can a shop refuse to accept english bank notes?

Answer 1

If your shopping in germany.... Yes!!!!!

Answer 2

mostly correct responses. though what they seem to have not said is that any shop in the UK can refuse a bank note if it is believed to be counterfeit.
English bank notes are legal in most of the UK as far as i am aware.
any shop has the right to refuse to sell you anything.
as one person said about the £50 note for a newspaper (small transaction under a pound) most stores would refuse the sale and give the excuse that they do not have enough change in the till. this in some cases will be the truth. but in others it may be that the store suspects a bank note to be fake and does not want the hassle of dealing with the problem. though all stores are suposed legally (or they were when i worked a cash register) to call out a manager when a fake note is suspected and then that note is supposed to be taken from the person presenting it the store. because it is a criminal offence to knowingly allow fake cash to circulate or to redistribute notes known to be fake.
again i should state that this was what i was told when i worked a cash register in a national chain store. things may have changed since then.
as you can imagine stores often do not want the stress and hassle that taken a bank note from anyone because as you will know it would be a very volatile situation. in some cases it was let pass (a note returned to a customer) on the provision that they went straight to a bank and handed it in. (managment would do that on occasion).
but back to the main point, if ouside the UK then no you can not present an english bank note for payment. however you can go to any beuro de change worldwide and change it to local currency.
i almost forgot. if a bank note is severly damaged and or has parts missing (one half the pair of numbers is missing or unreadable) the note can be refused in a store though any bank should be able to give you a replacement providing the note is genuine.

Answer 3

A shop in the UK cannpt refuse to accept English bank notes, unless it is felt that the amount tendered is too large for the item purchased - e.g. trying to buy a newspaper with a £50 note might deplete the change the shop needs for other customers.

Answer 4

Some of the previous answers are very good and quite valid. A shop keeper can do what he likes in his own shop. If he doesn't like the size of the bank note tendered then he does not have to take it. He would probably lose the sale but he can do as he wishes. He can refuse to serve you if he wants.

Answer 5

Hi,
Not come across this one. But I have had a supermarket (Co-op) refuse a 50pence piece because it said Gurnsey on it (island near Jersey, UK wrong spelling though). If by your question you mean we can use (in theory), the Euro and a few shops do accept them in London, can they refuse to accept English notes, I don't know if this is a legal act.

Answer 6

Not if you are in England. Although allot don't like to accept the £50 note as it can take a lot of change out of the till.

Answer 7

In Britain, no. On the other hand, although Scottish notes are legal tender, they are refused in some places in England. It is extremely annoying! lol In another country, the English note will not be accepted if that country has another currency.

Answer 8

No the shop cannot refuse, however the shop owner or the staff in the shop can.

Answer 9

Yes, they might doubt their authenticity.
Is this an issue related to the new £20 note (Adam Smith on the back) ?
I got some on the day they were released - it took shops a day or two to recognise them due to insufficient TV publicity.

Answer 10

I was refused using Irish pounds in England even though they say 10 pounds STERLING. I had to go to the bank to exchange them.

Answer 11

Yes, can always refuse to serve.