A VISITOR to the Scottish National Gallery had quite the surprise when she made a purchase at the gift shop and was then told she had been "billed by the SNP".
Last week, a woman – who does not want to be identified – bought some books at the gift shop of the museum on Edinburgh’s Mound, according to The Times. She was then surprised when she saw her bill state: “The Scottish National Party — £60.88”.
This was due to a billing descriptor error, whereby a transaction is mistakenly labeled due to a glitch or human error. Officials at the National Galleries of Scotland confirmed The Times that no money had gone to the SNP.
A spokesperson said: “All payments across our sites are made to the National Galleries of Scotland.
“Transactions made by card at our sites are handled through a payment processing provider called Worldpay and all transactions at the National Gallery in Edinburgh should be labelled as ‘The Scottish National Gallery’.
“We are in contact with Worldpay to ascertain why one transaction was mislabelled in this instance.
"We can confirm that all funds from sales in our shop have reached the National Galleries of Scotland bank account.”
The Tory MSP Murdo Fraser joked of the “horror” he said the woman must have felt when she thought she might have donated to the SNP.
An SNP spokesperson, meanwhile, added: “As people scrutinise their bills more closely than ever during this cost of living crisis, it’s vital that consumers have the right information available to them.
“That’s why accuracy and transparency is key from our financial institutions and the organisations that use them, and it’s incumbent on the UK government to properly regulate that.”
