€500 Note Refused in Tesco

Crania

Recently I was not allowed to use €500 note to pay for my shopping at Tesco. I was quite confused by this as I thought they had to accept any form of legal tender. I could understand a smaller shop refusing such a large note due to them perhaps not having sufficient change but surely a huge store like Tesco should be able to accept €500 notes?

Can anyone tell me if this was legal by Tesco?

mike65

They can refuse your trade on any number of grounds I imagine, being a private company. Who shops with 500 euro notes?

looksee

Never seen a €500 note, but I have seen signs refusing €100 and even €50s, so not surprised about the €500.

mikemac

No they don't have to take it.
The purchase wasn't complete until they accept your money.

uberwolf

tender only has to be accepted in settlement of a debt afaik. You did not have a debt to Tesco.

FloatingVoter

The risk with accepting any tender is that it may be fake. €500 is too large a hit to take if it were. Perfectly understandable on Tesco's part...not so on the EU in issuing such a denomination in the first place. Its only of use when transporting large sums undeclared across international borders. I'll leave it to your imagination who might find that attractive...

brian2me

Had the same issue and highlighted the security features within the euro (irrelevant of denomination) To my surprise Tesco were unaware of such common features. Was also unable to use such tender. Disgrace.

mikemac

Think I read somewhere, not sure where the €500 note has replaced the $100 USD bill as the main choice of arms dealers, drug smugglers and all sorts of international crime gangs

Wouldn't be suprised to see it withdrawn from circulation some day

Sorry, offtopic

jor el

Crania wrote: »

Can anyone tell me if this was legal by Tesco?

Yes, of course it was legal.

uberwolf wrote: »

tender only has to be accepted in settlement of a debt afaik.

And even then, if you insist on paying a debt with a €500 note, the shop is under no legal obligation to provide change. It would be very foolish of anyone to ever force a debtor to accept payment with such a large denomination.

borderlinemeath

mikemac wrote: »

Think I read somewhere, not sure where the €500 note has replaced the $100 USD bill as the main choice of arms dealers, drug smugglers and all sorts of international crime gangs

Wouldn't be suprised to see it withdrawn from circulation some day

Sorry, offtopic

It has been withdrawn in all over the counter currency transactions in the UK for the very reason stated above. Something like if you wanted to carry a million dollars it weighs over 20lbs, if you wanted to carry a million euro it weighs less than 5lbs...

Even before this happened it was a wary retailer that accepted a €500 as payment. They are not obliged in any way to accept one. I did once but on a €700+ sale and only because I knew the customer as a local reputable business owner. Not a chance I would ever take one from a stranger regardless of the amount.

MagicMarker

Unless you were buying €400 worth of shopping they probably don't even have enough money in the till for change of 500.

tenchi-fan

jor el wrote: »

And even then, if you insist on paying a debt with a €500 note, the shop is under no legal obligation to provide change. It would be very foolish of anyone to ever force a debtor to accept payment with such a large denomination.

The legal experts are out in full force today :rolleyes: seriously where did you come up with this?

dlofnep

tenchi-fan wrote: »

The legal experts are out in full force today :rolleyes: seriously where did you come up with this?

I remember reading the same somewhere a while back.

maxer68

The €500 note isn't even issued by the central bank here.

For future info, no shop or business of any type hast accept any note, coin or any other form of payment for goods being purchased at that time. If you received the goods yrstetday snd you were paying today, then they must accept any legal tender proffered, as then you are paying a debt that has already been formed.

GarIT

Crania wrote: »

I thought they had to accept any form of legal tender.Can anyone tell me if this was legal by Tesco?

Irish law says if they are taking the sale that have to accept legal tender but that can use a number of excuses as to why not to make the sale, like say you looked dodgy, they cant refuse to serve you on the basis that its a €500 note but any other excuse will get them off.

