ATM Machine Problem - Advice?

pvt

Looking for some guidance.

OH used an ATM to withdraw cash 7 days ago. Bank's with Halifax but this is a problem with a Barclay's ATM.

There are 2 identical ATMs next to each other at this location. She put her card in and did all the stuff to withdraw £50. The machine came up with a message which she can't exactly remember, but someing about not having or being able to dispense the cash. She cancelled the transaction, removed the card and moved to the next machine a few feet away. She used the second machine and successfully withdrew £50 from it. But as she was moving away from it she heard the first machine whirring away and looked at the screen to see the words "Counting your cash", so she checked it to see if there was any cash dispensed, and also checked to see there were no dubious additions to the front of the machine or blocking the port. No cash and nothing suspicious.

There are now 2 transactions on her account, both for £50, one for machine #1 and another for machine #3 (I think #2 is inside the branch).

Contacted Halifax - they said they will log the problem, but if there is no error found or logged then they cannot refund the money.

Where does she stand if they come back and say there was no recorded problem?

Thanx

pvt

System

if the machine balances then theres nothing much that can be done .

pvt

And one has to take their word for it that the machine has balanced?

I wondered if the bank can provide a log of the transaction that would show how long after the cancel button was pressed and the card was returned that the money was "supposedly" dispensed?

It's clear that if she had walked to the second machine, put her card in, done her PIN entry, selected a cash withdrawal, and amount, and had her card returned, and had the cash dispensed, and by that time the first machine had still not offered up any cash, then something must surely be amiss.

I guess we'll have to wait for the outcome of this initial dispute and take it from there.

shown73

I kicked off a discussion about a very similar thing on 9th March, entitled, "Short changed by cash machine." You might find some usefull info there. Good luck!

pvt

Hi Shown,

Thanks - did read that too. This situation was subtly different in that;

- the machine didn't short change, it dispensed nothing;
- it behaved oddly, saying it was counting cash long after card removed (and after a complete withdrawal transation had been conducted on the adjacent machine);
- it was more than a week ago, so any any expectation of the banks having recognised and automatically reconciled it has passed.

Cheers

pvt

rb10

I expect you'll be ok. If an ATM behaves oddly, then it's almost certain that the audit log will pick up on that.

Just bear in mind that Halifax won't actually contact you unless your claim is rejected.

If Barclays agree that the additional transaction was incorrect, then they'll just remove it from your statement.

pvt

:T:j

£50 refunded to bank OH's bank account yesterday!!

All sorted.

pvt