Tesco refusing to give me correct change vent

bobwilson

I paid at the machines in tesco at around 11:55pm tonight & it gave me an old £1 coin for change. Strange thing is, the machines don't accept old £1 coins, so how it got in there is a bit of a mystery.

Shops & banks don't take old £1 coins as they're not "legal tender", so I didn't see why I should either. I explained to the member of staff that the machine had given me the old £1 coin, but he became really angry & shouted at me "DOESN'T MATTER! I CAN'T DO ANYTHING ABOUT IT NOW- WE ARE CLOSED! COME BACK TOMORROW!".

I explained I don't live locally & would like correct the change now. He just kept interrupting me & telling me to get out.

I said "Legally, I don't think you can refuse to give a customer the correct change." but he kept mirroring my words & shouting back at me "Legally we are closed so you have to get out of the shop NOW!"

I asked for his name at which point he refused to give it & walked off.

You know if it was the other way around, he wouldn't have taken the £1 coin from me. He wasn't a kid either, in his 40s or 50s.

It's only £1 but the fact that shops can behave like this got me thinking - is it legal to refuse to give change like that? What if it was £5 or £10?

Carrot007

bobwilson wrote: »

I paid at the machines in tesco at around 11:55pm tonight & it gave me an old £1 coin for change. Strange thing is, the machines don't accept old £1 coins, so how it got in there is a bit of a mystery.

Shops & banks don't take old £1 coins as they're not "legal tender", so I didn't see why I should either. I explained to the member of staff that the machine had given me the old £1 coin, but he became really angry & shouted at me "DOESN'T MATTER! I CAN'T DO ANYTHING ABOUT IT NOW- WE ARE CLOSED! COME BACK TOMORROW!".

I explained I don't live locally & would like correct the change now. He just kept interrupting me & telling me to get out.

I said "Legally, I don't think you can refuse to give a customer the correct change." but he kept mirroring my words & shouting back at me "Legally we are closed so you have to get out of the shop NOW!"

I asked for his name at which point he refused to give it & walked off.

You know if it was the other way around, he wouldn't have taken the £1 coin from me. He wasn't a kid either, in his 40s or 50s.

It's only £1 but the fact that shops can behave like this got me thinking - is it legal to refuse to give change like that? What if it was £5 or £10?

If you cared you should have called the police on him or wated for him to do it to you.


No they are not allowed. Might not be their fault but they are liable.


All too late now.


Be sane and use a card next time. Self service bays should not be allowed to accept cash. I would never use cash in them, too many issues could occur that would cauase problem or just cost you time.

bobwilson

Carrot007 wrote: »

If you cared you should have called the police on him or wated for him to do it to you.

It's in a large city. Something tells me the police wouldn't have time to respond to such a call about £1 & the door staff would probably just lose patience & pay £1 out of their own pocket to get rid of me- it wouldn't really end up affecting that guy. Good to know it's illegal in principle though, not that it helps much! Would it be so far to say it's theft? It was that guy causing the problems.

boo_star

Legal tender doesn't mean what you think it means.

Specifically "legal tender" is currency that needs to be accepted for payment of a debt. There isn't really a debt here.

https://www.bankofengland.co.uk/knowledgebank/what-is-legal-tender

You could have simply demanded your money back and given them back the goods. Instead you chose to make a fool of yourself.

sheramber

Your bank will accept the old £1 coin. We have changed several.

There are 145 million old pound coins are unaccounted for.

What to do with old pound coins

Unlike bank notes, UK coins are produced by the Royal Mint, who take no responsibility for coins that are no longer in circulation.

However, most banks have said that they will accept old pound coins indefinitely, though you will need to be a customer of that particular bank. If you take your coins in, they can either be exchanged for new ones or deposited into your bank account, and there is no minimum or maximum number that can be exchanged at once.

The exact rules vary from bank to bank – for example, at Santander you can only deposit coins, not exchange them.