1966

mikemac wrote: »

Think I read somewhere, not sure where the €500 note has replaced the $100 USD bill as the main choice of arms dealers, drug smugglers and all sorts of international crime gangs

Wouldn't be suprised to see it withdrawn from circulation some day

Sorry, offtopic

Yeah heard that too.....and mainly Mafia and East European gangs counterfeiting Euro notes now!!

alanhiggyno1

jesus why wud u even take 500 euro note.even the bank itself wont take that off u..u will find it hard to get rid of that..only thing that will take that off u and get ur goods is a hooker im thinking:D:D...best of luck

booboo88

The biggest Ive ever had was 100euro note. And I got some serious funny looks, its beyond a joke. they had machines to check if its legit:rolleyes:

beachhead

A trader or individual are not required to accept any note or coin.You may even have difficulty changing it in a bank unless you have an account.Have you ever tried to get change in a bank as private individual?They dont have to give you any.Call the Central Bank in Dame Street in Dublin for verification of the legal position.

ironclaw

There was a scam a few years ago when a certain group from a certain African country found out the level of float in a Tesco's till. You buy a low figure of shopping e.g €40 pay with a €500. The idea was to confuse the teller so that they would probably mess up how much change they gave you. Unless your used to working with large quantities of cash (Remembering the Tesco till only has limited €50's and €20's, and most tellers give less than €50 change each time i.e. They are not used to large cash requests) you could easily miss count €460. It would also probably clear out the till of usable change. If done right, apparently you could shop for free or at a heavy discount depending on if the teller messed up.

I've only seen a €500 note once myself. If I was a business, I wouldn't accept them. Way too risky.

dudara

tenchi-fan wrote: »

The legal experts are out in full force today :rolleyes: seriously where did you come up with this?

jor el is 100% correct in his statement. If you offer more legal tender than is required to cover the debt, then the seller does not *legally* have to provide you with change. (Generally they do, but they don't have to).

AG2R

They have every right to refuse it.
Most shops refuse it because there isn't alot of them in circulation so they're easy to fraud.

tricky D

maxer68 wrote: »

For future info, no shop or business of any type hast accept any note, coin or any other form of payment for goods being purchased at that time. If you received the goods yrstetday snd you were paying today, then they must accept any legal tender proffered, as then you are paying a debt that has already been formed.

Casinos and bookies are the best bet for changing high denominations.

wmpdd3

I have seen 4 fake €200 notes in the last 3 years. All had all security features except the raised lines in the top middle.

If I had taken in any of these notes I'd probably be out of a job. I have no problem telling people I can't take €200 or €500 notes.

Everyone thinks big stores have loads of change but they have less than the smaller shops. Its all automated so the store only holds the bear minimum of cash.

Nolimits

I got a few of these from a credit union loan, I paid them in at the post office, I was shocked that they weren't even checked, although I am a regular, I was still shocked.

Amalgam

I had the luxury of carrying around a few €200 euro notes (the yellow ones..) in Dublin a while back. Stopped every shopkeeper dead in their tracks. I think I struck up a friendly conversation with every one of them.. fun day.

A shopkeeper said a Roma woman tried to buy a Mars bar with a €500 note. Change of staff, later in the day, different person sent in to try again with the same note.

maxer68

GarIT wrote: »

Irish law says if they are taking the sale that have to accept legal tender but that can use a number of excuses as to why not to make the sale, like say you looked dodgy, they cant refuse to serve you on the basis that its a €500 note but any other excuse will get them off.

If you can show me where this is written, I will give you €500, in fact I'll give you 500 times €500.


If you don't know about legal matter, don't say it. This "legal tender" bullsh1t comes up every few months, it comes up on Joe feckin Duffy too and people continue to under the total mis understanding that a retailer must by law take whatever money is offered. - Someone even claimed that if you offered the money and the retailer refused it, you were right to walk out with the goods.

Thankfully a barrister put that person right and suggested that they check the accomodation in mountjoy before attempting to carry out such a stunt.

So to repeat what many have said.

A retailer does not in any way whatsoever have to accept any note or coin of any denomination or any quantity for any purchases made in the present.

In order to do business they will of course accept most reasonable notes and most reasonable quantities of coin as otherwise they would not survive - but legally, the choice is entirely theirs.

dudara

The law says that legal tender has to be taken in settlement of a debt.

