Bankwest refunds $900 for a faulty ATM withdrawal
Troy used his Bankwest card at a third party ATM, but no money came out. He made a complaint and got a full refund, with some help from Ajust along the way. Well done Bankwest for refunding the money, even though the problem was with another company’s ATM.
An ATM that didn’t give cash
Troy and his wife were about to set off on a caravan trip in WA and they needed some cash for the road. He went to a shopping center and tried to withdraw $900 from an ATM. He was using his Bankwest card, but it wasn’t a Bankwest ATM.
Troy confirmed the details just like any other ATM transaction. But the next part wasn’t normal: the cash dispenser didn't open and no money came out. When he checked his online banking, he noticed that $902.50 had still been taken from his account.
As you’d imagine, Troy was stressed. Straight away, he called the phone number listed on the ATM. The person on the other end said that the machine had been out of order and the transaction would be reversed immediately. But the money never landed in his account…
Trying to resolve the ATM complaint himself
Troy wanted a full refund of the $900 that he didn’t receive from the ATM, as well as the $2.50 transaction fee for the faulty withdrawal.
Before coming to Ajust, Troy had already taken some action himself. He had asked his bank to investigate the situation and refund the missing money. Bankwest told Troy it had followed up with the ATM operator, who said the cash was dispensed and the machine was in balance – and so there was nothing else they could do and Troy would not be getting a refund.
Getting more help for his ATM complaint
That’s when Troy contacted Ajust. Using our platform, Troy was able to provide all the important information about what happened with the faulty ATM, how it had impacted him and what he wanted as an outcome. Ajust then took this information and generated a detailed resolution report that was sent directly to the complaints team at Bankwest.
Unfortunately, the bank still said no. The main problem was that Troy had already had a crack at resolving the ATM complaint himself. So Bankwest was reluctant to look at the same issue a second time.
Tip! If you want Ajust’s help with an ATM complaint, it’s best to contact us early on. Consumers get the best results with Ajust when they use our platform before a complaint has gone too far. It can be harder to change a bank’s mind once they’ve already made a decision.
If you lose money at an ATM that’s not operated by your bank, there’s a process for getting a refund:
- Contact your own bank (the bank that issued your ATM card), not the bank that operates the ATM.
- Your bank can then contact the ATM operator to investigate what happened, which usually takes 21 days.
- If the investigation uncovers an issue, your bank can refund you the money you lost.
- Your bank can then chase up the ATM operator for the money they refunded to you.
For more details, visit our faulty ATM page.
Escalating his complaint to the ombudsman
By this point, Troy had made two complaints about the ATM transaction, but he was still over $900 out of pocket.
Thankfully, he had some more options. If a consumer isn’t happy with their bank’s investigation into a broken ATM, they can take their complaint to the banking ombudsman, the Australian Financial Complaints Authority (AFCA). AFCA will take a look at the situation and make an assessment about whether or not the consumer should get a refund.
Troy decided to escalate his complaint to the ombudsman. AFCA is a consumer-friendly process that’s easy to use, so Troy was able to manage things himself. But Ajust provided some useful guidance and information along the way. Better still, when he contacted AFCA, Troy was able to use the resolution report generated by Ajust. That made things easier because it meant he didn’t haven’t to repeat all the details about his situation.
When a consumer makes a complaint to AFCA, the first thing the ombudsman does is send the complaint back to the bank to give them one more chance to resolve it with the consumer themselves. After some back and forth, Bankwest decided to give Troy a full refund.
Troy was happy with the outcome and glad he contacted Ajust. Here’s what he had to say:
“Ajust set us up for success with the ombudsman. The bank gave us a full refund. Highly recommended! Without their help, we'd be nowhere.”
Have you had an experience like Troy and lost money at an ATM that’s not operated by your bank? Learn more or get started with a complaint now.
Editor’s note: We’re always excited to share the experiences of consumers that have used Ajust. This Consumer Story is based on a real complaint made through our platform. But we’ve changed some details to protect the consumer's personal information and make the story more enjoyable for our readers.
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