Money is stuck in a Sberbank ATM, what should I do? Sberbank of Russia - “Sberbank - how to return money if the ATM accepted it but did not transfer it to the account. My story and successful outcome." Didn't have time to pick up money from the bill acceptor

Imagine the situation: you inserted an impressive stack of bills into the ATM, it “ate” them, buzzed for a couple of minutes and asked for more. Or he recalculated incorrectly and did not give out the balance. Or the money was credited normally, but does not arrive in the account. And here you are standing in front of a soulless machine in absolute shock: without money and without evidence. What to do?

Do not panic

Problems with the operation of the machine may arise due to a short-term failure in the system. Sometimes you just need to wait a few hours for the deposited money to be credited to your account.

This advice does not work if the ATM chewed your bills or counted them incorrectly when depositing them. He may issue the balance after some period of time. If you are not around at that moment, and a random passer-by takes the money, it will be much more difficult to return the cash.

Record all details

A faulty ATM may not only not give you money, but also leave you without a receipt. To further prove the fact using a malicious device, be sure to remember or write down the following data:

exact time of execution of the banking transaction (date, hours and minutes);
the address of the ATM location and its number, if it is indicated on the front side of the device;
the amount of funds deposited by you and retained by the device;
the presence or absence of CCTV cameras at the ATM (recordings can confirm all your actions).

Contact the bank

If the machine that has eaten your money is in a bank branch, then you need to contact the employees. But where to go in controversial situations?

If the card was issued by one bank, and you worked with it at an ATM of another organization, contact the bank that owns the ATM.
If problems arise in another country, and you do not have the time or sufficient knowledge of the language, contact the bank that issued your card. But remember that verification of a cross-border transaction can take up to two months.

Call the bank's hotline (the telephone number may be indicated on the ATM or your card) without leaving the scene of the incident. You will be instructed on what to do in such a situation. Some organizations can even accept withholding requests directly over the phone.

If your application was not registered over the phone, leave a written complaint to the bank. It states:

information about you (full name and passport details);
Information about ;
information about the ATM (its number and location address);
information about the incident (date and time of operation with the ATM, type of operation performed, amount of money deposited and withheld);
demand for the return of your funds.

Your application will be accepted and registered at the bank branch. Using the case number, you will be able to monitor the solution to your problem in the future. To be on the safe side, make a copy of the claim and keep it for yourself. Or make an application in two copies and ask the operator to sign his acceptance.

The bank will conduct an investigation into the complaint. During collection, they will check whether there is excess money in the ATM, then, if necessary, they can view recordings from CCTV cameras and track money transfers to the account.

The formal period for investigating such situations is up to 45 days, so you will have to wait quite a bit.

Go to court

Unfortunately, sometimes bank employees may not accept your application, delay the investigation, or deny the fact that you have lost money. In such cases, you can protect your rights through court.

To do this, a statement of claim is drawn up describing the problems with the ATM and the inaction of bank employees. It will be useful to attach written evidence - a copy of your claim to the bank. Moreover, in addition to a refund, you can demand:

interest on the use of other people's funds - since, in fact, the bank illegally withheld your savings in its accounts;
compensation for moral damage - in cases of incorrect behavior of bank employees.

Unfortunately, the time frame for a trial is even longer than a banking investigation. However, this can be a real tool for getting your own money back.

How to protect yourself from ATM failures

To reduce the risk of problems when working with ATMs, just follow these simple recommendations:

Do not bring in crumpled, folded or torn bills.
Before inserting a stack of bills, remove all rubber bands and clips from the stack.
Do not deposit more than 40 bills at a time.
If it is frosty outside (below –10–15 °C), use ATMs located in heated rooms. In the cold, there is a high probability of technical failures in the device.

You inserted the card into the ATM, entered the PIN code, and deposited the amount. The ATM accepted the money and began counting. But then a message appeared about the server being unavailable or some other nonsense. There is no Internet - the ATM writes. You deposited money into your account, but it did not arrive there.
I think it’s a familiar situation that you don’t really want to get into. This happened to me too.
I am serviced by Promsvyazbank. I like his retail - online banking. One evening I decided to top up my new income card. I withdrew an amount of 60 thousand rubles from another card and decided to put it on this card. The card is lucrative and earns interest. I withdrew the money and headed to the Voikovsky DO.

