I exchanged some 8th series notes two days ago at a currency change shop in Geneva, I was given a 1:1 exchange to Euros with no fee other than that built into the above exchange rate. Seemed like a better deal than flying to Bern or Zurich.

I was told that you could only exchange for "new" franc notes at SNB or at a specific BCGE branch in Carouge during very limited hours. Obviously I could have then exchanged the Euros for francs but the inherent fee on the double exchange wouldn't have been great.

The money changers don't appear to have any problem exchanging the old notes for foreign currencies though. I do not believe any retail outlets still accept the old notes.