Northfleet bus passenger told to take the high road as Scottish banknote gets rebuffed on Arriva service to Stone
Yesterday's Gravesend Messenger Newspaper had this story which I thought had an amusing twist especially as only the Bus Driver it seems had an understanding of English Law!
Actually, according to the Bank of England, Scottish banknotes are NOT legal tender in England. English banknotes issued by the Bank Of England are the ONLY legal tender in England and Wales.
Here is what the Bank Of England website has to say:-
Are Scottish & Northern Ireland notes "legal tender"?
In short ‘No’ these notes are not "legal tender"; furthermore, Bank of England notes are only legal tender in England and Wales. Legal tender has, however, a very narrow technical meaning in relation to the settlement of debt. If a debtor pays in legal tender the exact amount he/she owes under the terms of a contract (and in accordance with its terms), or pays this amount into court, he/she has good defence in law if he/she is sued for non-payment of the debt.
In ordinary everyday transactions, the term "legal tender" in its purest sense need not govern a note's acceptability in transactions. The acceptability of a Scottish or Northern Ireland note as a means of payment is essentially a matter for agreement between the parties involved. If both parties are in agreement, Scottish and Northern Ireland notes can be used in England and Wales. Holders of genuine Scottish and Northern Ireland notes are provided with a level of protection similar to that provided to holders of Bank of England notes. This is because the issuing banks must back their note issue using a combination of Bank of England notes, UK coin and funds in an interest bearing bank account at the Bank of England. More information on these arrangements can be found at
Here is the link to this item on the Bank of England website >>> http://www.bankofengland.co.uk/banknotes/Pages/about/faqs.aspx#16
Now here is that report from Kent:-
Northfleet bus passenger told to take the high road as Scottish banknote gets rebuffed on Arriva service to Stone
Heard the one about the Englishman, the Welsh pub and a Scottish fiver?Well, it was no joke for Graham Sales when his note was rejected by a bus driver as he tried to board outside the Welsh Tavern in Stone.
The taxi driver was attempting to get home to Northfleet after dropping his car off for repairs at St Johns Road Garage.
Taxi driver Graham Sales with his Scottish £5 note
He hopped aboard and handed over the £5 Scottish note, only to be told by the driver she would not accept it.
The 47-year-old said: "The bus driver said she knew it was legal tender, but couldn't accept it.
"She said 'I'm not moving' and I said 'well, I'm not going anywhere'."
The father-of-two said the driver turned the engine off and phoned the depot.
Bosses agreed to her issuing a ticket for £2 rather than the fare of about £3.50 as that was all he had in change.
"I felt disgusted and embarrassed. If I hadn't had any change on me, it would have been a five-mile walk and taken me hours..." - bus passenger Graham Sales
He said: "I felt disgusted and embarrassed. If I hadn't had any change on me, it would have been a five-mile walk and taken me hours.
"I showed I was willing to pay and she took all my remaining change. It was all the money I had on me.
"It is legal tender and I am a taxi driver and I have to take it."
Once Mr Sales got off the bus, he spoke to a senior member of staff at the depot who confirmed the ticket machine did not have the facilities to recognise the currency - but agreed the bus driver should have accepted it.
Mr Sales now plans to make the bus journey back to Stone to collect his car and will be using the £5 note as a point of principle.
Arriva spokesman Linsey Frostick apologised, saying: "We do accept Scottish banknotes and on this occasion the driver was mistaken.
"The details have been passed to the depot manager so the driver can be made aware of their mistake."
Here is the link to the story >>> http://www.kentonline.co.uk/gravesend_messenger/news/passenger-told-to-take-the-8157/
As Wikipedia reminds us (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Arriva) Arriva is a multinational public transport company headquartered in Sunderland, and (is) a wholly owned subsidiary of Deutsche Bahn. The latter is Deutsche Bahn AG is the German railway company, a private joint-stock company (AG) with the Federal Republic of Germany being its majority shareholder with its headquarters in Berlin. It came into existence in 1994 as the successor to the former state railways of Germany, the Deutsche Bundesbahn of West Germany and the Deutsche Reichsbahn of East Germany.