Part 1 - the iron monster ate my money

A beautiful orange ATM was waiting for me right at the entrance. I went to him, inserted the card, entered the PIN code, selected the replenishment operation and put 12 five thousand bills in the tray. The ATM began to rustle, rustled for a minute, but then a message appeared.

I was not at a loss and took a photo of this message, as well as the tray with money. Well, so that there is evidence of a crime.
The ATM returned my card. But it seems that the money was not credited - I inserted the card again and checked the balance. There were zeros in the account, but the ATM ate the money and didn’t choke.
I swore. I wanted to smash the ATM monitor with my fist. After a couple of minutes, the ATM hung down and returned to working condition. At this time I called support. I waited for the operator for 15 minutes, listening to music that was disgusting to me.
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Naturally, all the operators are busy, but are they even there? - I thought. Time passed, I stood near the ATM, no one answered. I decided to leave and went outside. Then they answered me, I explained the situation, asked to open an appeal - they did not open an appeal, but the operator gave his last name. I wrote it down so that there would be evidence of the iron monster’s crime. There was only one piece of advice - write an application to the bank for a refund.

Part 2 - application for a refund.

In the evening I started reading the Internet. From my experience, I knew that I would have to wait 45, or even 60 days. This didn’t suit me - I’m paying a mortgage and need money for a vacation. It was before the holidays. I came across a sample application. It was possible not to write an application on the bank form, but to write an application in free form - according to the law on the protection of consumer rights - issuing money is a service. I have the right to demand elimination of the consequences of poor-quality services. The deadlines are determined by me - I have the right to set reasonable deadlines. Here is a sample application written by me

To OJSC Promsvyazbank from full name passport 2243 44445 Issued on 01/01/2012 by the Leninsky District Department of Internal Affairs of Smolensk
Living at the address - this is the header on the right
Claim - in the center - this is the title of the application for a refund
The following is the text of the complaint:
On March 17, 2013, I carried out an operation to deposit funds to the card xxx xxxx xxxx xxxx in the amount of 60 thousand rubles through an ATM of Promsvyazbank OJSC, located at the address Moscow, Leningradskoe highway.... When funds were deposited into the ATM, a technical malfunction occurred, as a result of which the money was not credited. In accordance with Article 4 of the Consumer Protection Law, services must be provided with high quality. In accordance with Articles 29, 30 of the Law, when discovering deficiencies in the service provided, the consumer has the right to demand that the deficiencies in the service provided be eliminated free of charge. The defects must be eliminated by the contractor within a reasonable time period specified by the consumer. I ask you to correct the shortcomings within 7 (seven) working days and credit funds in the amount of 60 thousand rubles to the card xxxx xxxx xxxx xxxx

Date, Signature.

I found the application form on the Internet and headed to the office at 9:30 in the morning. I wrote a statement in free form and demanded a refund within 7 days. Fortunately, it was an ATM of the bank card issuer.
A couple of days later I called the bank. The support service sent me after a couple of switches to the office where I wrote a statement. I called the office and asked to find out whether the bank will fulfill my demands to return the money I used at the ATM within 7 days. The answer is yes. They promised to do this.

The money was returned.

On the 7th day, in the morning I discovered my money in my account. The money was returned. Thank goodness for the bank. And fast enough. Not in 45 days, but in just 7. I don’t know who to thank. In short, the same bank considered my application for a refund for a Russian Railways ticket for more than 50 days. But the situation is different there.
What advice can you give to those who find themselves in such a situation?

Take photographs of traces of the crime. In case the money is lost and the bank refuses to return it after collection from the ATM
Write a statement in free form, referring to the law on consumer protection. Require a fee for non-arrangement - the bank may use your money to issue loans…. The money is hanging in the bank, but could be of benefit to you. Money in the bank is your lost profit, you can demand compensation
Call the bank after writing an application - the more you worry the bank, the sooner it will answer you...
Do not deposit large amounts into your account at once. After all, by depositing 5 thousand into the account, I could lose only 5 thousand, and not all 60 thousand.