Gycraig

Wow all that over a pound coin, your life must be full of fun pointless arguments I guess ?.

Especially when the business is closing

bobwilson

Carrot007 wrote: »

... should have called the police on him or waited for him to do it to you.. Be sane...

Gycraig wrote: »

Wow all that over a pound coin...your life must be full of fun pointless arguments I guess

boo_star wrote: »

You could have simply demanded your money back and given them back the goods. Instead you chose to make a fool of yourself.

He refused to give me the correct change because he was in a rush to close, and you think he would have agreed to return the goods?

Thanks for your opinions! So far, we have one person who thinks I should have called the police, one person who thinks I should have returned the goods & one person who thinks I shouldn't have done anything. Although you all disagree with each other, the one thing you can all agree on is that you all think I'm a "fool" for not doing what each of you think I should have done- in which case, I can't win. :cool:

What happened to MSE? It's so full of trolls & the only people who post regularly seem to be so angry, you literally can't say anything right without being called names, and no one seems capable of offering their opinion without adding an insult. I know online forums tend to have their cliques but seriously- you trying to scare away new members? Because replies like these will have that effect on people.

bobwilson

boo_star wrote: »

Legal tender doesn't mean what you think it means.

Specifically "legal tender" is currency that needs to be accepted for payment of a debt. There isn't really a debt here.

I'm not sure what you're getting at here- I do know what legal tender means & there clearly is a debt; a debt to the customer of £1.

Please see:
https://www.bankofengland.co.uk/knowledgebank/what-is-legal-tender

"Our notes[/coins] stop being legal tender when we withdraw them."
[The old £1 coins have been withdrawn, hence they're not legal tender.]

"A shop owner can choose what payment they accept."
[This refers to rejecting payment, but they can't choose to not give the change- that's theft]

There's some really bad advice here. What has happened to MSE?

POPPYOSCAR

Email customer services at tesco.

They most probably will send you a gift voucher.

I have always found them very helpful.

POPPYOSCAR

bobwilson wrote: »

I'm not sure what you're getting at here- I do know what legal tender means & there clearly is a debt; a debt to the customer of £1.

Please see:
https://www.bankofengland.co.uk/knowledgebank/what-is-legal-tender

"Our notes[/coins] stop being legal tender when we withdraw them."
[The old £1 coins have been withdrawn, hence they're not legal tender.]

"A shop owner can choose what payment they accept."
[This refers to rejecting payment, but they can't choose to not give the change- that's theft]

There's some really bad advice here. What has happened to MSE?

You have to realise that just like real life there are all sorts of people who post on here.

Just learn to ignore it.

Lip_Stick

Perhaps when the store filled the machine, the rogue £1 was put in then. I'd have been annoyed at being given it too. I couldn't be arsed going to the bank changing it, and why should you, because of their mistake? The guy could have easily got the £1 from elsewhere and ended the matter. I think I'd have just taken something from the shelf for that amount.

bobwilson wrote: »

He refused to give me the correct change because he was in a rush to close, and you think he would have agreed to return the goods?

Thanks for your opinions! So far, we have one person who thinks I should have called the police, one person who thinks I should have returned the goods & one person who thinks I shouldn't have done anything. Although you all disagree with each other, the one thing you can all agree on is that you all think I'm a "fool" for not doing what each of you think I should have done- in which case, I can't win. :cool:

What happened to MSE? It's so full of trolls & the only people who post regularly seem to be so angry, you literally can't say anything right without being called names, and no one seems capable of offering their opinion without adding an insult. I know online forums tend to have their cliques but seriously- you trying to scare away new members? Because replies like these will have that effect on people.

You are right in there are some nasty members on this board, who would do well to read the rules of the forum and start abiding by them. These members have the cheek to have a go at you for being annoyed at being given the wrong change and spending time arguing over it, but then spend more of their time ranting on these boards.