Is it any wonder that England is in a mess when even our bus companies are indirectly owned by foreign states?
I would ask is it really any wonder that our poor England is in such a mess when even our bus companies are indirectly owned by foreign states? And no doubt our British Establishment politico/media types are glad about it?
ReplyDeleteI am a London taxi driver and have scottish notes given to me quite often and on every occasion I give them straight back quoting the Bank of England standpoint. I do this simply because if I try and pass the notes on, the reaction of the would be recipient is usually a look of horror, like I've just handed them a hand grenade with the pin puled out. I agree with the bus drivers stance and as a cabbie the guy knew he was chancing his arm and if the truth was told, he only accepted the note himself because no alternative was available to pay the fare he was owed.I have had many arguments over the legality of scottish notes and as far as I'm concerned they can keep it in scotland.
ReplyDeleteWe don'n accept it in Nigeria either. No thanks. Well done to the bus driver and shame on Arriva saying she got it wrong. She phoned the depot, who also told her not to take it.
ReplyDeleteThey will need all the money they can get ! when Independent.
ReplyDeleteI agree 100% with the London Taxi Driver. I avoid the notes too,and dont get caught out if you decide to chance it,the note must say "Sterling" otherwise it is worthless.
I always nake a point of stocking up with Scottish Bank Notes before travelling south, few ever question them as they dont want the bad publicity, the rest always back down when I become belligerent and offer to hand back the goods. In this day and age few businesses can afford to lose a sale to make a petty point, they know they can change them at the bank.
ReplyDeleteHere close to the border Scottish notes are accepted. However, down in Oxfordshire where we used to live they are not. Of course in some outlets down south euros are accepted aren't they?
ReplyDeleteHave just been down to Oxfordshire and nearly every shop I went into had East Europeans whom I found difficult to understand. They try not to venture too far north. As for the South-east it seems to be turning into a suburb of London wherever you go and little villages are full of commuting yuppies. Fortunately, there still seem to be some real people left in such villages, living in the council houses and driving old cars. Not all the poor are up north and if you are poor in the home counties it must be hell.
It seems that HS2 is now a fait accompli and the government are up in Scotland trying to bribe the Scots from voting no or frightening them by promising them HS3 which will go straight through the area of outstanding natural beauty which is eastern Cumbria. But they don't care. All the Tory plutocrats and their Marxist Lib Dems care about is money, money, money; fatherland, a people to belong to, nationalism, England's beautiful countryside means nothing to them. Just look at the booming South east which is turning into Hong Kong where everything is being torn down and replaced with concrete. These people do not have a soul; they are the spawn of the devil.
Orientals have always been more collectivist, even the Russians who are more oriental than European. Now we are heading the same way with the Marxism thought up by a gentleman of Asian descent. North European democracy means nothing. George Osborne wants us to be like the Chinese and that means collectivist, quite happy to live in a dictatorship.
As Afro-asia expands into European countries/white countries and sweeps us into history, the future now belongs to China, a mixture of communism and extreme capitalism and we are all meant to be the same.
Personally I hope the Scots wave too fingers at the British establishment and vote yes rather than being part of the one world dictatorship which the plutocrats and the Marxists have planned for us.
Evil has taken over the world and we are all pawns to them or commodities to be moved at their will like money or goods. The whole of Europe is in turmoil. History and belonging mean nothing. It now seems to be too late for Europeans everywhere at the mercy of these kleptocrats. Have just read about the Russian Revolution, Lenin cared nothing for the people. The only thing that mattered was ideology and that is where we are now; be it Milliband's Marxists or Cameron's libertarian capitalists. Who will set us free?
I hope one day Manchester becomes part of Scotland. I've never had any trouble exchanging Scottish money anywhere here.
ReplyDelete