Dummies at the bank would not take legit $100 note.

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The ATM is a direct line to head office, so if they see you making too many cash deposits and withdrawals, they could red flag your account and force the branch to close it.  It happened to me.  I was basically told to take a hike because my frequent transactions appeared to be money laundering (their words, not mine).  Literally, I lost my account, Visa card, and all the cheques I paid to have printed became useless, and I was told to go to a competitor bank.  So be careful, the bank machine is not some anonymous substitute for a human being.  I would tend to agree that they will accept a lot more older notes as real "by default", but don't be surprised if they freeze your funds or even debit you if they think you deposited a counterfeit note at an ATM.  At least with a teller, you can negotiate.

Wow. That something I might need to keep a eye on. Didn't they even listen to an explantion from you?

I happen to withdraw and deposit big cash amounts too. The withdrawals usually from the tellers and I never had a problem.

What are all these people going to do when we start using polymer notes

I think on a whole the average bank teller is truly unaware of what older Canadian banknotes look like and how they can tell if they are counterfeit or not, yet I have to say that the tellers at the branch I deal with are very well informed as to what is or is not a legit note...or an actual previous issue of the Bank of Canada.
I occasionally get calls when something strange comes in, although since the manager has been transferred I no longer have the access to the old notes because they are set aside and sent back....
I never had a problem in getting notes that were supposedly, absolutely, without discussion, to be kept and destroyed since the previous manager, a avid coin collector thought it was wrong to send back something that someone actually wanted to keep for generations to come...in their own personal collection...
As for the tellers at the branch, they enjoy the info I can share and actually ask questions out of shear interest.  A few months back one was so excited when I came in the front door because she thought she knew something that I won't know...
That the BOC was coming out with polymer notes.....LOL
Anyways I think instead of people complaining that their bank tellers don't know anything ...maybe educate them....I'm sure a lot will be interested to some degree.
Now if only my previous bank manager didn't transfer so far away.....I would be a regular at his branch.

FRIEDSQUID

What are all these people going to do when we start using polymer notes

Maybe a new set of specimen notes will be used to educate them perhaps =p

As a former TD employee, the procedure is to retain the note, and acept it as the deposit. Notify (or not) the client that it will be sent for verification.  If found to be counterfeit, then removed from account, and placed into hands of RCMP relevant information.  If legit, then no trouble at all.

The acting manager of the bank possibly may have not known the policy in which case training should occur and stat, from the top down in the bank on issues such as these.

They are to NOT give it back to the client.  For, knowingly passing on and allowing a real counterfeit note to circulate (which is what would happen if they banks deny acceptance), would be what the banks would be guilty of, thus making it such that they would be breaking the law, indirectly through lack of action (by not retaining the note).

I think on a whole the average bank teller is truly unaware of what older Canadian banknotes look like and how they can tell if they are counterfeit or not

Even *managers* can be clueless.  I had a counterfeit 2001 $10 passed to me by a teller at my credit union.  This was before 2004 $10s were in circulation, so it was even a current note.  It was a horrible inkjet job, on plain office paper.  No intaglio or embossing, of course.  The microprint was illegible.  The ink was running in a few places where it had been wet.  I told the teller that the bill was bad, and to please give me another.  She actually *argued* with me, insisting that it was genuine.  I asked for the manager and she *was* the manager.  Finally after making a big enough stink about it she agreed to replace it for me, but she put the counterfeit $10 back in the drawer to give out to another customer.

When I got home I googled the serial number of the bad bill (I had copied it down in the credit union) and sure enough got right to a news story about an amateur counterfeit operation that was busted for printing notes with the same serial number.

Went to grocery store yesterday and gave the cashier 2 1971 nickel dollars.
Before they were even out of my hand she barked " We don't take those".
I explained to her they were legal tender and showed her a pocketful of similar coins.
She explained that their bank , CIBC, will not accept them. I told her that is where i got them 30 minutes ago. i said let me talk to the manager . the manager comes over and says that the bank will not accept them.  I was up against 2 very stubborn people and decided that it was not worth the arguement and the frustration to pursue the matter.
 

I think it funny how my TD branch got two dozen BU nickel dollars, still in their individual cardboard holders, and gladly sold them to me at face value. I just hope they could hold a few 'old' banknotes for me next time I visit.

I think it funny how my TD branch got two dozen BU nickel dollars, still in their individual cardboard holders, and gladly sold them to me at face value. I just hope they could hold a few 'old' banknotes for me next time I visit.

My branch does the same...they claim they cannot ship Nickel dollars or halves out unless the have atleast a roll so they love when I take them so they can get rid of them, otherwise they seem to have to hang onto them and they are always in the way.
I get my daughter to use them at the school cafeteria. One day she traded a bunch of them to friends so they all paid for their lunches with dollar pieces.  The old lady at the cash said  it reminded her of the old days when the dollars pieces were nice and shiney and not crappy looking like the loonies.....
No problem in getting rid of them there...
Maybe next week we will try getting rid of all of the 50 cent pieces....atleast she knows that they are real and not fake....

That sounds like quite a story! I can't even say that I've been through that type of ordeal. Honestly, if the teller was educated and up to par with her work, she would know that it was a legitimate bill. I suppose some people are just so unreasonable. Anyway, I'm sorry you had to deal with that.

Honestly, if the teller was educated and up to par with her work, she would know that it was a legitimate bill.

Are we assuming that all tellers are female, or that male tellers are the educated ones?

...I thought we were all just assuming that all young people are morons...

Sometimes if I spend a $100 bill, a lot of places rely on those stupid counterfeit markers that they run across the bill. They don't look for any other security features, just rely on the marker. Anyway, when they give me back my change, I say, hey, how do I know the bills you are giving me are legit? Maybe I better check them out with your marker. Then they get annoyed and say, they are real. But it's so funny that it's a one way street. They suspect any note you give them, but if you act the same way, they don't understand your problem?