Today I want to talk about something that’s starting to bother me: getting cash from an ATM. Now that I have temporarily given up driving, taking the bus to my bank 15 miles away does not make me want to go there just to withdraw some cash. Therefore, ATM’s became a new best friend.
Back in March, I needed to withdraw a big sum of money for an emergency. It wasn’t a life-and-death situation, but just the same, I had to have the cash at that time for a very important transaction. When I hit the ATM, I kept getting the message that I had “exceeded my daily limit.” Please note that I wasn’t even near an ATM for months because most of my transactions were done through my checking account. How in the world could I have exceeded my daily limit? Because it was a weekend I couldn’t contact my financial institution for an explanation.
The following Monday, my first deed of the morning was to shoot an e-mail to my bank. The response I received was that the bank was switching to a new card provider and the process didn’t go smoothly as expected. I was told that the switchover was completed and that I should try again. I was assured that my ATM transaction would go through successfully. No, it didn’t!
I notified the bank rep about the ATM’s continued denial of my cash advance transaction, but I got no response. It was so quiet at her end that I imagined that she might have had a heart attack from all the client complaints. I should have made a telephone contact, but I happen to be one of those strange folks who prefer to tackle issues in writing. That way, I have documented evidence of how the matter was handled. Blame it on my corporate, legal and journalism background where a paper trail is a mandatory form of exercise.
I figured that the bank might be getting a lot of complaints so I decided to leave the bank rep alone. What I did was to visit the ATM and cross my fingers that the money would miraculously spit out. Well, on the second day of increasing frustration, my bank finally got their act together. The cash I needed fell into my hand. Hallelujah!
Then last Memorial Day during my casino gambling talisman “experiment,” the same thing happened. The ATM gave me the message that I “exceeded my daily limit.” I had not used the ATM since March, therefore the message prompted me to think that there was again a card provider problem. I repeated my March episode of e-mailing my bank. Twenty-four hours later, still no response. My bank rep got back to me only after I asked “Why isn’t anybody responding to my inquiry? Don’t I have a right to access my own money?”
That got somebody’s attention. Nevertheless, the explanation I received was confusing to me. Below is our exchange of e-mails:
Bank Rep (BR): You have a 3 transactions or $_____ – whichever comes first – limit PER DAY on your debit card.
Disgruntled Me (DM): What I don't understand is that the $_____ I attempted to withdraw was the FIRST withdrawal I tried to do last month. I didn't max out my daily limit yet the machine won't let me cash out. This worries me because in a time of emergency, I can't even count on my debit card to bail me out.
BR: The problem was that the fee on top of your daily limit caused it to be declined. We have bumped the limit up to $_____ and it should work just fine now.
DM: I had always cashed out $_____ (my daily limit plus fee) before and always got the cash.
BR: Because the $_____ was tried too many times, it over run the number of tries. Generally the machine isn’t set up to let you know. It has limited response statements.
Although the bank rep's responses didn't fully enlighten me, I let the matter rest, thanked her and wished her a good day. Truthfully, the explanation didn’t sit well with me. I was trying to access my own hard-earned money and their system wouldn't let me. It just magnified the possibility that ATM’s can’t be completely depended on for financial emergencies.
Because people are expected to solve their own problems, starting soon I’ll add an additional (cash advance) amount on the checks I write to my supermarket for grocery purchases and stash that money somewhere. That way, if and when I need a big chunk of cash, it will be ready for the spending. Such a proactive approach needs to happen because ATM’s and I don’t get along very well anymore.