If you try to purchase goods at a shop, there is no debt as the transfer of title of the goods has not taken place. Therefore, the shop is not obliged to accept settlement for the goods.

TheDriver

had a 500 note a few years back, shook all the way to the bank until I could get rid of it into the account, way too much money in one flimsy bit of paper.

slave1

All this talk of 'note and coin' makes me miss Spartacus, stop it;)

Max Power1

tenchi-fan wrote: »

The legal experts are out in full force today :rolleyes: seriously where did you come up with this?

As dudara has already said, its backed in stature, so I suggest you put away your rolleyes!

dudara wrote: »

jor el is 100% correct in his statement. If you offer more legal tender than is required to cover the debt, then the seller does not *legally* have to provide you with change. (Generally they do, but they don't have to).

ScouseMouse

I have taken a few large notes like that. The are few, and far between, but when they come in, I accept them.

However, anyone that tends them has always asked will I accept it and do I have change. Did you ask - or expect?

Mr. Presentable

Crania wrote: »

Recently I was not allowed to use €500 note to pay for my shopping at Tesco. I was quite confused by this as I thought they had to accept any form of legal tender. I could understand a smaller shop refusing such a large note due to them perhaps not having sufficient change but surely a huge store like Tesco should be able to accept €500 notes?

Can anyone tell me if this was legal by Tesco?

Where did you get a €500 note? I have my own business and have never been proffered a note larger than €100, so a €500 would seem to be unusual.

Tesco were spot on, I'd have called the cops.

Mr. Presentable

Mr. Presentable wrote: »

Where did you get a €500 note? I have my own business and have never been proffered a note larger than €100, so a €500 would seem to be unusual.

Tesco were spot on, I'd have called the cops.

You can get them, nothing dodgy about it I've had them before as well, though mine went to the bank!

P. Breathnach

Mr. Presentable wrote: »

...
Tesco were spot on, I'd have called the cops.

How could you justify that?

Mr. Presentable

I can't and don't have to justify anything.

username2010

Who has a 500 euro note?!!....

P. Breathnach

Mr. Presentable wrote: »

I can't and don't have to justify anything.

But if you call the guards, you should be able to justify it. You might be taking them away from dealing with a real problem.

Mr. Presentable

P. Breathnach wrote: »

But if you call the guards, you should be able to justify it. You might be taking them away from dealing with a real problem.

Yeah, but not to you.


I'm sorry, P, but I'm a little drunk, i have lost a hero today, so am a little less that tolerant, but anyone offering a €500 for the shopping is suspect to me.

booboo88

Mr. Presentable wrote: »

I can't and don't have to justify anything.

Exactly, :rolleyes:

Mr. Presentable

booboo88 wrote: »

Exactly, :rolleyes:

Quality post. Thanks!

hoodwinked

Last Christmas my mother gave me a €500 note in the card, she got it from the local bank and wrote 'good luck spending it' in the card, it was a kind of jokey present thing.

after Christmas funds were low so i went to Tescos and before i started my shopping i approached one of the managers on duty and asked if i would be able to spend the €500 note on my shopping, she told me if my bill came to over €100 there would be no problem.

got to the tills the manager approached me, brought me to a specific till and i bought my shopping there (it came to about €150) using the €500 note and i got all my change. now they did both scan and check it but i was fine with this as to be honest they were doing me a massive favour accepting it.

so they do accept them you just need to be polite and recognise they are the ones helping you out in this situation.

eth0_

Can you imagine being stuck behind someone in a queue who is paying with a €500 note? The sales assistant would have to get someone to check it was legal, and would then have to go off to fetch additional change.

People who pay for groceries with enormous notes are as bad as people who pay using sacks of change. Last week I was in a queue in Superdrug and there was a group of five men in front of me who were buying over £150 worth of perfume and aftershave. They had £120 in one pound coins (alarm bells!) which the assistant spent almost ten minutes counting (she had to get the manager to count it a second time - store policy). The men then tried to pay for the rest with a credit card which was refused by the machine. At no stage did the sales assistant or manager become suspicious of these men and call the bank who issued the card, or the police. What they were doing is just as suspicious as paying for groceries in tesco with a massive denomination note.