Bangkok Bank Robbery,tesco

[jon feaver]

Today found out how bad the banks are here, went to Bangkok Bank in Tesco, in Samui to use their ATM with my Bangkok Bank pass, I typed my ATM code in once and ,the ATM machine took my card and gave the message account suspended .I ask the staff what was the meaning of this and they said come back tomorrow to get your pass back .I was not happy and after 45 minutes of asking they let me talk to the manager. He said you typed in the wrong pass, come back at 6pm and we gave you the card back and you can reuse it. So no happy after wasting 2 hours at the Bank I went back to work. I turn up at 6pm to get my pass back and the manager was there with my pass. He said you can use it now. I put the card in the machine, typed the code one and yes, the machine kept my card and gave me the message the account was suspended .I ask the Bank manager what I should do, he said yes you type in wrong number and you have to come back again tomorrow, when the machine forgets your card!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!.I was really getting fed up with it, I told him to phone my branch in Bangkok and find out what the problem was.

He could not, as my account was in Bangkok and not in his branch, after spend another two hours there .I told him to phone their head office. It turns out that if they think an ATM machine is being tampered with they keep the cards that are used in that machine. SO I said ok give me the card back and activate the Bank pass. They could not, you have to go back to the bank where it is issued, in my case Bangkok and I work in Samui. So I asked them are they going to pay for me taking a day off work, plus the rip off fare of 15,000 Baht to fly to Bangkok. They said no, as they had blocked my account to safe guard me. So them helping me, is going to cost me about 20-25,000 baht for something I did not ask for and which took me nearly 5 hours to find out why my account was blocked. I hope no one else has this happens,I asked how i can get my money out from my account, they said you cannot, you must first get a new card. So I know I will be changing my Bank very shortly!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[Jai Dee]

Please keep your posts and comments in one thread please, and not clutter the forum with multiple posts of the same topic.

[Lite Beer]

Actually I am quite enjoying finding where this rant is going to pop up next.

[sbk]

And here I thought he'd witnessed a bank robbery! Quite disappointed now

[johnh101]

Open an account with Kasikorn.

[jocwaoh]

Today found out how bad the banks are here, went to Bangkok Bank in Tesco, in Samui to use their ATM with my Bangkok Bank pass, I typed my ATM code in once and ,the ATM machine took my card and gave the message account suspended .I ask the staff what was the meaning of this and they said come back tomorrow to get your pass back .I was not happy and after 45 minutes of asking they let me talk to the manager. He said you typed in the wrong pass, come back at 6pm and we gave you the card back and you can reuse it. So no happy after wasting 2 hours at the Bank I went back to work. I turn up at 6pm to get my pass back and the manager was there with my pass. He said you can use it now. I put the card in the machine, typed the code one and yes, the machine kept my card and gave me the message the account was suspended .I ask the Bank manager what I should do, he said yes you type in wrong number and you have to come back again tomorrow, when the machine forgets your card!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!.I was really getting fed up with it, I told him to phone my branch in Bangkok and find out what the problem was.

He could not, as my account was in Bangkok and not in his branch, after spend another two hours there .I told him to phone their head office. It turns out that if they think an ATM machine is being tampered with they keep the cards that are used in that machine. SO I said ok give me the card back and activate the Bank pass. They could not, you have to go back to the bank where it is issued, in my case Bangkok and I work in Samui. So I asked them are they going to pay for me taking a day off work, plus the rip off fare of 15,000 Baht to fly to Bangkok. They said no, as they had blocked my account to safe guard me. So them helping me, is going to cost me about 20-25,000 baht for something I did not ask for and which took me nearly 5 hours to find out why my account was blocked. I hope no one else has this happens,I asked how i can get my money out from my account, they said you cannot, you must first get a new card. So I know I will be changing my Bank very shortly!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

welcome in Thailand

[Daffy D]

I’ve had a couple of similar experiences both with a much better resolution that the OP seems to have had.

First time was at a bank in Krabi where the ATM for some reason ate my card. Fortunately the bank was open and after I showed the manager my passport and gave some card details he opened up the machine and I got my card back.

The other time I tried to use my card at an ATM in Tesco (not my bank’s ATM). I got a receipt to show the money had been deducted from my account but no money. Fortunately there was a branch of my bank (SCB) in town and after explaining the situation, the guy spoke good English, and filling claim form he said he would look into it and I should have the lost money credited to my account in about a week.

Yes, and the a few days later the money was back in my account. Positive results from both cases.

I would suggest to anybody to transfer their account to their local branch. Not only will you save the ATM fee but any problems like the OP can be resolved much quicker.

One thing to bear in mind when you transfer your account you not only charged for the transfer, which is not much, but also a percentage of the money transferred. So if you are a cheap Charlie like me make sure you account is nearly empty when you transfer.

Daffy

[John 1]

There was no Bank robbery please close this thread.

[sbk]

Indeed, there was no bank robbery, but all that says to me is the thread is titled incorrectly.

Perhaps the original poster would like the title changed to more accurately reflect the post?