What if the bank drags its feet?

In the case of Sberbank, such a statement may not work. The bank may play for time until the last minute, extending the deadline for considering your application. In this case, all you can do is wait. The bank does not give the money.
You can remind the bank about yourself and take revenge for the illegally long processing of your application.

In 97% of cases, ATMs operate reliably; cases of cards being “captured” are rarely recorded, so people faced with a similar situation do not know what to do. There is no need to despair and panic, as the problem can be solved quite simply.

Sberbank ATMs can “jam” the card for the client’s safety.

The cardholder must know the main reasons why plastic can be “eaten” by an ATM. This will help reduce the likelihood of an unpleasant situation by 99.9%. Experts identify the following reasons:

The card was not removed from the receiving window for too long (more than 45 seconds had passed for removal) - the function is built into ATMs to prevent theft if the owner, for example, forgot to pick up the card.
The password was entered incorrectly 3 times - the program triggers to “capture” the card in order to reduce the likelihood of it falling into the hands of attackers (a message will appear on the screen).
There are abrasions, cracks or other damage on the plastic - the card, according to the existing technical parameters, is considered unsuitable for further use, the program automatically blocks access to it, “eating” it.
The validity period has expired (it is always indicated on the card) - ATMs automatically determine the expiration date.
The card is blocked - when you try to withdraw cash, if it is blocked by the owner or the bank, the plastic will not be returned. This is done in order to protect the funds available in the account when the card is lost/stolen.

System failure occurs in 3% of all recorded calls and complaints about the ATM taking the card. Non-return occurs when the software freezes. It is recommended to wait 30-40 seconds - during this time the program may reboot on its own and the plastic card will be automatically returned.

Important to remember! Withdrawn cash can also be “eaten” if left uncollected for too long.

How to return a card

If something goes wrong and you are left without a card, you must follow certain steps to get it back.

In case of “seizure”, financial funds remain completely safe.

To solve the current situation with the “eaten” card you will need:

Look at the device screen (it displays the current situation - unfinished operation, freezing, incorrectly entered password, processing of received information/request) - you must wait up to 30 seconds, less often up to 2 minutes.
Press the “Cancel”/”Return” button 1-2 times.
If the card is not returned or an inscription appears that the ATM is ready to work with the next client without returning the card, then you need to read the information that is issued by the device after the completed session, it is contained on a paper check - the reason for the “seizure”, contact numbers of bank specialists/operators .

In the event of a technical malfunction, a receipt is not issued, then the information must be read on the ATM itself - numbers for calls in emergency situations are indicated.

You will need to call 8-800-555-55-50 - this is the Sberbank hotline. This action is necessary to temporarily block the plastic.

When the ATM chews the plastic, when calling the operator you will need to say:

address where the device is installed;
time;
actions performed during the operation;
Owner's full name.

Additionally, operators will require:

passport information (for personal identification) – series and number, date of birth, place of birth, residential address (registration/registration);
a codeword.

When the device has issued a receipt, you need to provide the reason for the “eating”. Feature - if the operation was not performed by the owner of the plastic, then his personal presence will be required to solve the problem.

The circumstances of “eating” are taken into account:

incorrectly entered pin – recovery;
technical failure - return of old plastic after withdrawal from an ATM;
expired (the card was not replaced within the prescribed period) – reissue;
Damage to plastic - replacement.

Duration: 1-2 weeks. Unblocking is carried out at the personal request of the owner - you will need a passport and an application submitted to a Sberbank branch (in writing).

On weekdays during business hours, you can contact the nearest Sberbank branch so that specialists can help you sort out the problem.

What to do if you forgot your card at an ATM

Fatigue or haste leads to the fact that a person forgets his card at the ATM.

In such cases you need:

Call the hotline and report the loss.
Block the card.
Contact a Sberbank branch - a reissue will be made based on a written application from the owner.

