ATM problem : One thousand baht short.

[mommysboy]

If it hadn't happened to me, I must admit I wouldn't have believed it, but this afternoon I withdrew 20000 baht outside a Bangkok Bank in Surat Thani readiness to deposit it in a savings account at the bank, and as I walked away and counted it came up one short. Obviously we all miscount from time to time but sure enough just 19000 received. I'm sure I didn't leave any in the ATM gully and quickly dashed back. I don't think anyone had used the machine and no 1000bt to be seen.

I really think I have been short changed.

I reported to the bank but it seemed their only interest was showing me how I must have been wrong. I asked them to keep camera footage but again just a stupid grin Thai style.

They said a week investigation and results forwarded to issuing bank who I won't mention as no blame can be attached to them.

I have lost this money for sure, my only chance was the branch I reckon and I protested as much as I could, but what can you do!

Has anyone else ever had an experience like this ?. If I'm honest I view stories like mine with doubt, but this did happen.

Also wondered if there is any Thai Ombudsman or similar (silly question I suppose).

What a swizz!!!

[Pib]

Report the discrepancy to the bank which "issued" you your card. It's their responsibility to then take action by contacting the bank operating the ATM....happens quite frequently like when no money spits out but a charge still hits your account. And of course you can report it to the bank which operates the ATM....all the checks in the system will allow them to determine if an extra Bt1,000 is in the machine than shouldn't be. What would review of the camera footage show? It's only capturing an image of the upper part of your body and background...it don't count the number of bank notes that came out. Report the discrepancy to the bank which issued you your debit/credit card.

Edited October 20, 2014 by Pib

[mommysboy]

Well sure, it won't break me, but I don't think anyone likes being shortchanged, except you it seems, perhaps you would warmly shake them by the hand and give an extra 1000 tip Personally I don't like to lose money. Whatever the 1000 baht could or couldn't buy I am certainly miffed that it is them and not me that tussling with that dilemma, it was mine! I wanted it nestling in our family savings account with all the other ones mate.

I snuck out while mommy was not looking as she does not like me going in to town, after today I understand why!

I simply won't use an ATM again in Thailand I think, and will probably close the Bangkok Bank account. <deleted> that!

[RKASA]

More heart stopping is when it gives you nothing but charges the account and you can't just get more as the limit is tapped. Happened once to me - shock and panic. It works out but can take days - give details to your bank online via secure mail. When the box is counted out they will have notice to be looking for extra money in the box. Should work out. like mine did without a problem.

I have always restricted my ATM use to inside the bank normally a mall outlet inside and still I was feeling sort of raped at the time.

[mommysboy]

Yes this has happened to me on 3 occasions. You kind of know it is an error. But never just been shorted. I contacted the issuing bank. It seems I am not the only complainant.

Sent from my i-mobile IQ 1 using Thaivisa Connect Thailand mobile app

[thrilled]

I had A a conversation with my ex cousin in law about this very thing.He is employed at National Cash Register who handles ATM

Machines in the US.He says it can't happen.Maybe not in the US.Who knows in Thailand.I count the money.I use machines that

Are near the bank in case something happens.

[StealthEnergiser]

Happened to me at an Atm at mbk same amount 1000 baht reported it and got my money back after a week or so.

[mommysboy]

I had A a conversation with my ex cousin in law about this very thing.He is employed at National Cash Register who handles ATM

Machines in the US.He says it can't happen.Maybe not in the US.Who knows in Thailand.I count the money.I use machines that

Are near the bank in case something happens.

This is my understanding too. That's why the situation threw me, after all I have had issues about much greater sums of money before now without feeling so ruffled. Initially i felt sure I must have miscounted and then that for some reason my grab was not complete and that one note must have been remaining either within or just slightly poking out.

If I remember rightly back in the 80's in the UK there was a test case over this issue. The banks were forced to pay out but still maintained impossibility, my recollection is not complete though.

Perhaps there is a half way explanation: the notes are dispensed but one gets only partially delivered to be distributed to the next lucky recipient or a passer by with a very keen eye: perhaps. This might also explain why it happens in Thailand more frequently, because imho their upkeep of machinery is terrible.

I wonder how many times this happens? Thinking about it now, I have often felt a little deprived in the note folder before now but had attributed this to forgetting about some other purchase, or been short changed at a bar, or had lost some small notes. It's only recently since times became harder that I have been fastidious about counting and trusted that mistakes couldn't happen at the bank, assuming they are mistakes of course, I mean in truth I wouldn't put it past them!!

[Bkungbank]

Just call the number behind your ATM card and it will debit back into your account 3-5 days after checking, it can detect.

