Currency chaos as stores take euro

EXACTLY a month after euro notes and coins were introduced, London stores that accept the currency are reporting only a trickle of business. Cashiers are apparently still baffled by the money with some having difficulty using the new tills.

Conversion rates vary, with those High Street stores charging the most quoting 'administration costs' as their justification. Oxford Street stores Bhs, Marks & Spencer, Debenham's and Selfridges quoted exchange rates varying from 1.63 to 1.74 euros to the pound, while Top Shop was unable to quote a rate.

One horrified cashier responded: 'The euro? What's that? Oh yes, there's a colourful chart somewhere with the rate on it.'

A spokeswoman for Arcadia Group, which owns the store, said: 'We are absolutely horrified to learn no one knew the rates as there are large boards at tills advertising the rate. It is in fact 1.5. We have had extensive training sessions with staff but some of them work only a few days a week. This is inexcusable. We will be investigating.'

Staff at Dixons were equally confused. The employee advised us to change our euros at the neighbouring Bureau de Change. Recognising potential difficulty, a store manager stepped in and completed the transaction at a separate till. 'I'll put it through but watch what to do for future reference,' he told her.

At BhS, the assistant responded to my request saying: 'Oh no, I was dreading this day. How many euros do you want to give me?' After scanning a price tag, the till flashed the price in euros.

The assistant at the Selfridges food hall also asked: 'How much do you want to give me?' Difficulty in working the till meant a lunchtime queue quickly built up. A spokeswoman said: 'We have 400 tills at that store and hardly any of them have euros. We use the same rate as Thomas Cook and do not add on a handling charge.'

HMV completed the euro transaction in seconds but the 1.72 rate it uses is equivalent to the selling rate used by Thomas Cook. 'We make a small loss as we do not add on administrative costs,' a spokesman said. 'Only one or two people have used them.' During the purchasing of a toy bear at Debenham's the till began making funny noises. 'This is my first go at this,' said the assistant. 'Can someone help me?'

Five Waterstone's branches take the euro (Piccadilly, Hatchard's also on Piccadilly, Oxford Street, Trafalgar Square, Covent Garden, two in Belfast and at Manchester Airport). A glance at a conversion chart and the transaction was complete. A spokeswoman said: 'We look at the rate weekly and change it only if necessary. Not many are paying with euros at our stores.'

A spokesman for Thomas Cook said: 'We base the selling and buying rates on the market rate. There are at least a dozen rates around depending on the cost of providing that service.'

Marks & Spencer said a 'very very small' number of customers purchased items using the currency. The euro rate charged at the tills across its 302 stores is set at a mid-rate - between buying and selling - by HSBC bank, and includes a handling charge. A spokeswoman said: 'The rate we charge covers administrative costs and is revised weekly. We cannot charge a low rate otherwise our customers who shop in sterling will be disadvantaged. We offer the most competitive rate on the High Street at our 30 bureaux de changes.'