Help!! Being robbed by Santander.

slup_2

Can someone clarify for me how you cancel a transaction at an ATM after you have specified the amount?

It's not like they pop up a message saying 'do you really want to withdraw the money'?

When you say the machine 'wasn't working properly' - what did you mean by that?

If you did withdraw the money then walk away, I can't see how it's any different to leaving it on a bus - it certainly wouldn't be Santander's fault...

opinions4u

slup wrote: »

Can someone clarify for me how you cancel a transaction at an ATM after you have specified the amount?

The <CANCEL> button?

Olipro

it's not cancelled unless the ATM tells you on-screen that the transaction has been cancelled, hearing a bleep for example means nothing.

kHel

I went to the Santander ATM in the morning, I inserted my card into it, entered my pin. The screen prompted me to make a selection ie. cash with a receipt, cash with no receipt, on screen balance, printed balance etc... I selected the cash with no receipt option and choose £300. As I have an esaver account attached to the same card, the next screen prompted me to select which account I wanted to make a withdrawal from ie. my current account or esaver account. I pressed my silver button next to the current account option but nothing happened, I gave it several further presses but the machine didn't respond. I then pressed the cancel button and my card immediately came out. I didn't see any message on the screen telling me to wait for my money either. I didn't hear any cash being counted or any beeping sounds even as I slowly walked away to the NatWest machine across the way.

Normally after selecting the account to withdraw from, I can clearly hear the rollers counting the money,the card is ejected, after taking the card a second or 2 later the ATM dispense the money, which didn't happen. In my mind I had cancelled the transaction and my card was returned to me, no money had been dispensed ie. a successful cancellation. If money was dispensed after I had gone and someone else took it, can I really be liable for that?

Olipro

Unfortunately, impatience can be your downfall, I once used an ATM and it took it a full 2 minutes to count the money and dispense it, incidentally it was also for £300 - my guess is that if it's a large amount, occasionally there may be static causing notes to stick in which case the machine is having to continuously roll them through in order to get a consistent count. You also shouldn't count on being able to hear the rollers.

I'm sorry to say it but odds are that you walked away and somebody took your £300... however, I would suggest using that to your advantage and claiming ATM malfunction which clearly is not your fault.

kHel

@adwat
It's funny you mentioned 'building work', Just over 2 meters away from the ATM there were and still are some major heavy road works going on. The ATM was rather dirty and I could hardly read the screen.

I have contacted the FSO to reopen the dispute. I have also contacted the local police with regards to a potential theft and to obtain CCTV footage and am considering contacting my local MP. It's just a shame BBC Watchdogs just finished. I really hope this mess get's sorted out asap, I already messed my daughters birthday up by being scammed on ebay and now this.

opinions4u

Normally after selecting the account to withdraw from, I can clearly hear the rollers counting the money,the card is ejected, after taking the card a second or 2 later the ATM dispense the money, which didn't happen. In my mind I had cancelled the transaction and my card was returned to me, no money had been dispensed ie. a successful cancellation. If money was dispensed after I had gone and someone else took it, can I really be liable for that?

ATMs always return the card before dispensing cash.

Did you check the screen was ready for the next transaction before wandering off?

Cheeky.Monkey_3

Come on mate. You can't do more than that. Santander's done their job and decided it wasn't their error so now its down to you to contact the police, which you have so good job. Obviously there are certain situations when we do make a mistake with refunding a dispute but it does sound like in this case you may have gone away, the machine reset itself then carried on the transaction making somebody nearby a very happy chappy. Its good that you've raised a complaint to re-open the case. At least that way the complaints team can make sure we followed the correct procedure with no human errors included.

Do u have a dispute reference number at all? (they usually begin with 3?)

Cheeky.Monkey_3

Oh yeah! Theres also an appeals for disputes address if you want to write to them with your cardnumber/name/dispute reference number so they can look deeper?

Visa Disputes
201 Grafton Gate East
Milton Keynes
MK9 1AN

kHel

Yes I do have a claim reference number. As you say, if the machine had to 'reset itself' wouldn't that in itself mean that there was a fault with the ATM at the time of my transaction. Thanks for the address above, I will sending them my details for a further investigation.