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EnergyAsda refused to take payment in £2 coins
Filed under: Your Rights
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But can that be right?
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Bath was turned away from the checkout at her local Asda store when she tried to pay for her £100 weekly shop in £2 coins. The assistant told her to use a nearby machine which turns coins into vouchers, which can then be exchanged for notes at the customer service desk.She demanded to see the manager. She complained and was given a £15 voucher by way of an apology.
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She told the Daily Mail: "Every week I usually use £2 coins to pay for shopping in that store so it completely baffled me that they refused the money this time around." Bath, an ice cream lady, said:"Most of the money I make comes in the form of coins. I try to bank some of it but I like to use my debit card for bills. I'm livid about the whole situation."
Paying in coins
She's not the first person to hit the headlines for trying to pay in coins and being turned away. Last month a US man tried to pay his tax bill in coins and $1 bills, to draw attention to the size of his tax bill.In the UK, meanwhile, there have been a few headline-grabbers. In 2009 Gary Southall tried to pay a £1,300 fine in 1p pieces - which he took to the court in a supermarket trolley - and was refused. Then back in 2006 Michael Rees of South Wales was told he had to stop repaying his debts in 1p pieces - after he had handed over £40 this way every month for months.
The law
However, the difference in this case was that Bath was trying to do something entirely allowable by law - whereas the other two British men fell foul of a 1971 law relating to the maximum sums that can be paid with different types of coins - because 1ps and 2ps are only legal tender up to the value of 20p.The rules also state that 5ps and 10ps can be accepted up to the value of £5, 20p and 50p up to the value of £10 - but £1 and £2 coins can be accepted for any amount at all.
But what do you think? Would you have minded being behind this woman in the queue, or were the actions of the cashier unreasonable? Let us know in the comments.
10 things we hate about our banks
- 1. PPI<p> More than 46,000 of 106,000 the complaints received by the FOS in the second half of last year related to payment protection insurance (PPI). And the organisation is expecting to receive a record 165,000 PPI complaints in 2012/2013.</p> <p> The huge numbers are due to the PPI mis-selling scandal that should now be a thing of the past, but there is no doubt that the insurance, which can add thousands to the cost of a loan, is highly unpopular!</p> <div> </div> <div> (Pictured: Martin Lewis after the PPI payout ruling)</div>
- 2. Mortgages<p> Complaints about mortgages jumped by 38% in the last six months of last year, the FOS figures show, compared to an increase of just 5% in investment-related complaints.</p> <p> Common gripes about mortgages include the exit penalties imposed should you want to sell up or change you mortgage before a fixed or discounted deal comes to an end, and the high arrangement fees charged by many lenders.</p> <div> </div>
- 3. Savings rates<p> While there is nothing in the data released by the FOS about the number of complaints relating to savings accounts, hard-pressed savers have been struggling with low interest rates for several years now.</p> <p> You can get up to 3.10% with Santander's easy-access eSaver account, but many older accounts are paying 1.00% or less and even this market-leading offer includes a 12-month bonus of 2.60% - meaning that the rate will plummet to just 0.50% after the first year.</p>
- 4. Borrowing rates<p> Banks are imposing the highest authorised overdraft interest rates since records began, with today's borrowers paying an average of 19.47%, according to the Bank of England.</p> <p> A typical Briton with an overdraft of £1,000 is therefore forking out around £200 in interest charges alone. Coupled with meagre returns on savings, it's enough to make your blood boil!</p>
- 5. Penalty charges<p style="text-align: left;"> While authorised overdrafts may seem expensive, going into the red without permission will cost you even more due to huge penalty fees.</p> <p style="text-align: left;"> Barclays, for example, charges £8 (up to a maximum of £40 a day) each time that there is not enough money in your account to cover a payment.</p>
- 6. International transfer charges<p> If you need to send money abroad, the likelihood is that your bank will impose transfer charges - and offer you a poor rate of exchange. Someone transferring a five-figure sum could easily lose out by £500 or more as a result.</p> <p> The good news, however, is that you can often get a better deal by using a currency specialist such as Moneycorp.</p>
- 7. Waiting on the phone<p> <span style="text-align: left; ">Automated telephone banking systems, not to mention call centres in far-flung parts of the world, are one of our top gripes - especially as we often encounter them when we are already calling to report a problem.</span></p> <p> In the words of one disgruntled customer: "What is it about telephone banking that turns me into Victor Meldrew? Well, maybe it's the fourteen security questions, maybe it's the range of products that they try to push or maybe it's because I'm forced to listen to jazz funk at full volume while my phone bill soars.</p> <div> </div> <div> "Actually though, I think it's because the people I eventually speak to rarely seem able to solve the issue I'm calling about."</div>
- 8. Being treated like a number<p> The days of a personal relationship with your bank manager are long gone - for the huge majority of us at least.</p> <p> When ethical Triodos Bank investigated recently why around 9 million Britons would not recommend their banks to a friend or relative, it found that almost a third felt they were not treated as individuals. Another 40%, meanwhile, were simply disappointed with the customer service they received.</p> <div> </div>
- 9. Long queues in branches<p> <span style="text-align: left; ">When you're in a rush, the last thing you want to do is wait in a long queue at your local branch.</span></p> <p> Researchers at consumer champion Which? recently found that most people get seen within 12 minutes, but you could have a much longer wait if you go in at a busy time. Frustrating stuff!</p> <div> </div>
- 10. Bankers' bonuses<p> The Triodos Bank research also indicated that the bonus culture that ensured the bank's high-flying employees received large salaries, even when it was making a loss at the taxpayer's expense, was hugely unpopular with consumers.</p> <p> About a quarter of those who would not recommend their current banks said this was the main reason why. And with RBS executives sharing a £785 million bonus pool despite the bank, which is 82% publicly owned, making a loss of £2 billion last year, it's not hard to see why.</p>
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