My 20 year old son after fini****ng work today attempted to withdraw some of
his pay from a Commonwealth Bank teller machine.
The machine ate his card and he has now been left destitute for the
weekend.
I had a similiar experience withg the NAB several years ago.
He advised me his card was in good condition and that he only entered his
pin number once.
He rang the Bank's sup****t centre and they were of no assistance.
In most of these cases the problem is the teller machine itself and more
often than not it is poor maintenance.
It is about time that banks were held accountable for the failure of their
equipment, especially when the equipment is poorly maintained.
I also had the case (about 15 years ago) where a credit union teller
machine
failed to provide my $200 cash and debited my account. Apparently it was
faulty and took several minutes to dispense the cash.
The credit union did not refund my cash. A tube of araldite in the card
slot ensured the teller machine was eventually replaced.
Banks and other financial institutions have had enough time to get the
technology right.
Workers are entitled to their pay and if employers take advantage of
technology offered by banks by crediting salaries directly to accounts
then
the banks/employers should make alternative arrangements if workers cannot
acces their funds.
This is my proposal.
Banks MUST guarantee customers access to their funds (salary).
That in cases where faulty equipment or cards are simply gobbled up by
machines, that the financial institution make alternative arrangements for
customers to access their funds.
That a reasonable time limit be placed on the right of access to funds -
say
three hours. This would provide the banks with reasonable time to access
the
machine and retrieve the customers card. An alternative would be for the
bank to offer alternative withdrawl facilities - say at a service station
with appropriate arrangements and id.
That the banks offer reasonable telephone sup****t.
That if the financial institution fails to provide this sup****t that it be
reasonable for the customer to attempt to recover their card.
If this involves the recovery of the card by the complete dismantling of
the
machine by use of sledge hammer or crowbar - than that action is
reasonable
once the three hour time limit has expired.
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P.S. Araldite is a good substitute for poor service provided by financial
institutions.
