Alton Towers, £££££

[skelfbsfb]

Went to Alton Towers for 2 days with DW, DD and her friend. When we tried to use scottish money it was refused in shops, and at some machines in Alton Towers. Kind assistant informed us that they do not take scottish notes and I should go to guest services and exchange my money there. Now I dont have a problem with this if I was visiting another country but going to England I though we were part of the UK.

Fantastic time had at Alton Towers but it just made us want to return to WDW as soon as possible.

 

[avviexxx]

Thats a shame, even the small bar i work in accepts scottish notes so wonder why Alton Towers doesnt? at least someone kindly helped you exchange the notes, as long as you had a good time though, i love Alton Towers

 

[Ware Bears]

My goodness, it does seem rather petty. You would think a major tourist attraction would be used to seeing Scottish notes.

If I remember correctly it's something to do with Scottish notes being issued by retail banks instead of the Bank of England and with them being promissory notes instead of legal tender in England and Wales. And it's vice versa with English notes in Scotland. Hopefully someone will correct me if I'm remembering it wrong!

Glad you had a good time I haven't been to Alton Towers for more than 20 years, I don't expect I'd recognise it now!

 

[Laurafoster]

Only Bank of England notes are legal tender in the UK. Its up to the attraction as to whether they choose to accept notes from Scotland (Same with the Channel Island notes, Northern Ireland and Gibralter)

When i worked in a bank we had a lot of people moan they had had similar problems and had to bring the notes into us so we could change them.

Really dont understand why they wont accept them as it makes no difference to them really.

 

[skelfbsfb]

We never had a problem with them last year so dont know if they have changed their policy.

 

[scottishgirl87]

We never had a problem with them last year so dont know if they have changed their policy.

We've always had the same problem when heading down to England, and more specifically Alton Towers. It's been a while since I've been to AT () but we used to go every year when I was younger and I remember my dad used to wait till we had crossed the border and would then go to a cash machine so it was English notes he would have!

 

[karentan]

i thought scottish notes were legal tender in england? as long as they've got stirling on them right?

 

[Pegasus928]

When I worked in Aberdeen I had the same problem as soon as I crossed into England and most of the shops in the stations wouldn't take them.
DW used to work on a checkout and they were told by the management that they were to not accept them. The reason they gave was because they didn't see enough of them it would be harder for them to tell if it was a forgery

 

[Laurafoster]

i thought scottish notes were legal tender in england? as long as they've got stirling on them right?

I always thought that too, but they're not. Not sure if prehaps they used to be.

http://www.bankofengland.co.uk/banknotes/about/faqs.htm#16


I guess from a shops point of view if its not a note your used to then its hard to know if its a forgery or not. When i worked at Barclays we had a book with details of all sterling notes (including the channel islands etc) and it told us what to look for.

 

[karentan]

i googled this earlier, and technically legally speaking, scottish notes arent even legal tender in scotland......

 

[Ware Bears]

i googled this earlier, and technically legally speaking, scottish notes arent even legal tender in scotland......

That's because they're promissory notes issued by retail banks, not by the Bank of England. Only Bank of England notes are legal tender and only in England and Wales.

 

[Ware Bears]

Out of interest ~ if I was visiting Scotland (have never been but would like to one day) do businesses there accept English notes as a rule or would it be best to do as scottishgirl87 does and visit the ATM once over the border?

 

[skelfbsfb]

i googled this earlier, and technically legally speaking, scottish notes arent even legal tender in scotland......

Does that mean all our money is worthless. Not a very good sign.

 

[skelfbsfb]

Out of interest ~ if I was visiting Scotland (have never been but would like to one day) do businesses there accept English notes as a rule or would it be best to do as scottishgirl87 does and visit the ATM once over the border?

We accept english notes and some cash registers also accept euros.

 

[karentan]

Does that mean all our money is worthless. Not a very good sign.

apparently its something to do with the legal meaning of the term "legal tender". the only legal way to pay off a debt in a court in scotland without risking any recourse is to pay in £1 or £2 coins.
my husband is up in glasgow at the moment visiting his parents and he thought it was quite funny! you should google it, its quite interesting to read!

 

[l_mccafferty]

I have found this happens all the time when I'm in England, used to cause the whole "If it says Sterling then it's legal tender" argument. But now, before I go, I go to my own bank here and ask for English notes! Or if I get an English note in my change or from an ATM I keep a hold of it