McDonald’s blasted for a ‘ridiculous’ decision to ban Scottish banknotes from a string of branches
MCDONALD’S have been slammed for a “ridiculous” ban on Scottish banknotes in a string of their branches in England.
Martin Cuthbert, a franchisee, has issued the policy at all 10 of his fast food premises in the Lincolnshire area blaming issues with fake money.
Critics have blasted the businessman as “anti-Scottish” and urged him to train staff to deal with fraudulent notes rather than inconvenience and offend customers.
Mr Cuthbert runs McDonald’s stores in towns including Peterborough, Cambs, Melton Mowbray, Leics, and Boston and Grantham, Lincs.
His policy was exposed last week when local customer Mike Gregson, who is English, visited a restaurant in Sleaford, Lincs.
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His family were refused payment after trying to pay with a Scottish bank note given to his 16-year-old daughter as a gift from relatives in Aberdeen for passing her exams.
Mr Gregson said: "The worry is if I hadn't swapped notes and my 16-year-old daughter had tried and been refused she would have been distraught."
Staff at the Sleaford branch in Lincolnshire then confirmed this was the policy at all of Mr Cuthbert’s McDonald’s restaurants.
Shona Robison, cabinet secretary for health and sport in the Scottish Government, criticised the move.
Speaking as MSP for Dundee City East, she said: "I am extremely disappointed to learn of this decision taken by the franchisee of 10 McDonald's branches.
"This policy will now almost definitely put customers in a position which could be highly embarrassing."
Ms Robison tackled a similar issue earlier this year when staff at retailer TK Maxx refused to accept Scottish notes at their store in Milton Keynes, Bucks.
She wrote an open letter to the company urging them to review their policy and they later apologised.
Edinburgh-based artist Trevor Jones, who last year incorporated issues with Scottish banknotes into his 2015 exhibition, said: "I think it's ridiculous and it should be against company policy or even illegal to not take Scottish notes.
"I assume they also don't make it company policy to hire monkeys so I'm sure they'd be able to train their staff without too much hassle so they're able to differentiate between legal and counterfeit notes.
"Why don't they simply buy a UV lamp or counterfeit light pen for their stores?
"I'm guessing there aren't any big, rogue counterfeiting gangs trying to flog off millions of pounds of Scottish notes everywhere in England so I assume it's just laziness on the company's part to choose not to educate staff.”
The worry is if I hadn't swapped notes and my 16-year-old daughter had tried and been refused she would have been distraught
Mr Gregson explains part of the reason why he is troubled by the issue
Scot Peter Mechan, who last year went viral after filming staff at an official Rugby World Cup store in Milton Keynes refusing his Scottish £20 also weighed into the decision.
He said: "I can not believe that Scottish notes are peculiarly vulnerable to counterfeiting. If that really was the case would not all retailers, in Scotland too, be refusing them?
"Any and every reason that you can think of for McDonald's to refuse them can be countered by better training of their staff or a question as to why other outlets are ok with Scottish notes.
"To me it is simply a racist anti-Scottish & Irish position that they have taken - out of ignorance or deliberately antagonistic I can't say.”
Mr Cuthbert refused to comment personally and directed all enquires to the main McDonald’s head office.
A McDonald’s spokeswoman confirmed the Mr Cuthbert was not accepting notes of any value printed by RBS, Bank of Scotland or Clydesdale.
She said: "Individual operators of our restaurants ultimately decide on what tender to accept based on a number of factors.”
She later added: “Just to be clear, no policy of ours, including this one, is in place to embarrass any of our customers.
“This is not an anti Scottish policy but instead a decision taken by a franchisee, based on a number of factors.
Discriminating against Scottish people is not one of them.”
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