Funny Money

You are lucky. One never knows when he will be called upon to embark on an international pay phone expedition.

I just had a weird dream I was in the movie the Hangover.

Nothing like that has every happened to me personally, but I did see a guy get busted once for trying to pass some counterfeit $100 bills. The story I got from the dancer involved was that he paid for a VIP with her using them. The bartender apparently tested the bills, saw they were fake, *let* the guy into the VIP room, then called the cops, who met him on his way out of the club.

The club has cameras in the parking lot, with monitors inside where customers can see them, and I saw the arrest. Naturally, being the nosy bastard I am, I bought the dancer in question a drink just to get the story.

The best part? I later found out there was a reward for the guy, and the bartender was honest about her involvement, and split it with her.

Good story, Georg!

Lydell’s indiscretion came at Pure Platinum (now Vanity) and was caught trying to use Platinum Dollars that were counterfeit, expired or otherwise ill-gotten.

By the way, once the US dollar started declining against the Euro a few years back, I put all my savings into Platinum Dollars and I’m faring quite well during this economic downturn.

I always wondered at a place like Tootsie's or other places that use "fake money or club Money", other than jail what stops somebody from using counterfeit money.

By the way, Benjamin Franklin on money might be a thing of the past if the Treasury gets their way. In the age of banking through wires, there is a thought that the US could eliminate the 100 dollar bill. Since they are used in large sums by drug dealers and terrorists. The thought is that taking 1000 dollars from 10 bills to 50 bills.

gatorjoe2, here is an article about UK removing the 500 Euro bill.

"May 13 (Bloomberg) -- Banks and money exchange services in the U.K. are no longer distributing 500-euro notes after a report showed that 90 percent of the demand for the bill came from criminals, the Serious Organised Crime Agency said today."

http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?sid=a…


Also I remember Platinum Bucks had bar codes on them and were scanned to verify if they were legit. This would stop people from counterfeiting them because using the same bar code twice would get denied. I don't know how they do it at Tootsie's.

I hadn't heard that some were advocating for the elimination of the $100 bill. I don't think it'll happen anytime soon.

Desire in RI had a deal very recently where if you purchased one of their food & drink cards for $20 that you'd get $25 worth of credit on that card, which sounded like kind of a cool deal...if I were a drinker.

The Canadian money that I withdrew from my last trip up there last summer is worth around 11% more now...maybe I'll have to spend it soon...

MG, There was a movie rental chain (I think called Movie Gallery) that did a similar deal of buy a $20 gift card, and get $25 loaded on it. I think they were doing this out of desperation though because they closed down. (I guess all the brick and mortar movie rental chains are doing bad now though including blockbuster).

I was interested in buying some kahoot's bucks, but found out there is a 15% fee they add on to them. Better off just using cash instead. Also dancers prefer cash because when they go to redeem the kahoot's cash at the end of the night the club takes a percentage of it.

I heard SC waitresses and dancers complain about getting funny money. Is it true the US government will exchange it for real money? One waittress at The Men's Club in Raleigh, NC said the management changed a fake five for a real one for her. One of the few good things I've ever heard said about the night shift management at TMC. The day shift girls are much happier though.

While the management may have been nice to reimburse her, they aren't requireed to do so. In fact, when you report a counterfeit, the authorities will confiscate it as evidence, and you will not be reimbused. One report I saw suggests that it's actually *illegal* to return the counterfeit and ask for real money. I haven't seen anything to confirm that, though on their site, the Secret Service does *want* you to keep it and report it, but since they don't come right out and say so (I can't imagine they'd be shy about it), I assume refusing it is *not* illegal. Failing to report it *would* be illegal, as would attempting to pass one you didn't check.

Basically, if you get a bogus bill, you're shit out of luck unless you want to risk a felony charge.

What you *can* do is go after the person who gave you the bill in small claims court. Success in that endeavor depends on who you're suing, and how good your evidence is that you actually receded it from that person. A bank might be willing to make it good, just to avoid court and for good customer relations. A small business or private party might not be so willing, though.