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WARNING - HSBC ATMs


Tingting

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It happened again in the span of a week...the ATM didn't spit out the money, but our account was charged. Of course, I kept the receipts and will get the money back, but it's just the irritation factor. It used to be that the system would self-correct nearly instantly, but now it doesn't. I always check online when I get home for this very reason. The last time it happened, it took a battle for me to get the money credited and that's never happened before. Since we're in the process of having work done at our house, we hit the ATMs up pretty regularly. Lesson learned...I will not use HSBC (across from Wal-Mart) again. 

 

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Sometimes, it is better to have an account at Multiva or Intercam to avoid the hassles of always relying on ATM's ,  which are unreliable !!   This is especially true when you are needing cash to pay for large projects or renovations.

 

That way, you can get money directly out of your bank account and not have to rely even on limits on Intercam or Multiva ATMs. 

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I had problems a couple of time at HSBC same one as the OP mentions. I always got the money back but it is a pain. 

I have a couple  of local accouts and that is the best thing I ever did.They pay the electricity and Phone, I do not have to worry about it, I eventually got credit cards from them as well  and I rarely go to the branch..

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BMH just reminded me of the main reason why I ranted here instead of just "sucking it up." It used to be really simple to dispute the charge but now it seems like you have to go through hoops or sell a pint of blood. Up until the last week, if the machine kept the money, I could go back to the house, check the account, and see that it had already self-corrected. Now, there are a lot more steps. Eventually, the money is credited back to the account, but it's unbelievable how difficult it now is...and that's WITH a receipt that clearly states the date, time, machine, and "No Completada." What more is needed? Well, besides that pint of blood...

FWIW, we do have a local account to pay the electric and phone, but we keep that at minimal amounts and the rest in the US.

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20 hours ago, NEWMtnMama said:

WOW, all I had to do to get reimbursed was to call USAA and the $$ were back in my account within hours. 

I love my USAA account and my BBVA account. Both have excellent apps that allow me to do many things without setting foot in a bank except for the occassional cash withdrawal from HSBC. In six years of using their ATMs I've never experienced any problems.

 

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5 hours ago, tomgates said:

Banks know instantly whether money was issued or not from a given ATM. 

Generally, but not necessarily.

When ATMs first came out, there were no networks. Each bank drove ATMs that could be used only by their customers. The posting sequence started with the ATM requesting authorization for the withdrawal amount and if dispensed successfully, the ATM sent a completion message saying how much you received. If you got nothing there was no completion meaning no account debit.

As networks came into being and transaction volumes increased accounts were debited upon authorization. If the ATM had a problem and could not dispense the amount requested it sent a reversal, either total or partial. Your account showed money out followed by a full or partial credit.

If the ATM didn't receive the authorization from the bank within a certain amount of time, the transaction would time out. It wouldn't send a reversal because it didn't know the transaction was authorized. Similarly, if the ATM couldn't dispense after receiving the OK and the reversal didn't make it back, your account was charged but you got no money.

Banks are supposed to give you a provisional credit if you make a claim you didn't receive the cash you requested. With the transaction information someone at the bank has to contact the network to research the transaction. Obviously the ATM is out of balance as it has more money in the canisters than it's supposed to.

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John, you're exactly right. This is how it SHOULD happen and how it USED to happen but doesn't seem to anymore. We keep a small local account for CFE and TELMEX, but don't use it for anything else--well, maybe we would if the dog hadn't eaten our card, but that's another story. In the span of a week, the ATM at HSBC didn't give me my requested amount two times (yes, we have more than enough funds) . I called our bank, ETrade, and the fun began. It took over 4 days and 5 agents just to get them to submit the dispute properly. In the past, it was a case of filling out a form and faxing it. Then, as technology progressed, you just hit a right click on the amount and the process of disputing it could all be done online. Now, you have to call in and pray that they submit the right form. Yes, that's an ETrade issue, but it could happen with anyone's bank.

It took me a week to get a provisional credit on the first amount--with proof!--and then today it was finally cleared as valid. Now, I'm waiting for the second one to be provisionally approved to get the credit back. It's not instantaneous as it was in the past. 

I realize that the majority of my issue is with my bank, but it still started with HSBC. This last run of bad dispensing is not the first time it's ever happened, far from it, but it's getting a bit too regular. What's frightening is that it's really easy to forget to grab your receipt or sometimes the machine doesn't dispense one. Then, what proof do you have?

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2 hours ago, Tingting said:

What's frightening is that it's really easy to forget to grab your receipt or sometimes the machine doesn't dispense one. Then, what proof do you have?

Just so you know, you don't need a receipt to dispute a transaction.

If you log into your checking account using online banking you'll see the transaction with the name and location of the ATM. I'll have to assume the banks wrote internal programs as I did that allows someone to look up all the details of the ATM transaction. Not only where and when but audit numbers, trace numbers, the details about the physical ATM that performed the transaction. They will see the amount you requested in local currency, the exchange rate, the amount in the bank's currency and dozens of other bits of information that are transmitted with the transaction. All of this exists on paper reports too which of course are no longer on paper. 

I wrote ATM authorization programs for the better part of 25 years and each year things got more and more complicated to the point where I'm amazed they work as well as they do. The HSBC problems would appear to be the fault of the local bank which might have a not so stable communications system set up. 

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