).
I've never had one before. About five of my friends came to look at it as they'd equally never had one either. I ended up paying it into the bank.

If it's legal tender then I don't see why they can't take it

For the same reason you wouldn't pay for the £47 worth of shopping in 5ps. The shop can refuse to serve a customer for any reason, they can also decide which money they want you to pay with. It would be perfectly legal to only accept £2 coins as a payment method should they choose.

They don’t have to take it, they can refuse and a lot of shops do refuse £50 notes! It is strange unles you are buying peanut for 12p and expecting change, as £50 isn’t a great deal of money these days I mean it wouldn’t even fill my car up with fuel.

However I’m currently on holiday in Switzerland and yesterday used a 100 note in two different shops and nobody cared, was taken no problem.

Our local Barclays cash machine issues £50 notes if you take out over £100. I really dislike receiving them & try to go to another cashpoint.

Threads like this really show that basic contract law including offer and acceptance should be taught in schools....

I used to work at a busy chain hotel. 19 years i was there and we only ever banked one 50 pound note.

Was queuing in Tesco recently and the check out saw I had loads of change and did I want to use it, took ages and queue got 😡!!

Op, in your position I would make a complaint in writing to their head office. I think it's outrageous that Tesco would not accept a £50 note when it is legal tender. I also don't buy into the 'you are stupid to think they would accept a £50 note at 2 am in the morning' mode of thinking. They either accept cash or they don't. I don't use Tesco very often because I find them dreadful at customer service. This is just another example of shit service.

I hope you dumped the shopping for them to put back? There's no point being open at 2am if you can't offer a service....

I’m always amazed that €100 and €50 notes never seem to be refused in Europe (assuming enough change in till & not just paying for a banana) & yet most shops here have hysterics when faced with one. $100 bills in the US too.

Is forgery really so much more common here than in those countries?

*faced with one £50 note that is

I would make a complaint in writing to their head office.

What is there to complain about, why is so hard to understand they do not have to take the money.

In any case they didn't actually refuse the £50 note from what the OP said. They did not have anyone to open the tills at that time in morning to change the note and the self service machines do not take £50 notes so even if they wanted to accept it they couldn't.

There's no point being open at 2am if you can't offer a service....

They still offered the service but because it was 2am the only way to pay was at the self service, which is surely to be expected?

When I worked in a shop I would refuse a £50 if I knew I wouldn't have enough money in my till to give change. I once had a customer try to buy a 70p paper with a £50 note! He had literally nothing else on him so I ended up giving him a pound from my purse to pay for it as I only had one £10 note and a handful of pound coins in my till at the time (the time being 7am) I also didn't have a note checker pen on the till so didn't want to risk it being fake (even though I know the customer well and I'm sure it would have been genuine!)

Well I have learned something from this thread, even if everyone else was apparently born knowing you can't use large notes at self-service tills (and I frequently go shopping at strange hours because I can't bear peak time crowds).

This thread seems a bit muddled, they didnt refuse to take the money, they couldnt take the note because their machines don’t accept them (most wont)
If they didn’t have anyone that was able to open a till what were they supposed to do?
I accept it’s bad planning to have the shop open with no till trained staff, but that’s different to refusing to take the money.