ATM Error - £300 not paid out

cyberbird

My mother is very sick and gave me her card to get £300 out of the cash machine. After making a lot of money sorting noises the machine reported that it could not deal with my transaction. I printed out a mini-statement and it showed that the money had been paid out.

I went straight into the bank (yesterday) and the cashier said that sometimes the machine did that and that the account was usually refunded within 10 minutes although it could sometimes be the next day.

Today I went to check the balance and the money has not been credited so I went back in and the same lady asked for id. I told her it was for my mother in law who is sick and she said she couldn't deal with me. They also said that a letter from her would not be sufficient to allow me to deal with the matter. She would have to phone up and provide security information.

She is on morphine and says she doesn't know any security information anyway. I am trying to find the best way to deal with this and quickly because I imagine that if I spend 3 weeks writing letters etc. the lady who I spoke to in the bank will have forgotten all about it and the bank will just say that I got paid the money.

Any advice appreciated.

grumbler

Ask some friend (women) to help and to call the bank as if she were your mother. Have the card, bank statements and other relevant information ready. Be prepared to reset the security information if needed (or to request this).

BTW, have a look at this MSE news from the last year: Hundreds of thousands in line for ATM refunds

cyberbird

grumbler wrote: »

Be prepared to reset the security information if needed (or to request this).

Thanks. How do you reset the security information? That would be worth doing before phoning.

Also, I've just read the ATM refunds link. How do they know who is owed money? The bank (and ATM) in this case is Santander which claims to refund without having to apply.

grumbler

I don't know - this depends on the bank. Possibly they will send something by a snail mail if you tell them that you don't remember the details. Maybe they will do this there and then over the phone if they find the way to confirm your ID by asking various questions.

agrinnall

Sounds to me like you should have power of attorney to allow you to handle your mother's financial affairs, see http://www.justice.gov.uk/forms/opg/lasting-power-of-attorney

The bank (I assume this is your mother's bank, rather than the one that owns the ATM, unless they are the same) is quite correct that they cannot deal with you, which is why the LPA is needed, so you can act as if you are your mother - although some banks need to be forcibly reminded of this from what I read on here. I would suggest that you write a letter to the bank detailing what happened, including a photocopy of the receipt, and get your mother to sign it if she is able to.

It is unusual for a receipt to be issued when cash was not dispensed, but your experience shows it's not impossible. In this case, when the ATM is balance it will have £300 more than expected, the money should be recredited at that point. This may still happen automatically, but with the letter and receipt as evidence it outght to be able to be done manually if necessary. It might help if you tell us what bank your mother uses, and if it's different, which bank owned the ATM.

dalesrider

grumbler wrote: »

Ask some friend (women) to help and to call the bank as if she were your mother. Have the card, bank statements and other relevant information ready. Be prepared to reset the security information if needed (or to request this).

BTW, have a look at this MSE news from the last year: Hundreds of thousands in line for ATM refunds

NOT A GOOD IDEA..... Get caught out and the account will be locked.

ATM disputes are very common. Get her to write or at least sign the letter and take that in.
All they do is request the ATM owner to do a manual check on the atm.

BTW. She should not have given you her card and PIN. Breech of T/C and you are lucky that the counter staff did not cancel her card.

matttye

Any CCTV in the area which would assist your case? If you ask really nicely you might be able to get a copy of it or at least see it.

gillianlouise

grumbler wrote: »

Ask some friend (women) to help and to call the bank as if she were your mother. Have the card, bank statements and other relevant information ready. Be prepared to reset the security information if needed (or to request this).

BTW, have a look at this MSE news from the last year: Hundreds of thousands in line for ATM refunds

I would not do this as it is FRAUD.

kerri_gt

I did have this happen to me last week - an ATM different to that of my bank. Churned, whirred, no cash. Staff member said the machine did it for about 1 in every 25 transactions but the bank deemed that a working machine so wouldn't let the branch take it offline.

Anyway, I did check my account a few days later, it had the debit amount and a line immediately after showing the same amount as a credit.

I've found my current online banking doesn't update as quickly as a previous service so it may be the same for you / your mother.

Hang onto the details you have and ensure you have notes of any conversations you have had in case of the worst but in my experience it should come right ok.

matttye

gillianlouise wrote: »

I would not do this as it is FRAUD.

Technically it's not. It is making a false representation but there is no dishonest intent. This isn't for financial gain, merely to obtain money that is rightfully theirs.

pinkdalek

JUst go to the bank and tell them what's happened, it will be out by £300 they know you are not lying.