I have exprience cash deposit machine more then 20K machine suddenly out of service with no resit and my money inside.

Debit back to me after 5 days. Let the operator where it happen.

[orientalsf]

I'm sure this can happen and would follow the advice of some of the posters here, however, I'd be a little scared of counting my money out in the open also. Hate to let some person see how much I've withdrawn.

[Crash999]

Happened to my wife a few weeks ago. Shorted 1000 so she called the ATM bank. But after their 'investigation' they didn't find anything wrong.

About 10 years ago it happened to me as well. Withdrew 20k to buy a phone but when I handed it over there was only 19k. After their investigation the result was the same- no discrepancy with their records.

[aussiebrian]

I'm sure this can happen and would follow the advice of some of the posters here, however, I'd be a little scared of counting my money out in the open also. Hate to let some person see how much I've withdrawn.

Happened to me in Vietnam.. Wasn't 100% sure that was what had happened, just 99.9% as I was in a hurry and never counted my money till the next day Was one note short, mine wasn't 1000 Baht, but 500000 Dong,(worth about the same) I couldn't remember which ATM it was so couldn't do anything about it.

Lesson learned, now I count my money when it comes out.

[Naroge]

I had a same same but different experience, but a positive one. After keying in the amount in the ATM machine I could hear the machine counting the money, but the money never appeared in the slot. I got worried there was a scam going on so I blocked other users from accessing the ATM and I called the ATM bank, which was different from my ATM card issuing bank. After being connected back and forth for a while I got to talk with a man who apparently had the whole system in his PC. He could tell me that I had requested 5,000 Baht, but the machine did not dispatch it so there would be no charge to my account. And he was right, there was never any charge to my account. This efficiency impressed me.

[Briggsy]

Look in the slot for little bits of sticky tape, chewing gum, Uhu, etc.

[SOTIRIOS]

...very easy to 'balance the books' of an ATM machine....

...to be unwilling to do so....suggests.......

[Robert24]

Fully believe you that this happened to you. I'd suggest to just write off the 1k and cancel your ATM card. Just use your passbook going forward and go inside the bank to withdraw money. Takes away a lot of the hassle that can happen to you from card scamming or miscounted money in this case.

[CMBob]

...very easy to 'balance the books' of an ATM machine....

...to be unwilling to do so....suggests.......

Agree. The bank people should have at least taken the op's name and telephone number and told them they would check the machine balance at the end of the day (and, if it's 1000 baht too much, they'd credit it back to his account). On the other hand, if the end-of-day balance is fine, then I think the OP is out of luck.

I was shorted by an ATM back in my hometown (Midwest USA) and didn't realize it until I got home. I called the bank, told them about it, and they said they'd do the usual checking of the machine that evening. Turned out the machine had too much on hand....the same I amount reported that I was shorted.....and they then called me to tell me the situation and that they credited the amount to my account. That's reasonable customer service.

Like you said, if the bank people just shrugged their shoulders and did nothing, that would indicate some laziness or incompetence at a minimum.

[Sirbergan]

I've even experienced no money coming out, yet the balance being reduced by 10k baht. My wife complained, it took a few days (they said one week at the most) before the balance was corrected.

I'm afraid I've never experienced not getting the full amount, but to be honest I have never really checked.

[ggt]

How long have you been in Thailand...?

Many foreigners lose 10s of thousands of baht...many lose their shirt...some their lives...over baht...

You will find no empathy among Thais...you are here to be exploited...

Consider yourself lucky...

[martin81]

Happened twice to me at Aeon ATM that no money came out but my home account in EU was debited.

I made a complaint with my home bank and got the money back within a week or two.

So just make a complaint to the card issuing bank.

[RBOP]

I was withdrawing 20K Baht and just before the ATM was about to give me the money (I could here it ticking away inside counting the bills) the screen went blank and then went to a Windows XP home screen. I went home to check my account online and it showed 20K withdrawn. I called BBK and reported the incident. BBK said they would investigate and would take 10 days for a resolution. After 10 days the transaction was reversed.

[White Tiger]

Similar thing happened to me a few weeks ago, but in my favour. I was withdrawing THB2,000 from a Government Savings Bank ATM and THB3,000 came out. Asked for the printed receipt from the ATM and that showed THB2,000 withdrawn. Got my passbook updated the next day at my bank and that also showed only THB2,000 withdrawn.

Not sure if the ATM counted out the money wrong or if someone before me got 1,000 less than they expected.

[Roota]

Yes, seems to happen every few hundred transactions. No big deal as long as you:

1) always have the machine give you a receipt, just in case

2) count your money every time you withdraw

3) if there's a discrepancy, contact the bank that issued you the card, NOT the bank whose machine it was (if different)

[Suradit69]

I asked them to keep camera footage but again just a stupid grin Thai style.

