That's no excuse for poor customer service and being just rude. Plus, they don't buy them just to hold on to them. That didn't make any sense. But that's okay. I haven't walked into a brick n mortar bank in years now.
Canada ALSO has the polymer bank notes . They are tough and very durable, and ours have a number of hidden security features that make them almost impossible to fake. Trivia bit about the green ink used on US currency. It was invented by a Canadian.
The old style cloth Canadian bank notes had 2 identical serial numbers, one on each end of the face of the bill. If one of the old issue bills was torn, the bank would exchange it for a new one IF you had both ends of the bill with the serial numbers intact. JIM.
I use self check whenever possible and I don't put old bills in. I've had even decent looking bills rejected but never got one stuck. I also don't use dimes in those things because there is one grocery store here, their self check will take your dimes without registering them.
