money

strangeloop

Just a question on counterfeit money,
Today when I was buying a sandwich in a shop I was told that my five euros was counterfeit, so no lunch which is fair enough.

The money looked very real to the naked eye, but of course all shops have a scanner and they could check it. The problem I have is the customer has no way of really checking the money whereas the shops do. Furthermore its the shops who are off loading any counterfeit money they have onto unsuspecting consumers.

When I went back to the shop where I received the five euros they denied all knowledge of it.....great. Ok so it was only five euros but what if it was 50 or one hundred euros. The consumer doesn't have any comeback on this. Do they?

whosurpaddy

have you still got the €5? if so then just pass it onto some other shop, spar etc dont really check them. id imagine the central bank are the people to tell you what your rights are on this.

seamus

Originally posted by strangeloop
Just a question on counterfeit money,
Today when I was buying a sandwich in a shop I was told that my five euros was counterfeit, so no lunch which is fair enough.

The money looked very real to the naked eye, but of course all shops have a scanner and they could check it. The problem I have is the customer has no way of really checking the money whereas the shops do. Furthermore its the shops who are off loading any counterfeit money they have onto unsuspecting consumers.

When I went back to the shop where I received the five euros they denied all knowledge of it.....great. Ok so it was only five euros but what if it was 50 or one hundred euros. The consumer doesn't have any comeback on this. Do they?

I'm not entirely sure tbh. If another shop gave you counterfeit money, then in theory they should be liable. I'm pretty sure that shops don't intentionally offload counterfeit notes on their customers, rather they don't bother checking the smaller notes, and they just change hands normally.

If it went to court, and you produced a receipt requiring the use of a fiver (€6 change for example), and the fiver, the court would probably deem it reasonable that the shop gave you counterfeit money, and would be liable. I'd go back and ask to speak to the manager.

Places where I've worked, and we've checked money, always had a procedure of holding onto the fake note, taking the customer's name, and ringing the Gardai. It may be illegal for shops to take fake money, check it, and return it without taking any action (similar to handling stolen goods I'd say).

Raz

You don't really have any rights in this situation. You accepted it as real money and it wasn't. Your loss. That's the kinda response you're gonna get.
It has happened quite often in the shop my gf used to work in. If they got a fake note in (the bigger ones usually, €20, €50s etc) they would call the police and the customer would be questioned as to where they got it etc.

There are loads of tell tale signs on the different notes to tell if they're real or not. Most notably the feel of the note.
For a fiver,
there's the water mark which is a '5' and an arch way with columns.
On the holographic strip there should stars, euro signs and '5's going down it.
There's the metal strip you can see when held up to the light.
'5 EURO' is written 4 times in that strip.
There's a kinda golden strip on the back of the note which has '€'s and '5's down it.
On the front of the note where EURO is written in english and greek (the black one) a black strip extends from the greek lettering. This strip is made up of the english and greek forms of the word euro.

There's proably quite a few more on the fiver and I'm sure there's way more on the larger notes.
There's some test where you tear it. I think that might be at the metal strip to make sure it's metal.

strangeloop

Thanks for all the feedback, this is a great place to find information. Apologies if I came across as ranting, I really hate it when I've been conned.

cheers

Sleepy

Interestingly, the girl in the sandwich place broke the law by handing back the fiver. A retailer is duty bound to take the note out of circulation after identifying it as a fraud.

SheroN

pawn it off on someone else...a busy bar is a good suggestion.

BKtje

Places i have worked in have tried to get em changed in other shops cos the managers didn;t wanna have to get in trouble for allowing counterfeit to be taken by the staff. I heard they were even told that if it happened again that they'd have to pay it outa their own pocket. That was just a rumour tho.

Calibos

In my case working in a shop I've only been given counterfeit (5's and 20's, they must realise chances are even the dimmest shop worker double checks 50's) by regulars or out and out skangers as it turns out. In both cases they get the note back illegal as that may be. With the regulars its a case of not causing them time and hassle by involving the Guards and they can bring the note back to where they may have got it from. In the case of skangers...I do not need the hassle of arguing with a skanger and his 5 mates!! (its gas, they always say they got it out of a bank machine, don't they know that poxy atms only seem to give out 50's these days! )I simply tear it in half and hand it back. If he goes then great ( I swear bud, ih came ow of a machine bud) and if he starts causing hassle its then that I threaten to call the guards. I do not get their hackles up straight away by tellin them from the off to stay where they are while I call the guards. The way I see it, even if they cellotape it back together the next shop assistant will look very carefully at any note that is cellotaped together.

garyc

i work in a fastfood kip and if the cashiers take a fake note they pay for it out of their pocket.

conZ

The holder of the money is liable for it.