Issues With Hoppa
Jan 21, 2016 | 2:40 pm
#1
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Issues With Hoppa
I use the Hoppa service a lot- it's not perfect but has done the job reasonably and without issue until tonight...
I asked to buy a return journey to Crowne Plaza and gave the driver an Ulster Bank Ł5 note and four pound coins. He refused the note; I reminded him it was legal tender, then he started to shout, saying he knew it was legal tender but his machine wouldn't accept it???
I've used Northern Irish or Scottish notes many times with Hoppa and it has been fine.
Has anyone else experienced a similar issue or was I just unlucky and met someone who shouldn't really work with the public?
I asked to buy a return journey to Crowne Plaza and gave the driver an Ulster Bank Ł5 note and four pound coins. He refused the note; I reminded him it was legal tender, then he started to shout, saying he knew it was legal tender but his machine wouldn't accept it???
I've used Northern Irish or Scottish notes many times with Hoppa and it has been fine.
Has anyone else experienced a similar issue or was I just unlucky and met someone who shouldn't really work with the public?
Jan 21, 2016 | 2:47 pm
#2
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Been a while since I had Scottish notes refused in London, at least.
Can't help on the Hoppa experience but can I please leave this little moderator's request not to have the thread turn into a discussion of the definition of legal tender!
Can't help on the Hoppa experience but can I please leave this little moderator's request not to have the thread turn into a discussion of the definition of legal tender!
Jan 21, 2016 | 4:28 pm
#3
Join Date: Nov 2010
Location: London
Posts: 1,117
I'd definitely send National Express (who operate the Hoppa service) some feedback. I rather suspect the driver you came across wasn't one of their best...
I remember really confusing an Aussie barmaid in London with a Bank or Ireland issued Northern Irish banknote in the late 90s - this was before the Republic of Ireland joined the Euro, so her not unreasonable thinking was that it was a banknote in Irish pounds (puint) and was issued by the Republic of Ireland's equivalent of the Bank of England (which is in fact the Central Bank of Ireland), rather than a pound sterling banknote issued by the NI division of a pan-Ireland commercial bank.
I remember really confusing an Aussie barmaid in London with a Bank or Ireland issued Northern Irish banknote in the late 90s - this was before the Republic of Ireland joined the Euro, so her not unreasonable thinking was that it was a banknote in Irish pounds (puint) and was issued by the Republic of Ireland's equivalent of the Bank of England (which is in fact the Central Bank of Ireland), rather than a pound sterling banknote issued by the NI division of a pan-Ireland commercial bank.
Jan 22, 2016 | 5:04 am
#4
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Update- I used the note in question on the Hoppa this morning. The driver joked "foreign note" and I said it buys the same amount of beer as a BoE note. Had a laugh and no issue, as is usually the case.
So, if you come across an English Hoppa driver with long grey hair in desperate need of a cut, good luck.
So, if you come across an English Hoppa driver with long grey hair in desperate need of a cut, good luck.
Jan 22, 2016 | 5:54 am
#5
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Years ago many Glasgow bus drivers refused to accept pound notes after their was a spate of dodgy characters using half notes folded up to make them look like whole ones. They'd shove them in the machine before the driver could inspect them. 
No idea if they still allow you to use pound notes or not. They did used to clog up the machines so it wouldn't surprise me if they banned them.
No idea if they still allow you to use pound notes or not. They did used to clog up the machines so it wouldn't surprise me if they banned them.
Jan 22, 2016 | 9:23 am
#6
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Years ago many Glasgow bus drivers refused to accept pound notes after their was a spate of dodgy characters using half notes folded up to make them look like whole ones. They'd shove them in the machine before the driver could inspect them.
No idea if they still allow you to use pound notes or not. They did used to clog up the machines so it wouldn't surprise me if they banned them.
No idea if they still allow you to use pound notes or not. They did used to clog up the machines so it wouldn't surprise me if they banned them.
Jan 22, 2016 | 11:43 am
#7
Join Date: Nov 2010
Location: London
Posts: 1,117
Blimey, when was the last issue of a one pound note by a UK bank?
A commemorative Ł1 note featuring a certain A.G. Bell in 1997 by RBS perhaps?
A commemorative Ł1 note featuring a certain A.G. Bell in 1997 by RBS perhaps?
Jan 23, 2016 | 7:22 am
#9
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Blimey, when was the last issue of a one pound note by a UK bank?
A commemorative Ł1 note featuring a certain A.G. Bell in 1997 by RBS perhaps?
A commemorative Ł1 note featuring a certain A.G. Bell in 1997 by RBS perhaps?
Not UK, but pound notes seem to be preferred in Jersey and Guernsey.
Jan 24, 2016 | 7:24 am
#12
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It's interesting to hear that they are still issued/in circulation within the UK.
I remember the Northern Bank issued a plastic Ł5 note a few years ago and I'm sure that raised a few eyebrows..