About 1,400 people were overcharged when they withdrew euro on New Year's Day because of a glitch in a number of AIB Banklink machines across the State.
ATMs
The ATMs affected were in Ennis, Killorglin, Blackpool in Cork, Tipperary town and in Dame Street and Grafton Street in Dublin.
The machines had been reconfigured to dispense euro but mistakenly treated them as Irish pounds, converting them to euro when debiting the accounts.
One caller to The Irish Times said he withdrew €110 at the Banklink machine in Ennis, but €139.67, the euro equivalent of £110, was debited from his account.
Another caller said her account was debited by €50.79 (£40), although she had withdrawn only €40.
An AIB spokeswoman admitted there had been a problem with six machines, and about 1,400 transactions had been affected. But she said the problem, due to "human error" when the machines were being reconfigured, had been rectified. "All customers affected will have their accounts credited with the correct amount within 24 hours," she said.
All the ATMs except the one in Grafton Street were back in proper working order by the close of business on January 1st. The Grafton Street machine was fixed by 10 a.m. yesterday, she said.
The bank said it had carried out some 270,000 euro transactions by yesterday afternoon, and only about 0.5 per cent of them had been affected by the glitch.
Cheque books
A number of AIB customers were also disgruntled to find themselves without euro cheque books yesterday.
Although most bank customers received their new books in December - with some sent out as far back as November - some AIB customers were still waiting for theirs a day after the introduction of euro notes and coins.
The AIB spokeswoman said cheque books were sent out on a "trigger" basis, going first to those who were down to their last five or 10 cheques.
The next category of customers to receive their new cheque books were those who used cheques last year but had not yet reached the trigger point. The final group to get them were those who had not written a cheque since 1999.
However, a number of regular cheque writers told "Euro Watch" they were still waiting.
The spokeswoman said 80 per cent of customers should already have received their cheque books and those who hadn't should get them by the end of the week.
Anyone who needed a chequebook urgently should go to their branch where they would be issued with a temporary one.
Consumer rights
The Director of Consumer Affairs, Ms Carmel Foley, said the number of calls to her office soared by more than 200 per cent to 257 yesterday.
"This was expected as businesses got back to work," she said. About one-third of all calls received related to businesses not accepting Irish currency, with some shops, as well as pubs, being accused of refusing Irish pound coins in particular," she said.
Ms Foley noted that Irish pounds and pence were still legal tender until February 9th and called on all retailers to provide some facility to allow consumers to spend standard amounts of their old currency.
But she also urged consumers to be patient and realistic in their expectations of what retailers could offer. "There have been some instances of people coming in with the contents of their jam jar. People treating their local pub or shop like a bank just won't work," she said. Meanwhile, publicans defended themselves against complaints that they were not taking coins.
Rural publicans said most complaints to Ms Foley's office were more related to "consumer misunderstanding than incorrect practices by their traders".
However, Mr Tadg O'Sullivan, chief executive of the Vintners' Federation of Ireland, which represents some 6,000 rural publicans, said his members were not prepared to change large amounts of copper coins.
"In a number of cases we have had boxes, bags, bottles and buckets of tuppennies and five-penny pieces being brought in.
"My clear instruction to members is not to touch it with a 40-foot pole. Hellmann's Mayonnaise buckets of pennies are not legitimate currency in a pub."
Mr Frank Fell, chief executive of the Licensed Vintners' Association, which represents publicans in the greater Dublin area, said it was difficult for publicans to count and handle large amounts of copper.
Part of the problem was "the failure of the banks to act in a civic-spirited way" by opening on New Year's Day.
"The banks lay back and expected the retail trade to carry the whole burden," he said.
Euro canteen
One retailer outed as not accepting Irish currency yesterday was the canteen in the Central Bank which was accepting euro only. However, a spokesman said an exchange facility was available to the bank's 500 staff, who were expected to be "euro-ready and euro-literate", to allow them to get euro to use in the canteen.
Those who unwittingly turned up to pay for their sandwiches with Irish pounds were given a grace period until today to pay.
Asked if the bank should be disregarding the dual circulation period, the spokesman said it was "a positive thing" that the Central Bank was dealing in euro.
"A strong pro-euro message is being given out," he said.
Motor tax
The Motor Taxation Office has rejected any suggestion that it rounded up charges when pounds were converted into euro for customers renewing their motor tax. But a spokesman for the Department of the Environment, which controls motor taxation charges, accepted that it had "bungled badly" in its explanation of "a special price" offered to people due to renew their tax in January who opted to pay in December.
In renewal documentation sent out in November/December, the MTO told customers that pound amounts due would be rounded down to the nearest euro figure. But customers comparing the euro and pound amounts quoted found that the euro figure was rounded up. For example the 12-month renewal charge of £195 on a 1300cc to 1400cc car was billed as €248. But £195 converts to €247.60 which, rounded down, should have resulted in €247.
According to the Department spokesman, the problem arose because the original pound figure was converted to euro, rounded down and reconverted to pounds and rounded down again for people who wanted to pay in December. From April 1st, 2001, the price for renewing motor tax on a 1300cc to 1400 cc car was not £195 but £196, he explained.
On conversion the charge became €248.86 which became €248 when rounded down - the current price being quoted for renewal of a car of that engine size.
But for customers who wanted to pay in December, the €248 was converted to Irish pounds, giving £195.32 which was then rounded down to £195.
The spokesman accepted that the £195 figure in the documentation sent out to customers has caused problems.
But he insisted that all MTO euro renewal charges have been rounded down on conversion from the appropriate pound figure.
Changing to euro and then back to pounds with two phases of rounding down was not a mistake but a deliberate move "to be fair to the people who wanted to pay in December", he maintained.
The second rounding was required because the MTO computer could only deal in rounded amounts, he added.