Strabane woman left ‘deeply upset’ over cash loss

A STRABANE woman has hit out at Danske Bank following their refusal to reimburse her for the loss of a substantial sum of money at an ATM in the town.

The woman, who asked not to be named, has been left feeling upset after a malfunction resulted in a loss of £200.

Speaking to this newspaper, the woman explained, “I was at the ATM outside 21 Training on Saturday morning just before half past ten. I used my card to try and take out £200 from my account; the money was being used to buy a gift. After putting in the amount I wanted, my card came out after a few seconds, but no money. I waited for another ten to fifteen seconds and still nothing. I assumed my card had been declined so walked away. I later tried the card at another ATM in the town and was able to get money out this time but, to my horror, I noticed that the previous £200 had been deducted from my balance yet I didn’t receive any money.”

The woman contacted Danske Bank and reported the incident. However she was told that they would not reimburse her as the money had eventually been dispensed and the bank had, in their eyes, not made a mistake. She also contacted the PSNI who confirmed that enquiries are ongoing.

Asked what the loss meant to her, the woman lamented, “It means so much. That amount of money is a lot to lose in this day and age. Money is tight and with bills, food, electricity and fuel prices going up, I can’t afford to be losing that amount of money. I don’t have any children at home so it isn’t as bad as someone with a houseful of dependents losing the money, but I feel Danske bank should do something as I’ve lost a considerable amount that I won’t get back. Unfortunately it’s my word against theirs as I have no receipt for the transaction.”

The Chronicle also contacted Danske, who said, “Customers who have an issue with an ATM transaction whilst using a Danske Bank card should first raise a card dispute with us on the phone, in branch or on our website.

“There is a process in place whereby we then raise this on the customer’s behalf for investigation with ATM owner via LINK, the UK’s cash machine (ATM) Scheme. If a customer suspects that cash they have withdrawn or accidentally left in the machine has then been stolen, they should report this to the PSNI.”

Pivotal Cash Management, responsible for the machine were contacted and asked whether there was a fault with it in terms of time taken to dispense monies. At the time of going to print, Pivotal had not responded to the Chronicle’s request for comment.