Tesco reluctant to accept coins?

Going Forward

Sister announced to tesco cashier that she was part-paying with a pocketful of coins, mainly 1 and 2 euro bits.

Cashier more or less told her to convert the coins next time to notes using a machine on the wall!

No recession in tesco then!!

Amalgam

Just use the self service check outs, knock yourself out paying with small coins. I used about €20 in ten cent coins and up this evening. No problem.

Two things to note.

Machine funnels will choke on your coins, close to 10pm, or close to when the store clears them out.

Machine will choke on a large amount of small coppers, under ten cent value coins is umm.. when I've had problems. (staff member needed)

mikemac1

Amalgam wrote: »

Just use the self service check outs, knock yourself out paying with small coins.

Goes without saying don't do this when there is a queue behind you

People will be giving some angry stares :mad:

Going Forward

Amalgam wrote: »

Machine will choke on a large amount of small coppers, under ten cent value coins is umm.. when I've had problems. (staff member needed)

Smiling staff member appears no doubt!!!

_AVALANCHE_

Lidl will not accept a handful of coins.

I saw a woman having to leave stuff back on the belt when she took a money bag of coins out of her purse to pay the remainder of a grocery bill. I couldn't believe it. The girl on the tills hated having to do it.

"Store Policy"

I cant remember the exact amount....it was under €4.

Going Forward

_AVALANCHE_ wrote: »

Lidl will not accept a handful of coins.

I saw a woman having to leave stuff back on the belt when she took a money bag of coins out of her purse to pay the remainder of a grocery bill. I couldn't believe it. The girl on the tills hated having to do it.

"Store Policy"

I cant remember the exact amount....it was under €4.

And we actually accept that standard of customer service!

I very much doubt it is "Store Policy" europe-wide to require payment in note form only......?

theTinker

Bad customer service gives you the option of going to a different store. If lidl or any store declined my money, I'd shop somewhere else after making it known to the on duty manager.

I give my coins(alot) to the self service checkouts in tesco, They're quick, i dont need to count it, I just bundle it all in there and it gives me my groceries.

I no longer shop in B&Q because they refused service to me for a knife because my Drivers license was a bit battered up...Works for the guards and all other ID..but not for B&Q...
They didnt mind the fact i'm paying with card, have car keys in my hands, and was buying paint, tape, brushes, and garden supplies.. Im both bald and have a beard and mustache....
Apparentily not convincing enough to be 18+ to buy a stanley knife...Im 26.

_AVALANCHE_

Going Forward wrote: »

I very much doubt it is "Store Policy" europe-wide to require payment in note form only......?

Not so much 'Note Form Only' more so "We're not taking the small coins"

Vivara

Is this not against the law, coins being legal tender and all that?

imitation

I was always under the impression shops were mad for coins, because they had to pay to get them and as most people just pay with notes hence creating greater demand for change.

apkbarry

I know personally, from working in a shop, that it's always nice to see someone wanting to be a smart consumer and using up their money in the most efficient way. It just makes it easier for everyone, they get cash back in bigger denominations eg, costs then 5.47, they give 10.47 getting a 5 euro note back saving them being given 4.53 ... It really just makes it easier for everyone.

Going Forward

Vivara wrote: »

Is this not against the law, coins being legal tender and all that?

That was my understanding.

maglite

Economic and Monetary Union Act, 1998: wrote:

“10(1) No person, other than the Central Bank of Ireland and such persons as may be designated by the Minister by order, shall be obliged to accept more than 50 coins denominated in euro or in cent in any single transaction.”

Just an FYI

Zab

They don't have to accept anything they don't want to, legal tender or otherwise, as there's no existing debt. The situation is usually called invitation to treat.

OP's sister's coins were accepted by Tesco though so I don't see what this thread is really about. Obviously at some level Tesco are going to refuse coins as they're too difficult to deal with, the only question is where that level lies.

Amalgam

maglite wrote: »

Just an FYI

Yes.. and one of the supermarket chains has a very quirky limit of twenty something coins. I forget the exact figure. 27 or 23, just an odd cut off point.

stacexD

When my brother worked in cost cutters years ago i often got a call to bring down a load of change. It was only 2 mins down the road and we had a bottle full of change (30l maybe? one of the big water cooler ones) almost full to the top and they were always running out of change.

I wasn't complaining...£10 in change from the bottle meant the £10 note was mine

It really makes no sense for shops not to accept money. There's always countless tills closed at any time and lots of staff around to cover a till for a few mins if theres a que forming.

Anything refused is just less profit for them

stacexD

Another thing... anyone work in tesco?
Are they really strict about these kind of things?

One thing that happened to me a couple of weeks ago was i had a clubcard voucher and a couple of euros in change. I think the voucher was €2.50 and the few bits I was buying came to €5 something. I counted out my change and was short 3c so I offered the girl on the tills a €50 note instead (she was counting the change with me) she said wait a minute I know where there might be some change and went over to the self service tills and rumaged around in the white pipe things that go all around the shop to find a 5c coin.

It was really nice of her to do that but at the same time I was surprised she went to all that trouble for 3c :eek: Whenever I have less than 10c in change I say thanks and walk off as a lot of people I know do. I never see the cashier put the change into the money box either.

Would they be in trouble if they were caught letting someone off with such a small amount?

Sorry for semi-hijacking your thread! :P

theyearof2010

stacexD wrote: »

Would they be in trouble if they were caught letting someone off with such a small amount?

