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ATM failed: no cash, but money debited

chattychappy
chattychappy Posts: 7,302 Forumite
edited 25 December 2017 at 12:09AM in Budgeting & bank accounts
My elderly mother put her card into an ATM to withdraw £500 from her Lloyds account this evening.

It made the noise it usually does when counting, but appeared to repeat this 3 or 4 times. Eventually it displayed an error on the screen saying "sorry unable to dispense your cash" (or somesuch). No receipt given and the card was returned.

She later tried another ATM, but it said she only had £5 left of her daily £505 limit.

She is now very worried that she has "lost" her £500. In her panic, she managed to lock herself out of her internet banking, and doesn't feel like calling them tonight, being Christmas Eve (not sure they would answer anyway).

Has anyone else had this experience - and was any intervention needed? Clearly in this case the ATM knew it had a problem, so I'm hoping there won't be a dispute and that rather than the money being debited, it is just some kind of pre-authorisation. She will probably worry all over Christmas about it.
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  • Peter999_2
    Peter999_2 Posts: 974
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    edited 24 December 2017 at 11:41PM
    I know it's probably not easy but tell her to try and not worry.

    Every ATM I've ever seen has an internal printer that records every transaction and prints it on a continuous roll of paper. If all other records fail and the machine totally breaks down, they check the print out and will see that it says that the ATM couldn't dispense the cash.

    Only thing is that it might take a few days to rectify, espcially over Christmas. Hopefully it will have re-credited it back to the account. Could she possibly go to her banks own ATM tomorrow and print off a mini-statement to see if it has been paid back in?

    I vaguely remember my ex-girlfriend taking money out and was on her phone at the same time. It was an ATM that a little draw that opened to give you the cash. She left it so long that the draw shut again. No problem she thought and took out another £10 - the draw opened and only the £10 was there - not the other cash.

    It took a few days, but when they checked the machine they could see it had taken the money back into the ATM and they re-credited the money.
  • Dobbibill
    Dobbibill Posts: 4,133
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    She is bound to get a little concerned.

    It sometimes automatically corrects itself within 48hrs. If not a quick call should get it all resolved.

    They are open over Christmas for emergencies.
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  • boliston
    boliston Posts: 3,012
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    i had this happen but with #10 rather than #500 - my bank sent me a claim form to fill in and it got re-credited after a few days
  • Don't think she needs to worry.

    Happened to me at a natwest.

    I went in and explained, they checked something on the machine and I was given the money from the till.

    It is likely to be running Windows Xp or some variant do it will of recorded any error anyway.
  • She managed to get into internet banking again and saw the amount had been debited so rang them straightaway. They said they would text her bank on Wednesday, treating it as a dispute. Can't say she's so reassured by this. It would have been great if the machine had printed a receipt with the same message that was displayed on the screen - the very time a written receipt would be useful. The guy on the phone kept on saying they would have to reconcile the cash left in the machine, but as she pointed out, if the next person got too much or the machine wasn't loaded properly this wouldn't necessarily help. Hopefully there is a proper record of the machine's inability to dispense the money against this transaction.

    BTW it was inside a Sainsbury Supermarket.

    It was 4.30am before she finally got to sleep!

    Thanks for all the replies, I'll update the thread with the final outcome.
  • It was probably the moment a busy ATM ran out of cash.
  • robpw2
    robpw2 Posts: 14,044
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    it takes up to 48 hours for the cash machine to advise the bank, now if the moeny isnt returened after theat 48 hours then by all means call them up


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  • I'm sure it will resolve itself. Given the circumstances and unfortunate timing perhaps you can ask Sainsbury Bank to make a goodwill gesture to your mother?
    I’m a Forum Ambassador and I support the Forum Team on the Credit Cards and Budgeting & Bank Accounts boards. If you need any help on these boards, do let me know. Please note that Ambassadors are not moderators. Any posts you spot in breach of the Forum Rules should be reported via the report button, or by emailing forumteam@moneysavingexpert.com.
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  • pinkladyvenus
    pinkladyvenus Posts: 372
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    edited 25 December 2017 at 3:05PM
    I used a cash point at the co-op and the same thing happened to me, machine made noises like it was going to dispense money and then shut down, my account showed £20 had been withdrawn but Santander credited my account after a couple of days with that amount.
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  • agrinnall
    agrinnall Posts: 23,344
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    It will probably get reconciled automatically but that won't happen until Wednesday at the earliest, and possibly Thursday. Equally there is no chance of anyone who actually understands what could have happened looking at it before Wednesday, and if it does have to processed manually there may not be a result until Friday, or even next Tuesday if things are a bit slow. While this will be a concern to her while she's waiting the good news is that it is very likely to be successfully resolved eventually.

    As an aside, I wouldn't recommend my elderly mother to take out £500 at an ATM, which seems quite an insecure thing to do (I wouldn't do it myself if I could avoid it), I would advise her to go into a branch to withdraw that much where she can put it away safely before stepping outside (obviously finding a branch is becoming more difficult, so it may be eaiser said than done).
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