€500 note; legal tender...?

Wertz

Talking to a workmate on the phone earlier. We've been doing a lot of overtime in the run up to christmas and at this time of year it's almost always for cash. Anyways, part of his cash for the last couple of weeks he got paid for yesterday happened to be a €500, fresh from the bank, barely a crease....so he decides to go out and do some xmas shopping today, was in one particular music/game store about to blow 120 odd quid on stuff when the girl at the till refused to take it. When he asked why she said it was store policy. He said that there was no sign up to inform customers, she just shrugged and walked off. He left his purchases there and left. Spent the next while wandering into shops and asking could someone change it, but all refused....in the finish up a bookies changed it for him (and didn't even require him to place a bet).
My point to the thread is this; if these notes are in circulation then why are shops seemingly outright refusing them? I mean there's something like 12 different security features on all euro notes, every shop has a UV light or pen...it only takes a second to look at the hologram or the watermark none of which are easily faked, so why the policy? If someone isn't sure at the till then it's easy to call a manager and have the note verified; no-one's going to mind the note being examined....but to point blank refuse it on a saturday coming up to christmas is ludicrous.
Thoughts?
Ever had similar problems?

Da Bounca

As far as I know, they can't be refused unless the shop person simply hasn't enough change to give in return. That 'policy' is bull. Maybe she didn't know they existed and didn't want to risk taking it in.

JohnCleary

Got one from the post office before. Went across the road to Curry's and they wouldnt accept it. Had to go to the bank (closer than the post office) to change it. They changed it no probs, just did the marker test on it. Bit silly but meh

johnnyskeleton

I used to work in the sandwich bar of a hotel and a guy came up to the counter and wanted to buy his sandwich with a 500 note. I asked my manager if we had to accept it, and because it was a hotel with pretensions of classiness we did (I had to spend 10 minutes getting change from other parts of the hotel).

But being realistic, most shops wouldn't have enough change in the till. This makes the 500 note pretty much useless other than for tourists and drug dealers.

Rob_l

these notes are best used at 12:30 when bars are only open enter bar with friends order a round of drinks then try to pay with said note

Hilarity will ensue

Karoma

Moved from AH.

davejones

Same thing happened to me last week in an off license.
The guy behind the counter said he couldn't take it; so i asked him why and i told him to check it (i had only just got it from the ATM).

he said it was probably real but too much of a risk to take.He was nice about it and everything.

I told him to suck my balls and went to another off-e.

Zaph

I know a lot of places refuse to take €200 notes too. I was given one in Madrid last week and asked for €50s instead as I wasn't sure how difficult it would be to spend here. I don't think either the €200 or €500 note are issued here. I always assumed that one of the reasons shops refuse them is that it could clean out the tills of a lot of smaller notes, making it harder to give people change. I remember reading at the time the Euro came in that the reason the larger denomination notes were issued was because some Europeans, Germans in particular, liked to hold large sums of money in cash and favoured high denomination notes. 200 and 500 Deutschmark notes were apparently quite common and a DEM 1,000 note was also in circulation.

JohnCleary

Rob_l wrote: »

these notes are best used at 12:30 when bars are only open enter bar with friends order a round of drinks then try to pay with said note

Hilarity will ensue

brilliant!

Santa Claus

davejones wrote: »

I told him to suck my balls and went to another off-e.

Did you offer him the 500 note to do this ?


A lot of major chains don't take anything higher than a 100 euro note as there are a lot of forged notes come into circulation in the run up to christmas when shops are busy and staff are less likely to check the notes.
Obviously they'll accept the risk of getting some forged 50s or 100s but a 500 is just too much to lose.

As for legal tender, a shop is under no onligation to take any notes it doesn't want to under law.

jor el

davejones wrote: »

(i had only just got it from the ATM).

You got a €500 note from an ATM? I thought ATM's didn't give out anything bigger than a €50 not.

I'd say most places won't accept anything bigger than a €100 note because they wouldn't have the change in the till for it. Buying a few cans and expecting change from a €500 is a bit much.

TheDriver

i got one once and it scared me to have it, went to bank straight away to lodge it and withdraw as i wanted it.
Shops are dead scared of forged notes hence why they don't accept them

davejones

jor el wrote: »

You got a €500 note from an ATM? I thought ATM's didn't give out anything bigger than a €50 not.

I'd say most places won't accept anything bigger than a €100 note because they wouldn't have the change in the till for it. Buying a few cans and expecting change from a €500 is a bit much.

Not from an ATM but from a bank.
Sorry for the confusion.

okidoki987

I've seen a few guys buying cars with a load of them but very very few shops will accept them.
Too much of a risk of forgeries and takes out too much change from a till.
A lot of shops have signs up they won't take €200 notes let alone a €500 one.
Avoid at all costs too much hassle.

mikemac

Interesting fact. The $100 used to be the standard form of currency for international drug dealers.
Now it is the €500 note.

When working as a barman, we never took €200 or €500 notes.
Too much of a risk.
Ordering one drink with a €100 note rings alarm bells in your head so you might would politely refuse it or might accept it. It was up to you.

And it broke my heart to see a till cleaned out of change as everyone used high value notes. To be fair, that's what ATM dispense.

Despite the security features, there are forgeries in circulation and coming up to Christmas is the prime time they are passed off.
So don't be offended if a shop refuses it, it's a big risk to them. As others have said, a bank will change it no problem.

