Hello,
I have been in Sucre for a week. Nice here. But last night, an ATM machine gave an error when I requested some cash. I didn´t worry about it, since this is not uncommon. No receipt, no cash, it just gave my card back. Later, I checked my account balance online, and found that $300 US was debited for the transaction. I have contacted my bank back home via email but they have not responded yet.
Does anyone have experience with this kind of problem? Does it make sense to talk (in my limited Spanish) to someone local? I have a feeling it won't get me anywhere.
I have used ATMs internationally for about 15 years, and never had a problem before.
The ATM machine is on the SE side of the main plaza. I am not sure exactly which one - I will go back down there this morning and check.
Thanks for any help.
-Ed
I should add:
I searched Thorn Tree for 'ATM problems' and other related searches. I see that some off-brand ATMs in Peru have been known to give out fake money. The ATM I used said 'CIRRUS', a major brand which I have always used, and was in a prominent place, not in a smaller out-of-way location.
This was probably my 4th ATM transaction in my 2 weeks here in Bolivia, after about 4 transactions in Argentina. Everything went fine with those withdrawals.
-Ed
Hello
Same thing happened to me in Turkey 3 years ago. I noticed it a few days after I got back home though.
I called my bank and I finally got my money back but if I remember well it took about 2 months.
Good luck
Jean-François
happened to me severaltimes in La Paz - back then you had to solve the problem with the Bolivian bank,my bank at home was no help.
In La paz it was pretty easy - I went to the bank of the ATM,asked who is responsible for the ATM machine - they pointed me to the office of another company they had transfered the adminiostration to, filled out a form there and had my money back in my account within a couple days - go straight back to the bank in Sucre and bne insistent
definatly go to the local bank and make your claim. Try to find somebody who speaks english but also keep claiming at your homebank
Hello,
Thanks for the responses and suggestions. It was the right idea to talk to the bank, though I had limited time before my flight left. The bank official took me down the street to a company EnLace, where the sole worker was a guy was sitting by himself at the end of a long, bare outdoor hall, surrounded by racks of computing and network hardware.
We talked english and spanish, and he says he got it sorted out. He printed out the relevant ATM info, showed me the problem, and said he was going to inform my bank, and the problem should be fixed in a couple days. He was nice to work with.
I remain cynical about the process, thinking that often these problems would go un-noticed for a long time or maybe forever, and might be a good profit model for the ATM owner. Others have told me here that they have never had ATM problems like this.
-Ed
Please check with your card issuing bank - whether the fund has been debited or blocked. Once you request for cash in ATM after inserting PIN/swipe your card at electronic terminal, the amount is blocked for certain (x) days. If the transaction is claimed by the ATM Bank/terminal bank, then the amount will be debited from your account. Otherwise, the blocked amount will be released from your account after X days. If the amount is blocked but not debited, then your bank is waiting for the X days. But if your amount has been debitted, the money may be inserted in the purged bin of the ATM. You should notify your bank immediately (within 20 days of the transaction, preferrably). This is quite common in the countries where the telecommunicaton system is relatively in poor condition. These problems are known as Time-Out problems where the issuer bank provides the authorisation from its host but that one doesn't reach the ATM/POS terminal due to telecommunication error.
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