banks were being barred from giving out US one dollar bills to store owners, executive vice president Mrs. Carolyn Mello said yesterday.

Miss Mello said the Chamber received a number of telephone calls from "outraged and concerned'' members after The Royal Gazette reported the restriction on Tuesday.

"It's an inconvenience to tourists,'' she said. "If we want to promote visitor spending we must welcome them with open arms and make sales transactions as easy as possible.'' The Royal Gazette has already received several complaints from store owners fuming over the restriction.

Pegasus print and map shop owner Mr. Robert Lee said his first customer yesterday made her purchase "conditional on receiving US money for change''.

"It is never good to alienate our visitors and this year even more so,'' he said.

"They do not want `funny money' but they did like to take our Bermuda $1 note home as a souvenir -- but now they cannot even do that. A rethink is in order, immediately,'' Mr. Lee wrote in a Letter to the Editor yesterday.

Disagreeing with BMA general manager Mr. Malcolm Williams, Miss Mello said, "A lot of tourists just don't want Bermuda change''.

She said feedback from retailers is that tourists do have a problem with accepting so-called "funny money''.

Miss Mello said she and Chamber president Mr. Louis Mowbray are meeting with the BMA tomorrow to discuss the restriction.

Although it was made in January, store owners are only now noticing with the demand for US money having shot up since the cruise ship season got underway last month.

Mr. Williams has insisted a letter was sent to the Chamber informing it bank tellers would be ordered in January to only give US $1 notes to hotels, cruise ships, tourists and residents travelling abroad.

However, Miss Mello said such a letter had never been received by the Chamber.

"I can't explain why we didn't receive the letter, but apparently they sent one,'' she said. "On a matter of such ramifications a discussion would have been better.'' Mr. Williams said on Tuesday he did not think the order would undermine the Island's tourist trade by upsetting visitors.

He said the move was made to increase usage of the unpopular Bermuda $1 coin.

He said the BMA discovered "a large quantity of US $1 bills are being given out by the banks''.

"I don't think we will be upsetting the tourists if they receive a Bermuda $1 coin or Bermuda $2 bill as change instead of US money,'' he said. However, store owners strongly disagreed.

Gift store owner Mr. John Riihiluoma and department store president Mr. Eldon Trimingham both said tourists would think they were being ripped off.

"People are going to be irate,'' Mr. Riihiluoma said. "It's unfair that it's falling on our shoulders because tourists are going to think we are trying to pull a scam on them when, in fact, we are trying to do everything to please them so they will want to come back to Bermuda one day.'' Mr. Lee called for the Bermuda $1 coin, which he said closely resembles a quarter, to be "withdrawn or redesigned -- perhaps with an octagonal shape''.

"The US coin and $2 note never succeeded in America,'' he pointed out.

"We keep a two currency float and give change accordingly....The decision by some civil servant -- or worse some misguided politician -- to not permit free access to US $1 notes for change is ridiculous and annoying.''