ATM Phuket Heads Up

[zoza]

me and the wife had a strange episode last night, we left our hotel and atempted 

to withdraw money from the ''ATM ROW'' opposite the soi near our hotel.

after the wife keyed in the amount the machine went dead ? she tapped a few keys

and after a few mins the machine released her card.

we went to another machine and she withdrew 5k Baht and we continued to the resturant two doors down the soi.

the wife all of a sudden jumped up and said something is wrong after looking at her phone ? and she showed me two messages relating to her withdrawl and her attempted withdrawl. she had been charged twice?

the resturant owner went with the wife to check the machine and then to the bank

the bank did nothing, said something about phoning in ten days? they acted as though this was normal? and the ''Faulty machine'' was left as it was for the next PHUKET tourist's to test their luck. 

[Kinnock]

ATM machines sometimes have issues and shut down.  Normally the balance is returned to your account automatically the next day, but sometimes it needs a report to make this happen.

 

Take a photo of the ATM, showing the location and any serial numbers.  Also a screen shot of the withdrawals.

 

If no refund today - contact the bank and report the issue.

 

[kralledr]

Calm down, i had this issue a few times and still have it sometimes, the money will be returned right away if thai bank or a few days after ..

[ChrisP24]

This happened to me in Phuket, the ATM (outside of a 7-11) had a  dispensing drawer way down near the bottom, seemed almost knee level.  I didn't notice that was the dispensing drawer it until after it had opened and then closed (with my cash still inside) and the ATM went "Out of Service".  Went into 7-11 and they said call the bank.  Got help from my hotel front desk to call the bank in Thai, and they were told I had to call my card-issuing bank in the U.S   Called them, they told me that they'd put the funds back into my account within ten days on a "provisional" basis while they investigated with the bank that owned the ATM.  I had the funds back in 8-10 days, and then a month or so later got a letter sayng they had confirmed the error and closed the investigation.  

 

I had kept the withdrawal printout and taken several pictures, and had figured that if we could just get an ATM technician out to open the machine and see my money in the dispenser in an amount that matched my slip, that would be simplest, but it doesn't work that way.   It worked out fine in the end, but going forward I've resolved to use ATMs inside a bank during times when the bank is open and staffed. 

[arithai12]

On 2/6/2022 at 6:22 AM, zoza said:

me and the wife had a strange episode last night, ..... for the next PHUKET tourist's to test their luck.

I don't think the ATM can distinguish a resident from a tourist. Unless your wife was using a foreign card?

Edited February 24, 2022 by arithai12

[arithai12]

After my BKB card was swallowed by an ATM for the second time in few months, I decided to do without it altogether. Cardless withdrawals using the phone work just great.

[KhunBENQ]

9 hours ago, ChrisP24 said:

It worked out fine in the end, but going forward I've resolved to use ATMs inside a bank during times when the bank is open and staffed. 

#1, whenever possible.

Such things can happen.

I only once got my card eaten and that was in Spain some 2x years ago.

Had misc "communication errors"/"aborted" and things in Thailand over the years when I still used a foreign card.

Very little that I can remember with the local ATM cards.

[bbko]

Just another reason to use ATMs attached to banks.

[KhunBENQ]

2 minutes ago, arithai12 said:

Cardless withdrawals using the phone work just great.

And no silly "out of region" fees nationwide.

[Agusts]

On 2/24/2022 at 6:52 AM, bbko said:

Just another reason to use ATMs attached to banks.

+1 , I was going to say exactly the same thing, I know maybe a bit inconvenience but I always look for an ATM attached to a bank, and go during their working hours, over so many years never had an issue ...