ASDA self service machine gobbles up £20

hunkietechie

Hello MSErs,

I have encountered this unfortunate incident and hoping that one of you would be able to lead me to a proper direction.

I went to an ASDA store for purchasing groceries on the 12th of April and while paying at the self service kiosk, I put in a 20 pound note for a total bill of 16.98. The machine froze at that moment with the display saying that I was due to receive 3.02 pounds. I showed this to the executive there and she said that the machine has frozen. Then she went somewhere else probably to make some changes in the backend and then machine started working again and wanted me to make the payment of 16.98 again. The earlier 20 pounds did not come out of the machine and when the executive came back I explained the same to her. But they said that I need to pay again as they cannot do anything at that moment if the 20 pounds have not come from the machine. When the cash from the machine is checked the next day, they would give me a call if there is an excess of 20 pounds in the machine. They did give me a call next day only to say that there were 5 pounds less in the machine instead of 20 pounds excess and they cannot do anything now. I asked them to confirm with the cctv footage if they think that someone has taken the money while they were away but she said that the CCTV footage isn't clear and she wasn't around then. They have now washed off their hands saying that they dont know what happened to the money and as such they cannot do anything about it.

I have asked to speak to the store manager as well but hasn't been able to get through him. I am being made to lose 20 pounds for no fault of mine. The functioning of the machine was the responsibility of the company and I have no way to know if indeed the 20 pounds were found in the machine later or not. I do not expect much help from the store now considering their response. I have mailed the customer services as well but haven't received a response yet. Any ideas please!

mattyprice4004

Do you have any kind of proof (eg do you know who you showed the machine to at first) showing you'd paid?

I bet they get a lot of chancers, you need to show you're not one of them.

Nasty situation, I hope you get it sorted

hunkietechie

I know the lady who saw that I had the amount due but she is saying that when the machine should have 'supposedly' returned the amount back (which it never did), she wasn't around so she cannot be sure if the money did come out or not. As they say that there is no money in the machine, they presume someone would have taken it once it popped out but say that they cannot check on CCTV to confirm as it isn't clear. I know that the cash did not come out as I was near the machine all the while but they wouldn't believe me. Nasty situation indeed but I don't know what my rights are in this case and if anything can be done legally!

arcon5

I'd question the accuracy of the machine - as if it was functioning correctly then why was there even a £5 discrepancy? Get in touch with their head office, might yield a quicker response if they then forward the complaint to the store manager

mattyprice4004

hunkietechie wrote: »

I know the lady who saw that I had the amount due but she is saying that when the machine should have 'supposedly' returned the amount back (which it never did), she wasn't around so she cannot be sure if the money did come out or not. As they say that there is no money in the machine, they presume someone would have taken it once it popped out but say that they cannot check on CCTV to confirm as it isn't clear. I know that the cash did not come out as I was near the machine all the while but they wouldn't believe me. Nasty situation indeed but I don't know what my rights are in this case and if anything can be done legally!

The issue with taking it legal is you need some kind of proof.

I wish you the best of luck though, I really feel for you. If I lost £20 I'd be gutted, I'm mega broke at the mo.

duchy

You've given the branch a chance to sort it-Get in touch with their head office and ask them to pull the CCTV and refund you.

Keep it very factual -and business like.

DCFC79

Surely when it gets counted there would be an extra £20 which would be yours.

tomwakefield

DCFC79 wrote: »

Surely when it gets counted there would be an extra £20 which would be yours.

According to the OP the store said that they were £5 down rather than the expected £20 up.

hunkietechie wrote: »

They did give me a call next day only to say that there were 5 pounds less in the machine instead of 20 pounds excess and they cannot do anything now.

zaax

Good one. I've ones at Morrisons allow the note to slip though to the insides, they had to open the machine completely to find it.

If the machine was down (in money) as you say it would be interesting to see if other machines were down as well, I wonder how many other people have had this problem.

TudorRose

Couple of weeks ago I was in my local Tesco & the self service till didn't give me my change. I called over to the supervisor & told her what had happened & she immediately opened the machine & gave me my change. Maybe I was lucky or perhaps Tesco have a different policy to Asda. I would not have been at all pleased if they hadn't given me my change.

DCFC79

tomwakefield wrote: »

According to the OP the store said that they were £5 down rather than the expected £20 up.

Yes sorry I missed that.