Mothergrabbing ATM

The BBQ Pit
1

So last night I went to a mini-mart ATM to get some cash out for karaoke night. I attempt the transaction (I’m trying to withdraw $60), and it says “transaction cannot be completed” or somesuch. Fine, I’ll try again. This time? Insufficiant funds. Fuck.

The fucking machine TOOK MY MONEY OUT of the account, but didn’t actually spit it out of the machine! I’m fucking furious! Plus, my bank doesn’t open until 9:30am and I’m leaving town at 9am. Double fuck.

AND, not only that, when I got to karaoke it was cancelled- the DJ was sick.

And I’m going to the fair today and it’s raining cats and dogs.

I think that’s it, but the bottom line is that I’m totally fucked if I can’t have my $60 back- to the point of cancelling a trip. Goddamnit, it better get worked out or else.

2

I thought ATM’s were proof against this kind of error. I remember reading that when you make a withdrawal, they don’t simply subtract $x from your account; they have special circuitry that counts the notes that end up in your hand as they are dispensed, then subtracts THAT amount from your bank balance - just in case something goes wrong with the dispensing mechanism.

Is it possible that the account had insufficient funds to start with and the original “transaction cannot be completed” error was down to a transient fault with the link to the bank or similar?

3

Even those dinky little mini-marts contain said circuitry?

4

Er, I don’t know what a mini-mart is and was assuming that Zette was using was a plain old ATM (a ‘cashpoint’ to us Brits) as found built into the outer wall of most banks.

The word ‘dinky’ does suggest a budget version which might not be as robust against error… my apologies.

5

Blow it up.

6

I don’t trust those mini-mart atms. They’re just so…flimsy.

7

Yeah I’m not a big fan of them either. In fact everytime I use one, I am expecting the same experience that Zette has described.

8

OK, let me start this by saying I don’t work for a bank here, but I did work for one in the UK. If it is the same over here as it was there, you will get the money back.

Call your bank first (hopefully they have some sort of call centre which is open outside business hours) and report it. If it is one of their ATMs, they will be able to check how much cash is in it and how much it says it despensed. There should be a discrepancy. If it is not one of their ATMs, they should be able to chase it with the other bank.

Where I worked, they checked the balance of every ATM several times during the night. Also, they would reimburse someone if a third party ATM did not pay out and then the bank would chase the ATM owner.

I hope you get it all worked out.

Rick

9

Ack. Sorry about your crappy night Zette, I hope everything gets cleared up. :frowning:

10

Talk about mothergrabbing ATMs! I thought your complaint was going to be similar to the experience I just had recently.

Pardon me for a minor hijack, but a similar problem:

I was in an area where there were a number of teenage kids hanging around. No, I don’t automatically assume teenagers are trouble, but I was getting bad vibes and I figured it would be better to be a little cautious under the circumstances. As it turned out, it was the machine that ripped me off.

I had inserted my card, entered the PIN and pressed the “quick $20” button. I heard the slot open, and I had my hand there ready to grab the money. But I was taking one last look around, and that was my downfall. I didn’t take the money fast enough, and the machine swallowed it right back inside!

I talked to someone on the phone later and she said you have THREE SECONDS to take your money! (Gee, you think that might be a little quick for some senior citizens? :rolleyes: ) After that, the machine swallows it up into a special compartment “for your protection” – I guess the idea being that if you are getting mugged, maybe you can stall them long enough that they don’t get your cash. (Of course, they MIGHT be a little mad at you if that happened, but that’s your problem, right?)

So then I asked, so how soon can I get my money back? I mean, if it’s in a special compartment that is only used when this happens, and I give them the time of the transaction, how difficult can it be to verify that it was me that lost the money? I mean, I doubt that this happens even once a night at most ATMs. I have been using ATMs ever since they appeared in my area about 28 years ago, and this is the first time this has ever happened to me.

The answer: FOUR DAMN DAYS!

And naturally, it was my last 20 bucks. :mad:

Here’s hoping your refund is faster than mine was!

11

No offense, here folks, but when you get to the point where a simple ATM error leaves you pennyless, you got far more inportant things to take care of than whatever it was you were going to do with those missing funds!

Holy Moley!

Overheard at the SDMB: “Goddammit, that Gatopescado is a dick!”

12

What does that mean? I’ve been down to my last $20 more then once in life- not everyone has savings or sometimes circumstances come up that drain your accounts. The point is, something like this has never, ever happened to me in the years that I’ve been using ATMs. The one time it does happen? Left me pretty high and dry. That’s just shitty finances and Murphey’s Law at work.

I’m still talking to the Credit Union people- they’re supposed to be contacting the ATM folks and getting me credited. I think I’ll follow up with my call right now, in fact.

13

If you’d like to appear knowledgeable and feel you’re getting the run-around, the pertinent banking regulation is Regulation E.

Having myself (in a former job) returned tens of thousands of people’s mistransferred money under this regulation. Usually double-charges :smiley:

AmbushBug

14

Sorry, but saying “no offense” doesn’t make it any less offensive. If you haven’t ever been down to your last $20 in this economy, then you should be thanking God, not lecturing other people about what they should be doing with their money.

As a matter of fact, using those “missing funds” to keep my phone turned on so that I can receive phone calls from potential employers was pretty important, seeing as I have been unemployed (and then underemployed – part time work in a field unrelated to my degree) for the last two years. Thankfully, I was able to borrow money from a friend.

Also thankfully, I finally found employment in my field recently, which kept me from using language that is a little more pit-worthy in my reply.