Nationwide ATM stole my Christmas present momey!

VMAX

Last week I went to a Sainsbury's ATM and tried to draw £500 out for presents.
The machine took my card the usual way and I keyed in my pass code.
I heard the money being counted but it took a very long time. Next a message comes on the screen 'out of order' (and no money) - my card was returned.
I tried again and again but only got 'refer to bank' message.
Suspecting a scam where the money is taped inside the ATM I put in another card and received some cash, it was defiantly  an ATM problem.
On returning home I checked my statement and the money was missing so I contacted Nationwide to complain.
I registered what is called an 'ATM claim' and was told I would be contacted.
A few days later I received an email in my account to say that my claim would not be processed until December 28th and I could not access my money until it had been sorted.
I asked what I should do about buying my Christmas presents and why the delay but have not as yet received a reply.
This is obviously a bank problem but I am now £500 short on my account and no chance of getting it until December 28th!

What are my options please?

elsien

Put your Christmas spending on a credit card and pay it off as soon as you get your refund? 

[Deleted User]

VMAX said:

What are my options please?

Savings, credit cards, but now pay later, 0% deals. Or simply reduce expenditure.

tacpot12

Next time I suggest you withdraw cash out in stages, or do all your shopping online. Carrying £500 in cash around is just asking for trouble.

Keep_pedalling

tacpot12 said:

Next time I suggest you withdraw cash out in stages, or do all your shopping online. Carrying £500 in cash around is just asking for trouble.

Or do what most of have been doing since the start of the COVID crisis only use cards.

jonesMUFCforever

When you spoke to the bank to start your claim did they not ask you if the withdrawal would cause you financial difficulty?

VMAX

Thanks for your help but the cash was for a motorbike  and not everybody takes cards.
Luckily it's not a massive problem as I can get it elsewhere but if it was say, my last few pounds and I couldn't access it until they finally agree that the ATM has eaten it I would have a problem.
It must be very easy to check if an ATM has an extra £500 in it at the end of the day - not wait two weeks!
The ATM's are operated by outside companies, not Nationwide so perhaps it's a communication problem.
Still not had a reply from NW.

dunstonh

It must be very easy to check if an ATM has an extra £500 in it at the end of the day - not wait two weeks!

The days of cashpoints being balanced daily are long long gone.  Weekly was common back in the 90s and remote sites can be even longer.

Where you use machines operated by third parties, it involves communication hops between the various parties.    So, days need to be added to the prospective timescale to allow for that.

[Deleted User]

If you can use a card to withdraw cash, you can pay by card. Cash only e.g. £500 for a motorbike is asking for trouble - no resource against the seller, limited trail, no card protection and a bike that cheap is always a risk without backup

jonesMUFCforever

19 days is the agreement for all 'LINK' machines in the UK - no matter who owns them or runs them - they must be balanced within this timescale OR accept the claim from the OP as genuine.

dunstonh

jonesMUFCforever said:

19 days is the agreement for all 'LINK' machines in the UK - no matter who owns them or runs them - they must be balanced within this timescale OR accept the claim from the OP as genuine.

Thanks for that.  In which case, I bet they just give out the 19 days as a default response but in the majority of cases, it wont be as long as that.