Atm Problem

[claaay]

I attempted to withdraw 5,000 baht from my Charles Schwab checking account using my debit card at the UOB Bank ATM in the lobby of the Rasa Tower in Chatuchak about 10 days ago. I received no cash and no receipt. I promptly went inside the bank and reported this to an agent at the customer service desk inside the bank. The agent told me I could fill out a report form or try it again. I needed the cash, so I tried it again. Ten minutes later I had 5,000 baht cash and a receipt showing a 5,000 baht withdrawal. I checked my account online later that evening and saw that it showed two withdrawals of 5,000 baht. The next day I returned to the bank to fill out a report and was told they would get back to me in a week. Monday I was informed there was no discrepancy at the ATM. I insisted what I said was true. They suggested I contact my bank. CS informed me they would file a dispute, and would get back to me in two weeks. I called UOB this morning and told them I expect them to examine the film footage, which they agreed to do. I'll check again in a few days for the result.

I'm not sure what else to do. Has anyone else here experienced this problem? Any advice? I'm feeling I won't be using ATMs anymore unless it's an emergency, especially since my debit card was withheld in December. I got it back in 30 minutes because the bank was open. That and now this has really spooked me. I started to think I've been scammed when I told my tale to a friend. He said he knows someone this happened to, and the figure was 20,000 baht. The story continued that he began taking off his clothes there in front of the customer service desk until they gave him back his money. If anyone else has heard this story please let me know--it sounds rather like an urban legend to me.

Edited September 18, 2012 by claaay

[smokie36]

Desperation it sounds like to me....unless it happened in April!

[spacedcowboy]

I had a similar problem myself, the upshot of it all turned out to be my word against the banks. After numerous phone conversations with customer services, I eventually got my money. It transpired that there was a long running fault with the ATM, which I later discovered through speaking to a friendly staff member at that particular branch, though the customer services Reps were quite happy to make me jump through hoops until I informed them Branch staff had made me aware of the ATM issue. Good luck!

[allane]

In seventeen years here, this has happened to me two or three times, though always with domestic ATM cards. When trouble happens, you have to report it to the bank that issued the card, not the bank that owns the ATM. It can take two or three days, but eventually the bank that owns the ATM will realize that the amount of cash in their machine is greater than what it should be.

Some general pointers:

- don't waste your breath on the staff in the bank where the ATM is situated. They can't open the cash chamber of the ATM. I think that they can open the chamber which holds "swallowed ATM cards", though if you are not Thai, or do not speak Thai well, they will probably just stall, and hope you will go away. They did it for me once, after summoning the manager to do so.

- if an ATM starts to balk, retrieve your card if possible and walk away. Do not make repeated attempts to use it. They seem to be programmed to swallow the ATM card after 2 or 3 attempts, perhaps on the assumption that you have stolen the card

and are trying to guess the PIN etc.

- using ATM's in front of banks may help a bit, as I indicated in my first point. Using ones elsewhere is strictly at your own risk.

[Gone]

Started taking off his clothes to get satisfaction? He was lucky he wasn't arrested. Did he also point his feet at the staff?