Can you refuse legal tender?

foreverskint

I used to work as a bus driver and we had to supply our own float!

I was always amazed at the no. of passengers who would only have large demoniation notes on them for early service. It seems that mah=ny of them would get away with not having to pay for a ticket if the driver did not have change.
soon put a stop to that. Used to have the change ready for them bagged up in coppers, when they complained used to say that's all I had. Soon started finding the correct change. Having said that I would never have left a passenger, especially children or women stranded, I would rather let them on for nothing;)

Savvy_Sue

In Bristol there are signs on the buses to say that if the driver can't give change, then they will give you a 'change ticket', which you can show on another occasion and get change for it. Or I think you can go to the bus station and get your change there.

Nice idea foreverskint! I'm glad you would never have left a child or woman stranded, I know someone just training as a bus driver (again in Bristol) and he said they had instructions not to leave a child or woman stranded.

buses7675

Hi All,

In our shop we accept all English and Scottish notes - We don't accept Northern/Ulster notes, the reason I was told was simply that they paying in slip for the shops account didn't have a box for Irish notes, but did for Scottish and English.

Not my decision, but thats what I was told!

Cheers

Steve

fitterastra

Just a quick point, there seems to be a lot of scottish frauded notes about i think this is a reason for caution

isasmurf

buses7675 wrote:

In our shop we accept all English and Scottish notes - We don't accept Northern/Ulster notes, the reason I was told was simply that they paying in slip for the shops account didn't have a box for Irish notes, but did for Scottish and English.
e

Could it be, that £22m quid (or whatever it was) in Ulster bank notes was stolen last year.

Paul_Varjak

isasmurf wrote:

Could it be, that £22m quid (or whatever it was) in Ulster bank notes was stolen last year.

Didn't the bank re-issue notes with revised design?

billdfm_2

As a former Bus driver i thought i would appraise everyone of the situation in London anyway . Bus drivers are not given floats by the bus company and any float they do hold is their own money . Drivers are not obliged to carry this float it is a matter for them to decide if they wish to use their own money as a float . As the initial poster didnt say what time of day it was i can only say that as a former driver you would take the first bus out at 04.47 am and guaranteed that someone would board with a £10 or £20 note now with that in mind if you just opened up your small shop at 4.30 am would you have change for £50 . Some passengers are genuine in that they haven't had time to get change and if i didnt have change i would let them get on rather than see them left at the bus stop . but beware i have seen tricks where in this instance a woman boarded the bus at 8.30am every morning with a £20 note knowing full well that i didn't have change and of course to get the bus moving someone always offered to pay her fare , that is until the day i told the passengers she had been boarding for over a week with the same excuse every day and that some mug had always paid for her , needless to say this caused uproar and the passengers turned on this scamstress , who soon got off and lo and behold had the right money every morning after that . I know it may have been wrong of me to do this but she was effectively getting free travel at someone else's expense

Natzdance

your right, after the £27m robbery at the northern bank all northern bank notes (except the £5 notes) were recalled and re-issued, but surely this is more reason for the shops to except them now

elvis_bloggs

I just hate it when a bus driver gives me a foreign coin in my change.

buses7675

Hi,

We didn't accept Irish notes even before the theft of those notes last year!

Talking of mornings though, it can drive me mad sometimes when the first 3 or 4 customers who all come in to buy a paper for less than 50p, all have £20 notes, but I can understand - A lot of the regulars who try it, we just ask them to pay next time they are in as its easier, but for unknown customers (or bus drivers, when different dirver/passengers each day), its not so easy!

Cheers

Steve