3c per cashier multiplied by perhaps 20 checkouts a day all adds up. It's your employers money not your own!

stacexD

I know but I mean considering the amount of people who leave change compared to people who are a few cents short!
I wouldn't ever expect to be let off with any cash that I was short I was just wondering what Tesco's rules around these sort of things were and how strictly they enforce them. For instance in small town shops I often see an old lady with a purse full of coins spill the purse out onto the counter and the cashier was more than happy to count it out and leave the lady as little change as possible, would Tesco be against doing this sort of thing maybe for whatever reasons.

dudara

Vivara wrote: »

Is this not against the law, coins being legal tender and all that?

This is a common misconception - legal tender is a more general concept than just coins & notes. It is defined as anything which when offered in payment extinguishes the debt.

If no debt exists prior to the time of payment (such as in a grocery store), then the retailer does not have to accept legal tender. If however, a debt exists, as in a restaurant after consumption of the meal, then legal tender has to be accepted.

The whole area of legal tender is quite interesting, and worth a read.

Corruptedmorals

It is ridiculous to refuse a handful of coins, full stop. Even if just reluctant, that's very bad customer service.

I work in the main competitor, I've never refused coin sales- even when they take the absolute piss, €90 is €1's and €2's once- €30 odd in a variety of coins a while ago. It is a nightmare in those scenarios because a) it has to be counted twice and space can be limited. It can also get onfusing especially if the customer is annoyed you won't take their word for it and if there's a queue behind. b) it can in those cases be difficult to fit into the till and c) it takes FOREVER.

So the 50 coin rule exists for good reason, but I doubt it's enforced in many places.

My employer (and I'd assume other supermarkets also) start highlighting till overs and unders at €3. Once you build up any kind of pattern, you get warnings and re-trainings and you can be fired in the end. It's cracked down on an awful lot. This is a big reason why these places won't let you away with being short. The reason smaller places won't is because it will be taken out of their wages. It's very true that it all adds up, even though it might seem insignificant.

goat2

copper, silver or notes, it is all money, and if i were paying with the coins, and the casheir refused to take them, then i would leave the lot on the converor belt, and walk

Gary ITR

imitation wrote: »

I was always under the impression shops were mad for coins, because they had to pay to get them and as most people just pay with notes hence creating greater demand for change.

A shop is charged to get coind from the bank and also charged when lodging bagged coin. Bastard banks get you every way

gsxr1

Going Forward wrote: »

Sister announced to tesco cashier that she was part-paying with a pocketful of coins, mainly 1 and 2 euro bits.

Cashier more or less told her to convert the coins next time to notes using a machine on the wall!

No recession in tesco then!!

on the bottom of you receipt will be a store code and a till operator number.

You need to contact Tesco and complain about the check out person. When the management hear that you where giving a hard time they will say sorry. And the cashier will be disciplined.

Going Forward

goat2 wrote: »

copper, silver or notes, it is all money, and if i were paying with the coins, and the casheir refused to take them, then i would leave the lot on the converor belt, and walk

Me too.

DublinWriter

Going Forward wrote: »

No recession in tesco then!!

No, just a queue of really p*ssed off people behind you.

dxhound2005

Where do people get these hoards of coins? When I am shopping I only ever get a few coins in change and then I spend them.

wmpdd3

Another thing... anyone work in tesco?
Are they really strict about these kind of things?

One thing that happened to me a couple of weeks ago was i had a clubcard voucher and a couple of euros in change. I think the voucher was €2.50 and the few bits I was buying came to €5 something. I counted out my change and was short 3c so I offered the girl on the tills a €50 note instead (she was counting the change with me) she said wait a minute I know where there might be some change and went over to the self service tills and rumaged around in the white pipe things that go all around the shop to find a 5c coin.

It was really nice of her to do that but at the same time I was surprised she went to all that trouble for 3c Whenever I have less than 10c in change I say thanks and walk off as a lot of people I know do. I never see the cashier put the change into the money box either.

Would they be in trouble if they were caught letting someone off with such a small amount?

Sorry for semi-hijacking your thread!

Oh my god, yes!!!!!!

When you're on check outs, if you till is out more than €1 either way, you could be called in for a meeting. Your till results are recorded every day, for everyday you work on tills, even if that's 15 years.

It all very fine saying it only a few cent but when you see it on a graph over a 1 year period, you can make statistics say anything!!

Its in the cashiers best interest to put the money left behind into the charity box on the end of the till as having you're till up is as bad as having it down.

Remember when its busy a check out can process between 12 and 30 customers per hour, if 60% of transactions are card then at 3c per trans for the other 40% could really add up over a 4 hr shift.

I have always accepted coin, even if it is a bag of 5c, I will count them though. I have to. Its up to the supervisor to move the other customers at the till when the first customer makes an unusual request.

Some people that are in ever day would often just put all their change on the counter and ask you to find the right money. You just get fast at doing it.

OP, did the check out person inform your sister of the machine or did she refuse to take the coin? I she refused or was rude then report it:

www.tescocomments.com

Going Forward

maglite wrote: »

Just an FYI

Thanks. I never knew that before!

lala88

gsxr1 wrote: »

on the bottom of you receipt will be a store code and a till operator number.

You need to contact Tesco and complain about the check out person. When the management hear that you where giving a hard time they will say sorry. And the cashier will be disciplined.

Complain about what? They took the change. They didn't give them a hard time from what i can see

xxlauraxxox

are ye all serious i work on tills in my shop and have no problems letting customers off a few cent instead of breaking a note or if a customer has a rake of change ill gladly take it money is money after all and if the customers behinds them complains about waiting i just take theres as well and smile and apoloyise. i think its great majority of people are nice and understand

In regurds to someone asking about overs and unders on the till you are allowed a certain amount (our shop is 1.50) no till is ever perfect hard concentrating on a till 8hours a day looking and money and numbers
i dont work in tesco by the way im 2 nice