<p>I went to the bank today to get some cash. As usual, I counted the money because I’m compulsive. I usually feel that I’m wasting my time, because the amount has always been right. Until today. The bank machine dispensed $30 too much. I took it to one of the assistant managers (was not going to stand in line on a busy day to return money they dispensed in error!) who counted the money and confirmed that I was right. He said that he wasn’t sure how to handle it as it has never come up before. I suspect that most people don’t count the cash.</p>
<p>I’ve never heard of this happening. Interesting.</p>
<p>I’m wondering whether the person who used the machine before me got $30 less than he/she should have. If the machine is not short $30, then I hope that the bank figures out what happened.</p>
<p>I always count the cash, although I wait till I’m in the safety of my car. </p>
<p>An assistant manager of a bank doesn’t know how to do the accounting for this? That’s terrifying.</p>
<p>Most important – your ATMs dispense multiples of $10?? Jealous!</p>
<p>I do count the cash and there has never been an error. I started using ATMs in 1975, when I had so little money that I would sometimes take out 1 or 2 dollars.</p>
<p>i’m wondering if the person before you didn’t grab all their money.</p>
<p>bethvt - ha ha!! I remember taking out the $5 minimum many, many times at the TYME machine (‘Take Your Money Everywhere’) in our student union. $20 was a splurge!</p>
<p>The automatic teller gives mostly $20 bills, but sometimes includes $50 and/or $10 bills. I knew right away that something was wrong, because I’d withdrawn a multiple of $100, and I had one $50, two $10s, and a bunch of $20s. So clearly the amount wasn’t right. </p>
<p>The assistant manager’s comment just meant that he hadn’t encountered this problem before. Of course he was going to have to figure out how to handle it. It probably depended on whether the machine had the right or the wrong amount of cash at the end of the day. (I’m assuming that the machines are somehow checked every day.)</p>
<p>I’m not surprised that he hadn’t run into this problem before. I’ve never heard of an error in dispensing cash.</p>
<p>One time in the mid 80’s I went to my regular ATM and asked for my regular $60 cash withdrawal. I received 1 $20 bill and 2 $50 bills. Being a relatively recent college grad who had taken on the responsibility of a mortgage…I tried my card again and asked for another $40.00 cash. Received one more $50 and then a $20. I’ve never been that lucky again.</p>
<p>fendergirl, I was waiting for the money to come out so I could leave, staring at the slot. So I know that there weren’t any bills sticking out. But maybe some of the previous person’s cash was stuck somewhere inside.</p>
<p>I just read about this, in Ireland…
and I see that the story was published today nov 21 but was originally published back in May</p>
<p>[Free</a> money! Customers cash in as ATM pays out double and bank says they can keep the windfall | Mail Online](<a href=“Free money! Customers cash in as ATM pays out double and bank says they can keep the windfall | Daily Mail Online”>Free money! Customers cash in as ATM pays out double and bank says they can keep the windfall | Daily Mail Online)</p>
<p>Dietz - IMO, you weren’t lucky. You stole the money from the bank.</p>
<p>My bank only gives out multiples of $20. This sounds like a math question from the SAT. I’d venture to guess the correct answer is that a $50 bill accidently ended up in the pile of $20 bills.</p>
<p>I was accidentally shorted by a convenience store ATM once years ago. I think I was taking out $300 and it shorted me $60. I was panicking because it was one of those privately owned machines and I was certain I would never get it rectified. I called my bank and they credited me on a temporary basis, telling me that if the matter was not resolved with the ATM owner within 30 days I would have to pay them back. It was, thank goodness but it made me realize why it doesn’t pay to use an ATM that is not owned by your own bank.</p>
<p>It is likely, but not always possible that, upon audit, the ATM will department will figure out the discrepancy . At a large bank, the Asst. Manager doesn’t deal with the ATM, except to add money and do a count. It is possible that the currency had a 50 in a 20 area. Most likely it will be impossible for them to figure out when the error occurred. Now if it a deposit was made into the wrong account, I would tell you not to spend that extra money (as you would be liable) but it is very likely that you just got extra money. If not corrected in 30 days, consider it a treat or pay it forward.</p>
<p>I don’t even ask for a receipt anymore because of the perfect ATM performance since 1975. Does one need a receipt to solve an error or does the machine keep a record?</p>
<p>MizzBee, I gave the money to the Asst.Manager. Clearly, it was not mine. I did double-check the receipt to make sure it showed the amount I’d entered. Actually, I chose from a menu that did not offer the amount I received.</p>
<p>A $50 in the $20s area sounds like a good explanation. I was thinking of things like two $20s sticking together, or two $10s sticking together, because some of the bills were new and crisp, but both of those would have had to happen. The $50 was in the middle of the $20s, and I think that $50s are usually on one end of the stack, so I imagine toledo’s explanation is the right one.</p>
<p>If you are shorted (at least where I worked), you would report the error. They would check for malfunction, occasionally do a count. I received my money back after the machine dispensed a money band instead of a $20. I expect they would not repeatedly credit the same customer.</p>
<p>Of course automatic tellers can malfunction.</p>
<p>The one outside my bank malfunctioned last week. But it couldn’t dispense the wrong amount of cash because it wouldn’t work at all – someone’s card was stuck in the slot.</p>
<p>I count my money at the ATM every time. I do it as soon as I pull it out of the machine and do it in full view of the camera on the machine… Never had an amount wrong, but I’ll continue to do it…</p>