ATM did not dispense my cash but account debited - what can i do ?

[s2turbszvh]

On Saturday i attempted a cash withdrawal from a Co-Op bank cash machine.

 

All ok until when it came to dispense my cash, the draw opens to give me the cash but after a lot of clunking and rattling the machine came up with a quick message saying "unable to dispense cash" or something similar (message on flashed on the screen for a few seconds) it then froze and about a minute later turned itself off - now given the machine gave me the message then surely it recognises something is wrong.

 

Anyway went home and checked my account online and a marker had been placed on my account for the £200 - i check again yesterday and the money has now been debited - now as mentioned the machine knew their was a problem so why has my account been debited ?

 

 

I phone Co-op customer services and was told to go back to my bank to query - problem i have is that surely its up to co-op bank to resolve as it was their machine - why am i having so much trouble getting Co-op to accept its something they should be dealing with - their machine malfunctioned so surely its down to them to check the journal and realise the machine is £200 over and give me my money back.

 

I spent 11 years working for a high street bank and am utterly stunned at their disregard for resolving this - can anyone help and give me any tips on what to do from here as i dont really fancy a long drawn out process to get back something that is mine.

[millitant]

you need to go to your bank and fill in a visa dispute form, they will then contact co-op

 

same happened to me

 

it took about two weeks to get my money refunded

[s2turbszvh]

Yeah done that (well they are sending me a form to sign - omg! ) - just seems crazy i have to wait two weeks once it gets back as well - its the 21st century and everything in linked by computer - i would think 24 hours is more than enough to resolve this. Why i need to fill a "form" in is beyond me - its like going back 50 years using draconian and ancient systems to resolve a modern day problem !!! This should be resolved by the push of a button. If i fill a form out then this is given to someone to process so why cant i just speak to that person who deals with it and get it done a hell of a lot quicker instead of messing around.

[NadJ]

The same thing happened to me 11 days ago and I was left horribly inconvenienced. What happened as a result of me not being able to get the cash cost me dearly.

 

I was about to make a large cash purchase and using my VISA debit card inserted it into a Natwest ATM in Crawley, everything seemed normal. Pin accepted, daily limit OK, the machine even spent what seemed like an age counting the cash, then at the last minute the message "Unable to dispense cash" or similar.

 

Tried again and got the message "Your daily withdrawal limit has been reached". Called the bank and they confirmed money has been debited.

 

So I want to find out, how can this be accepted in this day and age? The money is debited from our accounts if the ATM has the intention of dispensing the cash and cares not about the actual act of dispensing. The result is, your daily limit is chewed into and you are left out of cash and inconvenienced for the rest of the day.

 

Can you imagine, walking into a retailer with the intention of buying a coat you like but at the last minute you notice that the money is not in your pocket, or the zip on your wallet is screwed and wont let you get to the note, BUT YOU DECIDE TO TAKE THE COAT home anyway without paying for it? That would be called theft! That's exactly what the ATM did and despite being told it would automatically "fix" itself 48 hours later, it hasn't and so far no money has been returned despite a dispute being filed straight away.

 

I'm trying to find out the name of a regulating body (who oversees the way ATMs are run?). Please help if you know.

 

Thanks

[s2turbszvh]

I logged a complaint with the Financial Ombudsman Service as they regulate banking activity in the uk.

 

In the end the credit card company i have my card with the did recredit my account within 7 days (after some chasing) and said they would claim from the atm owner and they had 90 days to respond - nothing came of it so i was successful in the end.

 

I hated the inconvienience of it all but i suppose the money came back to me so got the right result in the end.

[NadJ]

Thanks