I read recently how WH Smith has been voted the worst retailer in the UK. This comes as no surprise and it was actually quite nice to see having been barred a few years ago. I didn't used to go in to buy their expensive books or magazines and i wouldn't even go in there to buy a pen. I was actually using their Western Union money sending machine!
I was just setting up my new business importing electronics from China and was struggling sending cash to China each week, i was having trouble sending from my bank and had encountered numerous problems with the other companies that offer this service. I found the little Western Union Money sending machine in WH Smith and it meant that i didn't need to deal with any cashier or inquisitive jobs worths.
So i would go into my bank grab a load of cash and head over to the machine in WH Smith and send to my supplier in China. One day i grabbed a lot of 50 pound notes because this was the biggest value i could manually input into the machine at one time and went to send. I was sending about 3000 in sterling, i got to the last 50 pound notes and the machine wouldn't take them because it said they were creased and kept spitting them back out.
I asked the woman working behind the till if she could help me and change my 50 pound notes into 20's or 10's because the machine was not working. She took a fifty off me and went to her little machine to test if it was fake. Its as not fake but she said she would not help me. I tried to ask others to help but they would not, looking at the fifty like they had never seen one in their life before,
I went to the shop next door to buy something so i would get some change, The shop did not accept fifty pound notes! i went back to the machine in WH Smith and had to cancel the transaction.
The machine then starting spitting out 10 pound notes after i had cancelled the transaction. i got a little flustered and started to ask the woman what the hell was goin on. Why was the machine spitting out 10 pound notes out when i had input 50's? i raised my voice which made her think i was crazy and she called the security. Usually i would have darted there and then but the machine was still spitting out 10s that i hadn't even input into the machine at all!
Within a few minutes 2 big private security guards quickly entered the shop. By this time i had calmed down and the machine had just spat the last 10 out which i placed with the other pile, the security guard saw the big wad of cash and called the police. More uniformed police came and questioned me in the shop. They Called to the local police station and checked my name and address and status.
Fortunately i had the withdrawal receipt from the bank and calmly explained to them i have a business and that the money was totally legal and for my supplier. The police were satisfied with my story, i gave the woman who called them an apology and she said i was barred from entering WH Smith again. I agreed and they would never see me again.
But this didn't solve my problem, i needed to send money to China. I went back home to do some research and i found Bitcoin! Now i can send cash to anyone in the world whilst eating my cornflakes, I don't need to go to the shop and be interrogated or become humiliated for carrying 50's. The security guard told me he had never seen so many 50 pound notes in his life and thought that i might be a criminal. i don't need that anymore! thanks to crypto!
