Mother claims Aldi supermarket refused to let her pay in coins - sparking furious debate over who was in the wrong

  • Aldi customer said she was told she could not pay a $9.25 bill with only coins
  • Hidez Coote was 'rudely scolded' and was told the store could only accept $5
  • She said she had $7 worth of gold coins and the remaining $2.25 paid in silver
  • Aldi spokesperson said there was no policy in place and apologised to her
An Aldi customer has sparked a furious debate online after claiming the supermarket refused to let her pay for her groceries in coins.
Hidez Coote was shopping in South Wentworthville in Sydney's west on June 3 when she went to pay $9.25 in gold and silver.
Ms Coote said she was 'rudely scolded' and was told the store policy only accepted $5 worth of coins.
'Has any person experienced an issue with paying in gold or silver coins?' Ms Coote questioned on Facebook.
'I was abruptly and rudely scolded when paying $9.25 bill. The cashier told me that in future to pay in cash [notes] as ALDI policy can only accept $5 worth of coins.
Hidez Coote was shopping in South Wentworthville in Sydney's west on June 3 when she went to pay $9.25 in gold and silver coins
Hidez Coote was shopping in South Wentworthville in Sydney's west on June 3 when she went to pay $9.25 in gold and silver coins
'Mind you I had $7 worth of gold coins.' 
Ms Coote made three formal complaints on the supermarket's website before being contacted by a spokesperson.
The spokesperson told her that while there was no store policy in place, the information she was told came from the Currency Act.
Australia's Currency Act 1965 states that coins are no longer legal tender if they exceed certain amounts.
Silver coins can only be used up to $5, meanwhile customers can use ten times the face value of gold coins, meaning $10 worth of $1 coins and $20 worth of $2 coins.
Ms Coote said she had only used $7 worth of gold coins and the rest in silver.
The post sparked a fierce debate.
Some people claimed that all kinds of cash, including coins, should be accepted by the stores.
'Coins are legal tender. No store can refuse to accept coins, nor can they set limits,' one person commented. 
'In future I would shop at a store that accepts legal tender. I don't like using my card for everything and at the moment not a lot of shops accept cash,' another wrote.
'I could understand if you were paying for it in silver but if paying in gold coins that's just lazy on her part,' another wrote.
Ms Coote said she was 'rudely scolded' and was told the store policy only accepted $5 worth of coins
Ms Coote said she was 'rudely scolded' and was told the store policy only accepted $5 worth of coins
'What the!! Sounds like the biggest load of c**p! Money is money, what if that's only money you have!' one woman commented.
Meanwhile others agreed with the cashier because of similar training they received while working with money. 
'Usually it's because the till can't hold it, I worked as a cashier years ago and we were told nothing over $5,' one person wrote.
'If I remember correctly. Definitely not the cashiers fault, they're just following instructions.'
An Aldi spokesperson told Yahoo Australia the store had apologised to Ms Coote and no policy existed.
'Limiting the payment amount of coins is not an ALDI policy,' the spokesperson said.
The spokesperson said Ms Coote's payment of $7 worth of gold coins and $2.25 worth of silver coins should have been accepted.

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