ATM Fiasco

Today morning I was trying to withdraw some cash from a SBI ATM. The machine was making a humongous noise counting the cash and taking eons to dispense the money. After almost a couple of minutes, it barfed "Unable to process transaction. Please contact the bank". Thankfully it dispensed a transaction advice which gave details of the ATM et al and that the transaction was a failure. Promptly within a few minutes, I got an SMS from ICICI bank saying that I have been debited the cash. I was shocked and I was thinking what all will I have to do, to fight this one.

I came home, called customer care, registered a complaint. Made sure that the agent had all the information and asked her to repeat everything. The agent also told the transaction id and the ATM details that matched my transaction slip. I was now atleast happy that I had some concrete evidence to fight it. The SLA for the complaint was 8 days and so I decided to wait for sometime. Thankfully a little while ago, I got an SMS saying that the transaction has been reversed and the money credited to my account. A final sigh of relief.

Usually, to save paper, I never ask for a printed transaction advice. But with this fiasco, I think it makes sense to select for a printed transaction advice always. It would be a good idea if the ATM gives out a transaction advice irrespective of the selection, if the transaction is a failure.