YeatsCounty

As mentioned by others above, refusal of €100, €200 and €500 notes mainly has to do with a fear of being scammed and a non-willingness to empty out the till of much (if not all) of its change. I've seen a lot on signs in Canadian corner shops stating that they don't accept $100 dollar notes or above, so it's not just in Europe. Come to think of it, I've seen a couple of small stores that have a policy of refusing $50 notes and above.

alanceltic

When the euro was introduced and became legal tender there was a condition that the €200 & €500 could be refused, as far as i know a €100 can not be refused....

Toto Wolfcastle

I worked in M&S and we accepted them but were advised to have another sales assistant witness the transaction. This was more to make sure the correct change was given back, so a customer could not come back and claim to have been short changed.

2 stroke

micmclo wrote: »

So don't be offended if a shop refuses it, it's a big risk to them.

I take offence when a shop that I'm known in, refuses my money. Though I wouldn't expect anyone to accept a high value note for a few euro worth of goods.

Mint Sauce

alanceltic wrote: »

When the euro was introduced and became legal tender there was a condition that the €200 & €500 could be refused, as far as i know a €100 can not be refused....

knew there was a 100 and a 500, never heard of a 200 before

mikemac

irish-stew wrote: »

knew there was a 100 and a 500, never heard of a 200 before

200euror.jpg

skibum

I used to work in a pub in Dun Loaghaire and last summer a couple of older german guys came in one evening, very well dressed, sat at the counter, first question was would I change a €500 note?, they had been to a few other places who all said no, it was about 6pm so the banks were closed. I told him I would have to have a look at it first so yer man took out a wad of the fvckers and peeled one off! I had a good look at it, checked it out with the "pen" so took it. They were happy spent good few bob on food and drink, had a good time talking to the locals and left me €50 tip

After they went one of the regulars who worked at the marina told me that they had arrived that afternoon on a multi-million Euro boat and were heading down to the med where their wives were going to meet them.

I wenr to the bank the following day to get change, used the note no problems.

vibe666

when my mum sold her bar in tenerife part of the sale (25k) was in cash and the people buying the bar gave it to her in an envelope as 500e notes.

me and my sister had to count it, but it didn't take long as there was only 50 of them.

there was something really odd about counting out 25k in crisp new bills that didn't even make a bulge in the envelope they were in.

i guess all the drug dealers are onto a good thing.

Mint Sauce

micmclo wrote: »

200euror.jpg

tbh, i would think fake seeing that before i would think the same of a 500

I've seen all of the notes, I had a €100 at one stage, my brother had a €200 and my da had a €500, not sure where he got it from.

I feel guilty enough using 50s for small purchases, let alone the bigger ones.

Thomas_S_Hunterson

any shop can legitimately refuse to take your money as far as i know. One is only obliged to receive legal tender in repayment of a debt already incurred. In this case, the debt does not exist, so the shop can ask for payment as they like.

Rein-in

Technically a store is not allowed to refuse any type of payment. If they believe that they are at risk from a transaction, they can turn it down.

Some posters have mentioned the whole counterfeit aspect of €500 notes, well, the most counterfeited note in the Eurozone is the €50, so they should turn down these notes aswell. It's up to the shop to prove that your €500 is a counterfeit, not up to you to prove that it's genuine.

replytohere2004

Watch out for these two note, they may be fake:

tuxy

Sean_K wrote: »

any shop can legitimately refuse to take your money as far as i know. One is only obliged to receive legal tender in repayment of a debt already incurred. In this case, the debt does not exist, so the shop can ask for payment as they like.

Sounds right to me. Buying something is a contract and either party can decide they do not want to do the deal.
Some people talk so much crap with no links of consumer law to back it up.

JohnC.

Rein-in wrote: »

Some posters have mentioned the whole counterfeit aspect of €500 notes, well, the most counterfeited note in the Eurozone is the €50, so they should turn down these notes aswell. It's up to the shop to prove that your €500 is a counterfeit, not up to you to prove that it's genuine.

I have seen small shops that do turn down €50. The problem with €500 is the amount of risk involved. A shop will lose 10 times more with a €500 that turns out to be fake than a €50. There is also a problem with it cleaning out change, so it just may not be practical for a shop to take it.

Such a large note is really more suited to business use than everyday consumer use. Hell, I try not to even get €50 notes from an ATM if I can help it unless I will be making €100+ purchases. And even then, I will more often use a credit card for a large purchase and pay it off online when I get home.

Wertz

I ended up out on the beer with this guy last night, he was still pissed off about it, reckoned he had spent about 30 minutes wandering around Virgin picking up stuff for presents....like I said above the total came to over 120 euro and in such a shop as Virgin on a saturday afternoon 5 weeks before christmas, I find it very hard to believe that they couldn't manage to cobble together 380 odd in change; I mean every other c*nt out doing their shopping was presumably spending 50's or 20's and the shop was busy.
In the finish up the guy had not enough "acceptable" money (no CC either) to pay for his items so they were left there, his half hour picking them wasted and he has to go and do it all again someplace else.
It's all fine and well going to a bank....unfortunately they don't see fit to open evenings and weekends so TBH going to a bank isn't an option.
Someone else mentioned fake 50's, the only fake euro note I've ever seen. Good enough to fool the eye but doesn't stand up to any closer scrutiny.
No matter what has been said above, I think the refusal is ridiculous, especially when there's no sign to state store policy. You could say he should have asked at the counter prior to starting picking pressies, but in my mind at least I'd find thatmore suspicious than just going up expecting them to take it...

Good one about the bar though, must remember that one...