It started like any other Saturday. A quick stop at an ATM near Finsbury Park, a trip to the corner shop, and then… an argument over Monopoly money. That’s how one north London couple described their morning after a £20 note — freshly withdrawn from a branded cashpoint — was refused by a local supermarket. Twice.
The note looked off. Slightly waxy, colours too sharp, the Queen’s face a touch… cartoonish? “We thought maybe it had just been through the wash,” said Daniel, 37, who was trying to buy nappies and toothpaste. “But then the cashier just stared at us and called someone over.”
By the afternoon, the couple had reported the incident to both their bank and the police. No response from either — just automated emails and a ticket number. Frustrated and not particularly wealthy, they did what most people wouldn’t: they filed a civil suit. Not against the supermarket, but the ATM network operator. “We’re tired of being told to trust systems that don’t work,” said the mother, whose name we’re not using because, well, she asked not to be named.
A few similar cases have surfaced online. Reddit threads. Local Facebook groups. One man claimed to receive two fake £10s from a cash machine in Streatham, only to be laughed at by a barista when he tried to pay for coffee. “It’s like the machines are trolling us,” someone wrote in the comments.
Hard to say where the truth lies. But it’s 2025, and people still expect their cash to be… real. Seems fair, doesn’t it?