So typical when a farang has a problem (especially when he feels he's suffered loss of face in dealing with it) ... he has to make sure to make some nasty comment about a Thai. A bank isn't going to start running video shows for everyone who gets hysterical.

If it was a Bangkok Bank ATM they have a number to call and they do have records available to check. 1333 or 02-645-5555. Probably more useful than rushing to post on Thai Visa.

How would camera footage prove anything unless you walked away leaving money behind and someone else scooped it up, which would simply confirm your carelessness? It could hardly provide proof of the amount of money spit out of the ATM.

Edited October 21, 2014 by Suradit69

[Sirbergan]

Yes, seems to happen every few hundred transactions. No big deal as long as you:

1) always have the machine give you a receipt, just in case

2) count your money every time you withdraw

3) if there's a discrepancy, contact the bank that issued you the card, NOT the bank whose machine it was (if different)

Hmm, I think you may be right there. It was a few years ago, but I seem to remember there was an issue regarding which bank we were to lodge the complaint to.

[umbanda]

Happened with me before in the US with my bank. I told them about, show them my receive, and I got my money the day after they checked the machine. Its can be done here, for sure, in the same bank where the ATM was located.

[Pib]

Believe it not, but sometimes the bank vs the customer gets the short end of the stick. A couple of months ago after opening a Krungsri account I decided to test out one of their Cash Deposit Machines (CDM) to see how different they were from CDMs used by Bangkok Bank which I have used dozens upon dozens of times to deposit cash...sometimes up to Bt64K at a time...never a problem with the Bangkok Bank CDMs.

Ok, I test the Krungsri CDM by depositing Bt1,000...the menu was a little different than the Bangkok Bank CDMs but the machine took my money and gave me a receipt for Bt1,000. Ok, I now take out my passbook and put it in the Krungsri Passbook Update Machine to document the deposit in my passbook. Each time I insert the the passbook the balance update does not reflect the Bt1,000 deposit. Never had such an issue before...at least when using Bangkok Bank Passbook Update Machines immediately after a deposit. So, I take my CDM receipt into the Krungsri bank, show them the receipt, explain what happened, they insert the passbook in their passbook update devices and no update reflecting the Bt1,000 deposit. Then 3 of them spend a few minutes around a computer terminal trying to figure out what happened...I couldn't really tell from their conversations if they saw the Bt1,000 on their terminal screen but just couldn't get it to print to a passbook....but all three clerks were trying to fix the issue. Anyway, they finally got it fixed and they updated my passbook to reflect the Bt1,000 deposit. They just said apparently there had been a problem...now fixed. I come home and check via Krungsri ibanking the deposit is showing there also. I'm happy.

And about a week later I become even happier as my ibanking reflects the original Bt1,000 deposit also (the one that didn't immediately reflect)...and the Bt1,000 deposit correction the bank manually made that day is still reflecting also. One is coded as "ATM" and one is coded as ORFT. Each entry increased my previous balance by Bt1,000...that ORFT entry was not a deduction of Bt1,000. Basically I ended up getting credit twice for that Bt1,000 deposit. I have since updated my passbook also to show deposit...the extra money is still reflecting in my balance to this day....I just checked a few minutes ago.

I thought about going back to the bank and trying to explain there is more money in my account than there should be do to duplicate Bt1,000 deposit entries, but I've decided to be greedy, don't want to confuse them, and consider that extra Bt1,000 payment of Krungsri SMS fees over the coming years. And if they someday catch their error and my balance goes down Bt1,000 I'll know why.

[4evermaat]

Not sure if i did a thread on it, but there was a time where atm error withdrew my funds from bkb bank atm but no money came out. Went to the closest branch and reported it. Filled out 1-2 forms and 3-4 days later funds were returned to acct.

Another situation more recently where an atm withdraw was attempted but no funds came out and error reported. I got the sms saying withdraw happened and i paniced. I went to the closest bank branch only to find out that it was already recredited to acct. It was an error but the system caught it....apparently the withdraw never happened.

What i do now more often than not is do a balance check first, then withdraw...make sure there is no communication error. But this is for THAI issued debit card.

Also, i tend to use the same atm machines over and over.

[aarn]

Bottom line is, only use ATM outside bank during business hours.

Kinda defeats the purpose of ATMs.

Banks are out to fawk us they don't give a shoot. AA

[Sirbergan]

Bottom line is, only use ATM outside bank during business hours.

Kinda defeats the purpose of ATMs.

Banks are out to fawk us they don't give a shoot. AA

I am drunk too. AA failed us both!

Edited October 21, 2014 by Sirbergan