Public urged to be cautious after second incident at Strabane ATM

THE company responsible for running an ATM which has been at the centre of a storm over slow cash dispensing, has steadfastly refused to comment following yet another incident.

Last week, a local woman contacted the Chronicle to lament losing £200 at the ATM, situated outside 21 Training on Main Street in the town. In this instance, the lady said that she had used her card and, after it came out, no money followed. She waited for around 15 to 20 seconds and, when no money still came, she walked away thinking she had incorrectly tried to complete the transaction. It was only after using the card at another ATM in town that she realised her balance had been debited the money and she is currently in dispute with her bank to try and retrieve it.

Upon reading last week’s story, another local woman who doesn’t wish to be named, has come forward with a similar tale, albeit with a happier ending.

She explained that she used the ATM in question on Saturday.

She told the Chronicle, “Upon using the machine, I realised that no writing was appearing on the screen nor did I hear any whirring to suggest that my transaction was being processed.

“After removing my card, I waited for well over a minute but no money came out so, like this other lady, I assumed I had done something wrong…

“It was only later a gentleman, who had clearly seen me at the ATM, came in and asked ‘why did you not take your money?’ and handed me the £100 from the machine. I was very lucky that this man had the decency to come in looking for me and not take the money. I want to take the opportunity to thank him again; I was so flustered by the situation I don’t think I thanked him enough at the time.”

She continued, “It would certainly appear that there is some kind of fault with this particular machine, although I admit I’m no expert on the workings of ATMs. I don’t believe it’s up to me to warn people off using this particular machine but I would suggest that, if money hasn’t appeared after using it, then immediately check your balance to ensure money hasn’t been falsely deducted.”

The Chronicle contacted the ATM operator, Pivotal with a series of questions such as whether they were indeed responsible for maintenance of the machine, whether they have received any complaints about this particular machine, how often maintenance is carried out on ATMs and whether this particular ATM had undergone any checks recently to ensure it was in full working order. At the time of going to print, no answers were forthcoming.