[Chayaphum]

Welcome to Thailand

one year ago, i get from a Siam Commercial Bank ATM in Samui just 18'000BT,

but i told him on the keyboard 20'000BT......the ATM was empty i think.....hahahaha

another day, same ATM, ordered 20'000BT...waiting.....nothing is coming out!

And the dark side of this story.......my bank charged me for this transaction 20'000BT

This story i had 3 times.....after that i went to the mainoffice in Nathon to make clear what

happend, and i had to contact my homebank. In the daily reporting list from this ATM they

saw, that it was a mistake from that ATM....so i get my money back that i never saw...

Good luck....every visit on a ATM can be a surprise for the user.

Chayaphum

[chiang mai]

I made a quick calculation and conservatively estimate that I have used ATM's in Thailand at least 780 times - I have never had a single problem other than I was sometimes disappointed at how low my account balance was.

Edited January 8, 2008 by chiang mai

[PaulAllen]

OP, why can't you just go into a branch here and do a normal withdrawl from a live person? All you have to do is fill out a withdrawel slip with you account number on it.

[BigC]

barclays are no better in england i must have spent about 100 k in unblocking my card even though i constanty tell them i am in thailand. yet they block for my own safety and to cost me money and head ache.

i might ring them if my card was lost or stolen. they don;t have to block me for no reason.

[mssabai]

In my opinion, banks are the same in any country - always the same long winded beaurocracies to go through. One difference though is that in Thailand all the branches seem to be self managing. This is a plus - I know in England there is no way I can walk into a bank, open an account and receive a card and a pin that I can use straight away, however it does make it more difficult when things go wrong. My friend experienced a similar problem recently and as she opened her account in Surat she had to take a day off work to sort it. First thing she did when she got back though was just reopened her account in Samui. Recommend everyone does the same and then if you ever have this problem you can get it sorted quickly (in the UK you would have to wait 5-7 days for a new card anyway...and then activate your pin etc etc).

[jon feaver]

I made a quick calculation and conservatively estimate that I have used ATM's in Thailand at least 780 times - I have never had a single problem other than I was sometimes disappointed at how low my account balance was.

Hope you never have the same problem that I have then when something goes wrong,much like anything here,its great till it goes wrong and then you find out how bad the service is

[jon feaver]

OP, why can't you just go into a branch here and do a normal withdrawl from a live person? All you have to do is fill out a withdrawel slip with you account number on it.

Try doing it,they will not let you,I tried everything I could think of the FIVE hours I was at the Bank you have to get your new bank pass first

[jon feaver]

There was no Bank robbery please close this thread.

They are robbing me of 20 to 25,000 Baht for something I did not ask for

[jon feaver]

Please keep your posts and comments in one thread please, and not clutter the forum with multiple posts of the same topic.

Sorry was having problems with internet did not think it was sent

[jon feaver]

And here I thought he'd witnessed a bank robbery! Quite disappointed now

I did, they are robbing me of 20to 30,000 Baht

[PoorSucker]

Open new account on a Samui branch.

Take out your money on a slip and put them into the new account.

Costs you Bt300 for new ATM card.

[PaulAllen]

I was trying to buy an airline ticket on Firefly last night (BTW, tickets have more than doubled since the new year. Round trip to Malaysia is now around the 10,000 baht are where before it was around the 4,000-5,000 baht area).

Anyway, my transaction kept getting declined. I called my bank in the states using Skype (so it was free to call) and within 5 minutes they said "OK, try it again" and I did and it worked! I told them I was living here and they removed all the restrictions until Dec. 31 of 2008 so that I wont have the problem anymore.

I was pleasantly surprised at the smoothness of it. It was Wells Fargo Bank for the Americans who know it.

[PoorSucker]

Round trip to Malaysia is now around the 10,000 baht

Only peak season, in march it is 4000-5000

[LaoPo]

And here I thought he'd witnessed a bank robbery! Quite disappointed now

I did, they are robbing me of 20to 30,000 Baht

It's one day later now...please info how you managed to solve your problem.

About the title: "Bangkok Bank Robbery"..most of us would indeed think a bank was robbed and that's always a kind of sensation.

The true sensation however is that "Banks are legalized Mafia" as a High-So Banker once told me. -TRUE- !

More people are robbed by Banks than there are Banks, robbed.

LaoPo

[t.s]

I made a quick calculation and conservatively estimate that I have used ATM's in Thailand at least 780 times - I have never had a single problem other than I was sometimes disappointed at how low my account balance was.

daily for 11 years and never a problem.

[t.s]

Open new account on a Samui branch.

Take out your money on a slip and put them into the new account.

Costs you Bt300 for new ATM card.

that makes too much sense, much more fiun to complain and then hit the bars in bangkok for a night.

[PoorSucker]

Open new account on a Samui branch.

Take out your money on a slip and put them into the new account.

Costs you Bt300 for new ATM card.

that makes too much sense, much more fiun to complain and then hit the bars in bangkok for a night.

Ok...