It happened
on 4th November 2011, when I went to the cash dispenser at 19:21, situated
at Calle Illescas 54, in Madrid, Spain to withdraw the money and go to pay a
package at the post office and have the money at my disposal, not having to
withdraw each time I need it: as if you are withdrawing money with a debit card of a
foreign bank, than the bank accounts you 0, 47 EUR more for the operation. So,
I said, well, I better withdraw more.
I put my
code, the amount and the cash dispenser gave me back the card, but when I was waiting
for the cash, just nothing happened. The machine started to make a strange noise, as something was hitting the door from which you get your money, but the
doors didn’t open. I tried to pull the money out with my hand, but as the door
was closed it was impossible. I panicked. I waited, waited, and nothing. NO MONEY, but the dammed machine registered the operation just as it
was successful, but it WASN’T. You cannot imagine the panic and the deep disgust
I felt in that moment. Shit, shit and double shit. Why on earth me? It couldn’t
happen to some old lady that has more time to fight against banks?
symbolic photo of a cash dispenser
I was so
upset that the first thing I did, I went home and called my bank 24-hours
service and told them, what just happened. The lady on the phone advised me to
write from my on-line bank to their office and tell them the whole story, what
I did. But as it was Friday, and it was late, the bank responsible for this
cash dispenser, Santander, was already closed, and I had no idea of its open hours, so I went on
Monday to the bank office and told them what happened.
a symbolic photo just to see how banks of the Santander group look
I had to go there almost
every day for two weeks, because they seemed just not care much about it. They
tried to get rid of me at first giving me a few phone numbers to call, one of
which was of the 4B service, which is responsible for the maintenance of the
cash dispensers. I called all this numbers, and the result: NOTHING. Loss of time,
money and energy; they couldn’t do anything they say, because I withdraw money
with a debit card of a non Spanish bank. If I had had a card of a Spanish bank, different
from Santander, which is the bank responsible to fulfil and take record of the
money of this cash dispenser, mentioned above, there wouldn’t be a problem. I go to the Spanish bank, tell them the story, they would claim the money
and in four working days the money would be on my account. But since, it was a
foreign bank, the story was all different, and please read, more complicated.
I wrote to
my bank to advise me what to do. But they just gave me a form to fulfil and
explain the fact. Fortunately, I had a friend who is a lawyer and he advised me
to go to Santander and ask them to give me a proof that their cash dispenser retained
my money. I had to insist and went there a few times, because they told me,
they don’t check the cash dispenser every day, but when they do, they will have the
report that says the cash dispenser retained money. So, I had to go there the next day and it was the last day in two weeks. I was tired of going to this bank almost every day, but I
had to insist, otherwise I wouldn't have proof of it. The last day I went to
the Santander bank at almost noon, there was nobody in the office, but
still I had to wait the lady to attend me. She saw me, but seemed not
interested. I heard, she was talking to her husband, in the
working hours and having someone waiting for her, but she just didn’t seem to
care much. One of her colleagues saw me and saw that she was trying to ignore
me, so the lady went to her and tapped her on the shoulder pointing at me, and I was finally attended. She gave the proof that my
money was retained by this dammed cash dispenser. By the way, she said: "Oh, yes, it
happens quite a lot with this cash dispenser, it seems it doesn’t work properly." It
seems? Ha, and why a hack nobody repairs it? A one million question.
Of course
it is a tremendous effort to do this. It is easier to rob people’s money
instead.
But, here
is the copy of this famous proof:
This small piece of paper has the information that the cash dispenser retained my money.
MY ADVICE:
If this happens ever to you, get sure to claim this piece of paper, otherwise
you have no proof of it, it is important.
But now the
second part of the story: THE CLAIM AND THE RESULTS
I fulfilled
the form, that my bank, NLB, gave me, and added this proof, and the scans of
the card with which I withdrew the money. It is important to add the card number,
because the proof above also tells the number of your card.
But, what
happened?
I saw on my bank account that the bank took 110 EUR from my account. And
I said, now what? I wrote to the bank, and guess what; they took me this sum of
money, again, because of this entire hack story.
Where was
the problem, I asked? Santander bank, sent them in January of this year the
reply that they are not accepting my reclamation, as there was nothing wrong,
according to them, the cash dispenser, they said, did not retained my money. HAAAAA?
You can imagine my astonishment. The same bank that gave me the proof that their cash dispenser retained my money is now saying that I made the whole story up. Are they gone nuts or what?
Believe me,
I would rather have been robbed by a thief; at least I would live with the
thought that the poor man or woman needed the money. But a greedy bank, please.
And of course they committed felony, first because they are lying, and second
because they are claiming that I am a layer. So this would be in legal terms:
material and moral damage and defamation, calling me, indirectly, a lier.
So, end of
the story, if you happen to be in Spain, just avoid the Santander cash dispensers, and
if the same happens to you, make sure you collect as may proofs as possible and insist on it.
MY MOOD:
