Do they make mistakes? If so, what kind?
Realistically, if you were ‘shorted’ by a machine, would you actually have a hope in hell of convincing the bank they blundered?
Has it ever happened?
Yesterday while waiting an eternity for the “drive-thru ATM machine, I noticed how people “count their money” before driving away from the ATM.
Seriously, suppose you made a withdrawal of $200. And you hold up the line to “verify”, and you count $180.
Is waiting there in the line really going to do anything for you? There’s nobody there to complain to if the ATM made an error, why hold up the line?
I drive away, pull to the side, and then count my cash. (Letting waiting people behind me access the machine faster)
In the 20+ years I’ve used ATM’s, ive never seen nor heard of a mistake, any of you fine folks have any stories?
They are audited; if the machine shorts you it will not balance properly at the end of the day, so your claim can be corroborated; I suppose it’s possible that it might short you and over the next person and this might net out to zero, but that seems rather unlikely.
By the way, I realized after submitting my post that the word:
ATM Machine is wrong, it should have simply read
“ATM”
Forgive me and my amateur blunder
Even if the machines are perfect the bank staff aren’t. Every so often you will see a story in the news about an ATM that was loaded with the wrong denominations, so that people get 20’s in stead of 10’s or whatever. This usually results in a rush on the ATM ‘Wahey free money’ even though the bank will have a record of everyone who used the machine and will be wanting that money back.
Also, even if it dispenses money correctly, an ATM is only as good as the people who programmed it. At my local credit union, the ATM requests my card with the message “INSERT CARD YOUR CARD”. Doesn’t inspire confidence.
Then, when you’ve finished your transaction, the message says “IF YOU WISH ANOTHER TRANSACTION, PRESS HERE”. That’s it; there’s no button to press if you don’t want another transaction. I’ve not found a way around this; apparently you’re supposed to stand there and wait about 30 seconds until a message comes up saying “SEQUENCE TIMED OUT”. Then, and only then, will it give you back your card. I can’t help but think that the machine was programmed as part of occupational therapy for somebody with traumatic brain injury.
Actually redundancy is an very common and often used normal and correct usage that many people use often to ensure their point is made. And it’s correct even so.
A small bank I do business with uses ATMS with “dip” card readers. This is the sort of reader most gas pumps have - stick in your card and pull it back out. The machine has no means of holding or keeping a card.
After it gives me the cash, the screen says “Please take your card.” I can only guess they don’t want people to leave their card in the deposit envelope holder.
Yup, that happened here at the ATM at work. 7 years ago, back when ATMs gave $5s (that seems so long ago). I actually just took $15 out, it turns out that the $5s tray and the $20s tray were switched. I called up my credit union and told them what happened and they said to call the bank. I called the bank and told them what happened and they said that it was our company’s responsibility. I called up my company and they said they were aware of it and would be fixing the accounts. Nothing ever happened to my account and it only showed a $15 withdrawal.
I used to work with a guy that got extra cash from the teller (not the machine). He was cashing his paycheck, and she counted out 2 extra $20s. I wouldn’t have believed it if I hadn’t seen it.
He lacked sufficient moral backbone to tell her about the mistake.
Heh. I was making a withdrawal at an ATM a few years back, and in the middle of dropping the twenties into the tray, there was a power failure. Had to return to the bank the next day to complete the transaction and get my card back.
I guess that’s not entirely clear. Some ATM’s will count your withdrawal and then move the whole bundle of currency to the retrieval location in a single operation. Other ATM’s dispense bills to the retrieval location one at a time; this is the type that failed on me. My account had been debited $200, and I only received a portion of that when the power failure occurred.
My first experiences with ATMs was in the late '70s. I banked at Rainier Bank. It was the only bank in Seattle with an ATM. Yes, one, in the whole city. Since it was need my home, I used it frequently. It ran out of money every day, and every day, someone would be shorted. Just one person a day and the bank always, to my knowledge, made good. I was shorted twice, before I realized it was risky if it was after say, 10:00 PM
Oh, and the ATM only worked after the bank was closed.
Oh, well you haven’t been to a certain banks branch around my parts yet. A few of the tellers are good, most are so-so, and one doesn’t deserve to handle money. Two quick stories:
First I hand her $1312, she counts it…(looks confused)…counts again…(still confused)…counts AGAIN…(Still confused). “You’re deposit slip says $1312, but you only gave me $1305.” I couldn’t believe she said that, I replied “Do you have any 5’s?,” “Excuse me?” “In that money that I gave you that you just counted…are there and five dollar bills?” “No” she says. “Then the total can’t end in 5.” “huh” “If you don’t have any five dollar bills, it can’t add up to $1305.” She recounted it and it came out correct.
Second. I hand the same girl $115 dollars with a deposit slip on top. She takes the deposit slip off and put’s it on the counter. As she did that I noticed she took a 5 dollar bill off with it, which is now under the deposit slip. (This should be interesting I thought to myself). She counted the money twice and said “OK,” I asked if she came up with the right number “Yup.” “Then what about the $5 bill on the counter” She recounted with that bill and came up correct. I should have just taken it back.
I could come up with more, but those are the two classics. I’m glad I don’t use that branch much anymore.
