Deposited £700 in internal bank cash machine. Now missing.

paul_jw

Hello all. 

I gave my son cash for his rent while he is at university. To the tune of £1k, just as a surprise after Xmas. 

He walked into RBS in glasgow and deposited it into a cash machine inside the bank. After a minute or so it returned 300 and then reset, didn't return the money but did return his card. He then went to the teller who said to phone customer services, frustratingly. He's 19, so isn't great at this sort of thing so I have been guiding him. 

After five weeks he has received a letter which said they have no record of the money after checking the machine records, which they do offsite after emptying the machine. If they receive an email saying the count is off they investigate. Apparently they didn't. 

So I drafted him a letter in return which questioned not only the fact that it is reasonable the money is in the banks charge once it is entered into their machine, and that I felt their method of accounting on the cash machine was inadequate.  After a good google it seems that there are multiple logging systems in these machines, and asked how they were checked. 

I also asked if the cctv of both the machine and internal in the bank was checked. This letter was sent yesterday. 

What's annoyed me is the offhand denial there is a issue, and of course the amount. This has genuinely put him in hardship and he almost missed his rent payment for Jan. 

I have of course had the conversation of whether he is trying to pull a fast one. And I believe he isn't. 

Ombudsmen said (before RBSs rejection letter) that he had to wait 8 weeks, which is fine. 

Is there anything I'm missing here?

Is there history of this sort of thing having a positive outcome?

Thanks in advance for any advice. It's the amount that's driving me nuts. It's such a large amount of money, and he was guided to input it into the machine whilst in the line waiting to be see by a member of staff. Frustrating!

Hoenir

paul_jw said:

After five weeks he has received a letter which said they have no record of the money after checking the machine records, which they do offsite after emptying the machine. If they receive an email saying the count is off they investigate. Apparently they didn't. 

They'll be a robust internal process in place that reconciles the machine ever day. Physical cash to the automated audit trail. The bank won't leave them exposed to any accusations made. 

Aylesbury_Duck

I think you've covered all bases when it comes to the bank.  

He may not be pulling a fast one, but is there any chance he's in trouble of some sort?  If he's being taken advantage of or something like that he might not be willing to admit it.  I think it unlikely the bank's systems will lose £700 and they seem confident that they haven't.

HillStreetBlues

With what you were told I would believe him, there is a lot of detail there.
I think the CCTV will be the key, without it it's hard to prove.
Going forward, if the bank doesn't have a counter service consider using the Post Office

sammyjammy

So it took the £1000 and spat £300 back out.  Any messages on the machine, any receipt type thing spat out?  DO they have any record of him using the machine and if so what does that say?

etienneg

This is no use to you for the current situation, but for the future (both for you and others) this is a downside of using cash, particularly for large transactions. Transfers are much safer. They can go wrong, but there is then much more evidence of what's happened, without reliance on anyone's word or whatever can be seen on CCTV and how this is interpreted.

Olenna

The CCTV should be able to shed some light as 1k in notes should be visible from a decent angle. 
The main culprits could be either the counting machine, bank staff, a third party or your son. 

born_again

One thing in future. Tell him that when staff say can use machine. Just say no I will wait. 

Rob5342

It does seem unlikely that they wouldn't notice an extra £700. With the FOS the bank has eight weeks to provide a final response and you can escalate it to them if you don't accept the final response or they haven't provided it within 8 weeks.

In the future do a bank transfer instead, it's much safer and far more convenient than carrying large amounts of cash around. 

HillStreetBlues

born_again said:

One thing in future. Tell him that when staff say can use machine. Just say no I will wait. 

Agree with that, I have always refused to use a paying in machine, even when badgered by staff.

RogerPensionGuy

A few observations. 

1K in. 

£300 out. 

Did machine give back £300 that were just put in or new notes? 

An unexpected gift after Xmas that wasn't expected, got a letter after 5 weeks, that's 35 days ago I guess complaint was very very quick indeed. 

Nearly missed a rent payment although it was an unexpected gift. 

It will be interesting the result of this complaint. 

I've never put cash in a machine, but if I did, think I would put in smaller amounts if possible. 

Good luck with complaint.