The account will remain the same - financial resources will not be affected. Recovery time is 14-21 days.
The capture of a card by a Sberbank ATM is carried out for the purpose of financial security of its owner. Failures and malfunctions are rare. The solution is to call the indicated numbers/hotline. In some cases, the card will need to be restored or a new plastic card will need to be issued while maintaining the account number. All return actions are carried out personally by the card owner - a specialist will carry out the identity verification procedure.

It happens that the ATM debits money from the card, but does not issue anything. It also happens the other way around, when funds are not credited to the plastic upon deposit. Many bank clients have encountered such situations. We will find out what needs to be done and how quickly the affected client will receive his funds.
According to statistics, most cardholders go to an ATM only to cash out their salary on the day it is due. The rest use ATMs a little more often - when they need cash or, conversely, they need to add funds to the card for travel or some kind of non-cash purchase (for example, on the Internet). Obviously, losing money at such a moment is extremely unpleasant and inconvenient. Especially for a poor person who does not have significant reserves.

The ATM ate the money

This happens due to various failures of the ATM (for example, when the dispenser malfunctions), during communication failures (happens extremely often) or due to the actions of attackers. In the first two cases, it is quite possible to remove your banknotes from the safe of the device that captivated them, and many people know that to do this they need to contact the bank. But different credit institutions have different approaches to such incidents, and we turned to several of Russia’s largest financial institutions for details. It turned out to be quite simple, but, as always, there are certain nuances.

We write a refund application to our credit institution. If you wanted to withdraw money from a Russian Standard plastic card at a Sberbank ATM, there is no point in contacting Sberbank - you will only waste time. When you discover a problem, immediately call the call center of the bank that issued your card (issuer). And hurry up, since some banks consider such requests strictly within 24 hours after the incident, focusing on Article 9 of the Federal Law “On the Payment System”.

Some banks relieve affected cardholders from having to appear in person to submit an application for a refund. Thus, VTB24 reported that “if a failure occurred when depositing (withdrawing) cash into a card account through a VTB24 ATM and the money was not credited (received), the client must contact the financial institution and file a claim. Methods for filing a claim (application): by telephone, at a bank branch, through feedback on the official website, through sites that are officially viewed by bank representatives, by e-mail.”

“Regardless of the bank, the cardholder needs to contact the issuing financial institution (its call center) and report the incident. Then you need to contact the bank branch in person and submit a statement about the controversial transaction,” says Ekaterina Belousova, who is the deputy director of the retail development department of Svyaz-Bank. “The client needs to submit an application regarding disagreement with the operation,” UniCredit Bank informs, “since without an application, the funds will not be automatically returned to the client. This is done, for example, by calling a call center - the client is subjected to a standard identification procedure, then they ask him where the ATM is located and what the transaction amount is.”

Sberbank ATM ate money

Sberbank also said that “it is enough to contact the bank at any of the telephone numbers indicated on the card. The operator will accept the application and it will be promptly reviewed. You can also submit a written application at any office.” Alfa-Bank does not insist on personal presence either.

MKB also allows you to submit applications remotely: “When an error with cash withdrawal occurs with a plastic card holder of our bank, he must contact the call center, tell the card number, the location of the machine and the time of withdrawal. It is also possible to write that money was debited from the card but not issued through MKB Online.

However, not all financial institutions trust remote communication channels. For example, a Nordea Bank client will have to drive to the office. “A client of our organization can report disagreement with a transaction by telephone. In this case, the cardholder is obliged to submit a written application no later than 5 (not counting non-working) days from the date of the telephone call,” the bank said.

Yuri Bozhor, who heads the plastic cards department at Otkritie Bank, explained that in such a case, a client of this financial organization needs to “go to a bank branch and fill out a standard application.”

Your bank will return the money sooner. It will be better if the cash is “gobbled up” by an ATM of the same credit institution that issued the card. Most banks reported that in this case, the time frame for returning money is up to two weeks.

“The legislation allows us to deal with the situation for 30 days, but usually the whole process takes no more than a week: this is influenced by the collection schedule of a particular ATM,” explained Roman Gladyshev, who heads the department for handling claims for card transactions at UBRD.

“A thorough investigation is underway,” Mr. Bojor said. – Money is usually credited to your account within a few days. The exception is cases when there are serious reasons to believe that there have been fraudulent actions or irresponsible behavior of the cardholder (money forgotten in the ATM and received by the next client, money forgotten on the ATM body).”

VTB ATM ate money

“VTB24 considers client applications (claims) for transactions carried out on bank devices within 15 banking days. If a positive decision on the application is made within the specified period, the financial institution returns the money to the client’s card account,” VTB24 reported.

“The refund period is affected by the cause of the failure, as well as the need for additional checks,” said Sberbank. – The possibility of instant automatic return of money to the account in a situation if the withdrawal was made incorrectly has already been implemented. In the event of a technical failure when depositing money, the refund occurs on average within 4 days.”

“We consider these applications up to fifteen working days from the date of ATM collection, and the time can be increased if additional investigation is necessary,” UniCredit said.

As the MKB said, “it takes on average about a week from a client of our bank to report an error in an ATM to the return of funds to his plastic card.”

“We usually consider such applications for 3-5 banking days, but in case of delays, including from another bank, the period can increase to 30 days in accordance with the agreement for comprehensive banking services,” said Dmitry Fudin, head of the department at MDM Bank development of an ATM network.
Alexander Petrov, director of processing at Promsvyazbank, said that “refunds usually occur within a week for our clients.”

Alfa-Bank claims that 95% of their cardholders receive a refund within two days.

What to do if the ATM eats your money

If your money is swallowed up by someone else’s banking system, financial institutions follow the chargeback procedure. Here, the period for investigating an incident and reimbursing funds is significantly longer and can exceed 30 days. But if the ATM is owned by a credit institution that is a partner of your issuing financial institution, they can reach an agreement much faster. “With partners, for example, with Alfa-Bank, whose ATMs are part of a unified ATM network, the process happens much faster, because we already have a well-established interaction algorithm in such matters,” said Mr. Gladyshev from UBRD.

One way or another, it is worth understanding that the terms announced by bankers are average; in some cases, the reimbursement process is significantly delayed. Especially if, during the investigation, bank specialists began to doubt the applicant’s honesty.

You may not receive a refund due to your own carelessness. If the undispensed or uncredited amount was safely deposited into the ATM, this will be detected during collection, and the funds will most likely be returned to you. However, a different situation may occur: funds may get stuck in the device, but at the same time they will be accessible from the outside, and the next user, more attentive (or a fraudster who interfered with the operation of the dispenser), will enrich himself at your expense. In this case, collection will not detect any excess money, and the device program will confirm that the funds were issued - and there will be no refund.

“If an incorrect amount is issued or not issued at all, you must first inspect the machine for banknotes that might be stuck in the dispensing module,” recommends Mr. Fudin. – If banknotes stick out from the module, they will probably be taken by the next client, whom the bank will not distinguish from you. To exclude this, you need to try to take out the bills and call the financial institution servicing this ATM (bank phone numbers can always be found on the device) to record the incident.”

Of course, the funds will not be returned in a situation where the ATM video camera record shows that the person received the money or, if not deposited, did not deposit it.

ATMs make our lives much easier. However, like any technical device, they may malfunction. Problems occur infrequently, but they make the cardholder quite nervous, as they lead to loss of money. It happens that the machine accepted banknotes, but they were not credited to the account, or debited funds from the account, but did not issue anything. How can you “win back” your money from the ill-fated ATM? And what to do if the bank did not respond to your request in time?

A resident of the Amur Region contacted the editors of the North-West Legal Center (NWLC) “Man and the Law” Indira. A trivial operation to withdraw money from a salary card through an ATM deprived the woman of more than half of her earnings.

“On June 15, I wanted to withdraw my salary from my card, which is serviced by Sberbank, at an ATM that belongs to the same bank. But the ATM did not dispense the money completely; it was “stuck,” so to speak, “halfway.” I managed to literally “pick out” 14,000 rubles with my finger within 45 seconds, the remaining 17,200 rubles went back to the ATM. The money has been debited from the card. I immediately contacted Sberbank, a bank employee wrote a letter of complaint, sent it to Khabarovsk and told me to wait six to nine working days. It's already mid-July... What should I do? Who should be responsible for the operation of the ATM?” the victim is indignant.

Receiving money through an ATM is a service for the quality of which the bank must be responsible. This is stated in the Federal Law of December 2, 1990 N 395-1 (as amended on July 3, 2016) “On Banks and Banking Activities.” But the withdrawal of funds by the ATM itself and their subsequent debiting from the account is not always associated with a technical failure.

“You need to keep in mind that bills cannot remain in the device’s dispensing tray for a long time. Therefore, if the client does not withdraw the funds within 45 seconds, they are returned back to the device for security purposes. Money for this operation will not be credited to the account independently, but only after the client contacts the bank,” she explained Olga Paletskaya, head of customer complaints regarding technical devices of a commercial bank.

But even if the money does not appear in the issuing tray, there is no need to panic. First, you should make sure that the ATM has completed the operation and entered the start mode. If this has not yet happened, the bills may appear from the belly of the machine after a short period of time (usually the “downtime” period takes no more than 10 minutes). Only if the bank logo appears on the display, indicating the termination of the operation, and the accompanying SMS informing about the debiting of funds from the account, we can talk about a technical failure of the device.

“Regardless of whether the card belongs to the same bank as the ATM or not, you must call the call center of the issuing financial institution that owns the machine, tell about what happened and follow the recommendations of technical support,” they inform "Sberbank".- What is very important is to do this without leaving the ATM. If a telephone consultation does not lead to a solution to the problem, then you need to submit an application for a disputed card transaction to the bank where it was issued.”

Claims are accepted no later than the next day from the moment the transaction was completed. The verification of the withholding of funds is carried out within a month.

According to experts, Sberbank accepts applications both in writing and remotely. To submit a remote application, you just need to call the contact phone number indicated on the card, go through identification, name the amount of the transaction, the time of its execution and indicate the address of the location of the “offending” ATM.

However, if the rightful recipient rushes to the nearest bank branch in a panic, without waiting for the cash or without properly checking it in the dispensing module, the banknotes may be taken by random passers-by. But experts reassure distracted clients - even in this case, they can get back their lost money.

The fact is that each ATM has two built-in video cameras. In addition to this, there is a third camera that records everything that happens within the ATM service. This shooting will later make it possible to find out which person took the money.

“Thanks to video recording, the security service will establish the identity of the thief,” explains Olga Paletskaya. — An investigation is then initiated by the claims department. Upon completion of the investigation, the funds will be returned in full to the cardholder.”

The expert did not specify the period for conducting such proceedings, but noted that the client has three years to submit an application to the bank regarding the theft of money. This time is regulated by law for storing archives with video recordings and a list of operations of technical devices.

But what to do if the client became convinced that the device was faulty, filed a claim with the bank, as Indira did from the Amur region, and the money was not automatically returned a month later?

“It’s better, of course, to first come to the police station and write a statement regarding the fact of unauthorized debiting of money from a bank card account,” advises lawyer Sergei Krasilnikov.- It is quite possible that the initiation of a criminal case may be refused. However, the victim will still have a resolution in her hands - a document that will indicate that she tried to resolve the dispute out of court.”

After contacting the police, you should file a claim in court, attaching a copy of the claim signed by a bank employee.

“Under Articles 395 and 856 of the Civil Code of the Russian Federation, the plaintiff has the right to demand not only compensation for material damage in the amount of money unreasonably written off, but also interest for the use of someone else’s money. Based on the Law “On the Protection of Consumer Rights,” one can also claim compensation for moral damage,” the lawyer concludes.

Thus, if you find yourself in an unpleasant situation with a would-be ATM, the main thing is not to get lost and act. Even if you are not sure that you have correctly interpreted the “behavior” of the device, and money has not disappeared from your account, it is still better to double-check this information with bank employees. And if an incident does occur, stand up for your rights and remember that the law is on your side. After all, as we know, “the customer is always right.”

Anastasia Verbitskaya
Photo: NWPC “Man and Law”