What to do when short changed by ATM

jembie

2 weeks ago I went to draw £50 from a Barclays ATM. My account is with Citibank and there is no branch so I always use this Barclays machine on my way into town.

When the money came out it was £20 short. I checked my receipt just in case I accidentally keyed in £30 but no my receipt said £50. I didn't know what to do. I was instantly distressed as all I had was £50 in my account.

I went in the branch to report it and was met with a really bad attitude. The teller went to ask the supervisor and she looked at me down her nose and said "There's nothing we can do" They took my card details and my phone number and told me they would ring me the next day once the machine had been counted.

Of course they didn't ring me and I couldn't find a number to ring them so rang the general number. I just kept going round in circles on the phone system and when I did finally get through to the branch it was just an answer machine on which I left my details but still never heard anything.

I also reported it to my own bank and they apparently have filed a claim to Barclays but why isn't there some kind of process for this event?

I had to borrow some money from my sister but now she is on my back for the money and I don't have it to give her back which makes me feel bad but I can't do anything about it until I get my money back from Barclays.

So, has anyone else had this happen? and how long did it take to get the money back?

If I was short changed in a shop they would take the till off and count it there and then and I would get my money back straight away but I am held to ransom by the banks and they just treat me with disdain!!!

ShelfStacker_3

There is a process, and you're following it by speaking to your bank. Basically, Citi have to chase up the owner of the ATM, get them to balance their ATM and report their findings back. If it's £20 over, they'll credit your account. It usually takes a couple of weeks.

milfordmadness

ShelfStacker wrote: »

There is a process, and you're following it by speaking to your bank. Basically, Citi have to chase up the owner of the ATM, get them to balance their ATM and report their findings back. If it's £20 over, they'll credit your account. It usually takes a couple of weeks.

Agreed, my HBos branch short changed me £20, I rung my bank who dealt with it for me - took about 8 working days so yea, about 2wks.

jembie

ShelfStacker wrote: »

There is a process, and you're following it by speaking to your bank. Basically, Citi have to chase up the owner of the ATM, get them to balance their ATM and report their findings back. If it's £20 over, they'll credit your account. It usually takes a couple of weeks.

Well Thanks for explaining that to me. It's a shame the snotty woman in the bank couldn't have explained that to me instead of looking at me like a piece of pooh and telling me they would call me the next day knowing full well that they wouldn't. I need that money!!

opinions4u

Under the terms of LINK you should be able to make a claim either through your own bank or the bank who owns the ATM.

Whichever way round will take the same amount of time.

Personally I would pursue it through my own bank (phone call?) but the attitude of the Barclays staff is actually in breach of their contractual LINK obligations.

storminbalder

This happened to once about 20 years ago. It was a LLoyds branch. I reported it. They duely checked the machine at the end of the day.

I popped in the next day to hear the results and they basically called me a liar. I wasn't impressed. I think they just assumed it was just some snotty kid trying it on.

It occurred to me that they'd assessed the wronmg machine (there were three in total). Lo and behold they had!

I got my money - but quickly moved banks.

jembie

UPDATE!!
Well It took me emailing the CEO to get anywhere. Within a couple of hours I was told that they manager of the branch had been contacted and at 5pm she did ring me.
Monday morning the £20 was back in my account and today I received a luxury hamper from Barclays as a gesture of good will to apologise for the convenience and distress the whole situation caused me.

The main point of all this is the treatment of me by the staff and I made it very clear to the manager that although they do have a set process for this kind of thing, It helps for the customer to be kept informed.
She admitted that there was some staff training needed!