The bank machine ate my money
6 February 2021 06:16 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
igenlodeI took my manuscript out for a walk, and as per usual it started to rain almost the moment I got out of the door, and became rapidly heavier and heavier. I cut my losses and decided to turn for home again, and made a detour along the way to take out twenty pounds to refill my wallet for the next week or two.
Unfortunately the nearest bank machine was one I hadn't used before, and when I requested 'cash with receipt' it duly dispensed the receipt and then left me waiting for the cash to emerge. It was raining hard and I was leaning in close to the machine, and by the time I realised that the notes had already been dispensed and were sitting in a slot down at wheelchair- (presumably) height and well below my line of vision, it was too late and the machine proceeded to swallow them back again before I could make a grab for the vanishing cash.
When I got home, wet, disgruntled, and with only one sentence of writing to show for my expedition, I tried to contact the owners of the cash machine, using the telephone number given on the receipt declaring that I was in possession of a sum of cash that I didn't have (and that would presumably show up as an error in the cash held in that machine). I was told that I needed to contact my own bank. My bank's helpline number sent me through a series of menus before calmly announcing that I needed to ring back 'in office hours' without stating what those were (not Saturdays and Sundays, presumably).
So since my bank can't possibly tell that I didn't physically receive the money remotely transferred from my account, and the owner of the cash can't tell what the state of my remote account is, I don't know whether the money has been recorded as withdrawn or not, and what my chances of ever seeing it again are (especially since I apparently can't report it until Monday)...
Edit: looks as if you do get the money credited back to your account -- eventually and provided you report it. https://www.thisismoney.co.uk/money/news/article-3984116/Refund-delay-cash-clawed-ATM-try-make-withdrawal.html
Unfortunately the nearest bank machine was one I hadn't used before, and when I requested 'cash with receipt' it duly dispensed the receipt and then left me waiting for the cash to emerge. It was raining hard and I was leaning in close to the machine, and by the time I realised that the notes had already been dispensed and were sitting in a slot down at wheelchair- (presumably) height and well below my line of vision, it was too late and the machine proceeded to swallow them back again before I could make a grab for the vanishing cash.
When I got home, wet, disgruntled, and with only one sentence of writing to show for my expedition, I tried to contact the owners of the cash machine, using the telephone number given on the receipt declaring that I was in possession of a sum of cash that I didn't have (and that would presumably show up as an error in the cash held in that machine). I was told that I needed to contact my own bank. My bank's helpline number sent me through a series of menus before calmly announcing that I needed to ring back 'in office hours' without stating what those were (not Saturdays and Sundays, presumably).
So since my bank can't possibly tell that I didn't physically receive the money remotely transferred from my account, and the owner of the cash can't tell what the state of my remote account is, I don't know whether the money has been recorded as withdrawn or not, and what my chances of ever seeing it again are (especially since I apparently can't report it until Monday)...
Edit: looks as if you do get the money credited back to your account -- eventually and provided you report it. https://www.thisismoney.co.uk/money/news/article-3984116/Refund-delay-cash-clawed-ATM-try-make-withdrawal.html
