Visa 13.9 · Mastercard 4834

The cash machine debited you and gave you nothing

When a cash machine takes the money from your account but does not hand over the notes, you are entitled to it back. This dispute has its own reason code, and it is largely decided by the machine's own records rather than by argument — which usually works in your favour.

Does this apply to you?

• No cash came out at all, but the amount left your account
• Less cash came out than you asked for and were debited
• The machine retracted the notes before you could take them
• The machine errored mid-transaction and the money never returned
• The receipt shows a withdrawal you never received

How long you have to file

You have 120 days, counted from the day the payment was taken.

That is the card network's outer limit. Your own bank often sets an earlier one, and a missed deadline ends a dispute however good the case is — so treat it as the day to have filed by, not the day to start.

What to gather before you file

• The date, time and exact location of the machine
• The ATM receipt if it printed one, or a note that it did not
• Your statement line showing the debit
• The machine's operator and terminal number if visible
• Anything the machine displayed — a photo of the error screen is ideal

What the seller will argue

This one is not really decided by argument. The ATM operator will pull the machine's electronic journal and its end-of-day cash balance: if the machine finished the day holding more cash than its records say it should, that surplus is your money and the claim succeeds. This is why reporting fast matters more here than anywhere else — those reconciliation records are the evidence, and they are easiest to match while the day is fresh.

What to do, in order

1. Write down the time, the location and the machine's terminal number immediately.
2. Photograph the screen and keep any receipt, even a failed one.
3. Report it to your own bank the same day if you can — this is the one dispute where speed genuinely changes the outcome.
4. Ask them to raise it with the ATM operator and to check the machine's cash reconciliation.
5. Keep a note of who you spoke to and when, because these claims are often chased more than once.

When this will not work

If the machine dispensed the cash and someone took it before you did, the bank's records will show a successful dispensation and the claim will fail. That is a theft to report to the police, not a dispute.

Other problems we cover

• Your order never arrived. Here is how to get your money back
• They kept charging you after you cancelled
• What arrived is not what you paid for
• You paid for the real thing and received a fake