ATM Holds 1.2 Million Rubles After Failed Deposit
A resident of Kopeysk could not retrieve 1.2 million rubles (about $13,000 at current rates) for two weeks after depositing them in a Sovcombank ATM before the New Year holidays to add to a savings account. The holidays were nerve-wracking because the bank postponed resolving the issue until workdays, and on January 12, the client was told she would have to wait another 10 working days, but after a request from 74.RU, the problem was quickly resolved. Details and a comment from the credit institution are in our material.
«First It Counted, Then It Froze»
Irina (name changed at her request, — Ed.) said that on December 29 she withdrew a large sum from one bank and brought it to another, as they offered more attractive deposit terms.
«I was depositing money through a Sovcombank ATM at one of the offices in Kopeysk. The operator and I were standing there, I was unstacking and arranging the bundles — first five-thousand ruble bills, then five-hundred ones. The ATM first counted, then froze, counted and counted, and in the end it gave me a receipt showing zero in my account,» shared the bank client.
The Kopeysk woman filed a complaint, but it was not accepted immediately.
«They said it was incorrectly filled out, even though the operator dictated it to me and I wrote it down. On December 30, I had to apply again,» she continued. «The collection was on the 30th, to me it»s elementary: they took the ATM, all the unaccounted money — there it is. But they tell me the ATM hasn«t been taken yet, not counted. So many days have passed, how is that? What should I do? Before the holidays, the bank worked on December 29, 30, and 31, but they weren»t in a hurry to respond, then calmly went on days off.«
Irina hoped that after the holidays the problem would be resolved, but on Monday, January 12, it turned out that she would have to wait almost two more weeks.
«Today I call the hotline, they say they will respond in 10 working days — only on January 23. I tell them that this doesn»t suit me, my money is currently nowhere to be found,« the client exclaimed. »Now it«s questionable whether they will return it, and how much they will count — there»s no receipt with the temporary amount! I don«t know how to resolve this matter.»
Swift Resolution
A few hours after a request to Sovcombank from a 74.RU journalist, Irina was called and invited to open an account, and the bank«s press service assured that the problem was resolved:
«The bank promptly resolved the situation related to a technical failure in the self-service device, which interrupted the cash deposit process. Upon receiving a written complaint from the client, we immediately recorded it and began to address it. Despite the fact that the standard procedure for verification and refund in such cases takes up to 10 working days, we did everything possible to speed up the process. As of today, the situation has been resolved: the funds will be transferred to the savings account after it is opened by the client.»
Irina confirmed that she opened an account and is now waiting for the funds to be credited.
«I clarified, they said the amount matches, and promised to credit it with interest for the past days,» she concluded.
A little later, the bank reported that the money had been transferred.
Recall that last year, a Chelyabinsk woman decided to deposit 10 thousand rubles (about $109 at current rates) to her account. When the transaction was interrupted, the ATM neither returned the money nor credited it to her card. The bank whose terminal the client used stated that no one had deposited any funds at all. Where the money disappeared, what NFC has to do with it, and how to act if money goes into an ATM but doesn«t reach the account — in our material.
