Co-op refused to change the fake £2 they gave me in change.

redpete

I think I would have got a bar of chocolate or similar (without leaving the till) and offered the £2 coin in payment.

Nick_C

In that position, if I had had the time, I would
(i) call the police
(ii) refuse to move until I got the coin changed
(iii) make a point of telling every other customer in the shop in a very loud voice that they were trying to fob people off with counterfeit currency.

OlliesDad

Nick_C wrote: »

In that position, if I had had the time, I would
(i) call the police
(ii) refuse to move until I got the coin changed
(iii) make a point of telling every other customer in the shop in a very loud voice that they were trying to fob people off with counterfeit currency.

To save time you should just do (ii) and (iii).. the shop will happily do (i) for you.

Azari

OlliesDad wrote: »

To save time you should just do (ii) and (iii).. the shop will happily do (i) for you.

If they are stupid enough not to change a counterfeit coin they have given someone you are probably correct.

Then when the police arrived the customer could make a complaint that the shop were passing counterfeit currency which would almost certainly interest the officer significantly more than any gripe the shop might have with said customer.

The embarrassment caused to the shop would be considerable but, if they are so stupid that they will not replace a fake coin, they may well be so stupid they don't care.

OlliesDad

Azari wrote: »

If they are stupid enough not to change a counterfeit coin they have given someone you are probably correct.

Then when the police arrived the customer could make a complaint that the shop were passing counterfeit currency which would almost certainly interest the officer significantly more than any gripe the shop might have with said customer.

The embarrassment caused to the shop would be considerable but, if they are so stupid that they will not replace a fake coin, they may well be so stupid they don't care.

I don't think the police officer would care much about the coin other than to confiscate it. I'm sure they would take trespassing seriously though.

Azari

OlliesDad wrote: »

I don't think the police officer would care much about the coin other than to confiscate it. I'm sure they would take trespassing seriously though.

You may be interested to know that trespass is a civil matter and not one that concerns the police.

On the other hand, the officer would probably advise the customer to leave the premises in order to avoid a breach of the piece.

He or she would probably also advise the shop to replace the coin as they may otherwise face prosecution for passing counterfeit currency.

If the shop still refused to replace the coin the customer would have some very strong witness material available.

Then there is the very likely press interest that would be generated by a shop issuing counterfeit coinage and refusing to replace it and the subsequent police presence.

As I said, though, if the shop were stupid enough to refuse to replace the coin in the first place they may well be stupid enough to think that calling the police in such circumstances was actually a good idea. :rotfl:

Let's face it, there are some very stupid people about.

shaun_from_Africa

Azari wrote: »

He or she would probably also advise the shop to replace the coin as they may otherwise face prosecution for passing counterfeit currency.

Simply passing a counterfeit coin or banknote isn't illegal.
It would have to be proven that the shop assistant was aware of the fact that it was fake for an offence to be committed, something that wouldn't be easy to prove.

In fact, once the OP became aware of it being counterfeit, they would be the ones breaking the law if they passed it back to the store. (I know that it's highly unlikely that a prosecution would arise from this, but in the eyes of the law, it is still an illegal act).

shaun_from_Africa

hollydays wrote: »

But surely the op hadn't actually accepted the coin.

Probably not accepted it in the legal sense, but all the law states is that it is illegal to pass a coin or note that they know or believe to be counterfeit.

As I said, I doubt very much if a prosecution would ever happen, but that doesn't change the fact that simply passing the coin when believed to be fake would be illegal.

Azari

shaun_from_Africa wrote: »

Simply passing a counterfeit coin or banknote isn't illegal.

Of course not. Otherwise we'd all be criminals.

However, as the OP told the shop that the coin was counterfeit and they failed to correctly settle the debt (change owed) but insisted the OP accept the coin, they did 'pass' it.

Using your take on the situation anyone could take a fake ten pound note, hand it over for a purchase, and (claiming they did not know it was fake) refuse to pay with genuine currency when the shop staff pointed out that the note was fake and yet not be prosecutable.

I think you can see that that situation would never be allowed and thus you necessarily are mistaken in your view.

shaun_from_Africa

I agree that the situation you now describe probably wouldn't be allowed, but that isn't the comment that I was referring to.

That comment was the one in which you stated that the shop assistant could face prosectution for passing fake currency, which is something that couldn't happen unless they knew or thought that it was counterfeit before passing it to the customer.

From the point in time that the customer became aware of it being fake, it then becomes a civil matter as the store would still owe them the £2 in change.

However, I can't see any prosecutions or civil action ever being taken for the sake of £2.