Author: lilyofthevalley
Date: 11/06/2006, 08:06 pm
One of the reasons this discussion may come up so much is because of my unfortunate story. I spent a month in Tuscany this past May and had what can only be described as a horrific experience with an ATM transaction. I'm still not over the shock and disappointment. Hopefully, by reading this, others will not be victimized the way I was.

We spoke no English. My friend had opted to bring all her Euros with her from America to avoid the very thing I experienced. I spent most of the time trying to find ATM's that would take my STAR network card. They were very few and far between. Finally I found an obscure bank in Florence that took it. I made the transaction and was putting my card back in my wallet. As I did this, I watched as the ATM machine sucked my money back inside of it. The bank was closed for lunch. The machine took $250 Euros from me for no apparent reason. It spit out a receipt saying it had dispensed this amount to me.

We waited an hour for the bank to reopen. Not a soul in the bank spoke English and it was a comedy of errors trying to communicate what my problem was. The bank officials told me finally that they understood my problem but that it would be impossible for them to give me the money as the bank had very strict rules about such matters. They basically dismissed me by saying I was out of luck. I was in tears and could not find a soul in the place who spoke English. They said the matter would be resolved in 15 days. They never took any identifying information from me and I suspected I was being scammed! I have been back since June and to date, my account has not been credited with the money, which was $350 American dollars. That really hurt financially as I am not rich and had to save a long time for that trip.

Those people at that bank must have had a fun night out with my money, while I was hopelessly vivtimized in a foreign country where I did not speak the language. I would say this experience just about ruined my vacation which I had been looking forward to all my life.

lilyofthevalley, no offense intended but if 250 euro cost you $350 in May, you were being ripped off regardless. The rate of exchange in mid May was 1.28, pretty much the same as now. 250 euro should have been about $ 320. Have you asked your bank what the extra $30 was for?

And I'm not going to say that didn't happen as I wasn't there. But I've never seen an ATM machine capable of taking a full stack of money back that it has dispensed. Did it take the bills back one at a time or as a full stack?

lilyofthevalley: I think have the same reservations that NeoPatrick has. I do understand about the Star system machines, because Star is a US network and not really found much in Europe.

But the machine eating your money, no one in the bank speaking ANY English, and the $/€ amounts not gibing . . . . . not so sure.

I do notice you have only posted twice and both are duplicates of this sad tale. What is the name of the bank? There are many folks on here who know Florence VERY well and might have some ideas for you.

BTW - you could have filed a "disputed transaction" claim w/ your bank.

Actually, given the mechanisms of some ATMs I can easily see how it took your cash back.

You know as well as I do that the bank certainly could have eventually settled this properly since at the end of the day the accounting balance would have been off by the amount that was supposedly dispensed but remained in the machine.,..and yes banks certainly do reconcile these figures to ensure THEY aren't being ripped off.

>of taking a full stack of money back
This is just another security feature of some machines. But in all cases this will be recorded. You chances of beeing ripped of (that way) :D by an italian bank are very small.

And this money is stored seperately in the machine, making it impossible for the staff not to notice it.

Travelling to Paris over Thanksgiving. Has anyone had problems using ATMs there? I'm planning on taking my debit/ATM card and a credit card. This post seems like there's a particular issue in Italy. What about France?

No problems in France in October. I had an ATM from my local bank -- not debit, and without a logo for MC or Visa. Worked fine in every machine I tried. I also had a BOA debit card, and I used that one sucessfully in a BNB Paribus machine to avoid the $5.00 surcharge that BOA levies on international withsrawals at non-partner banks.

Italy was more trouble, but one of my two ATM cards worked there. My wife's card didn't. Same bank. Go figure.

Have a good trip!

:-)

I'm pretty sure that a common feature of European ATMs is that, if you don't grab your money promptly, it will be sucked back into the ATM and the transaction cancelled. In fact, I have seen Europeans let the money be sucked back into the ATM when they have wanted to cancel a transaction.

I don't know if American ATMs have this feature; I always grab my cash as soon as I can.

As for pickpockets, I think they are not uncommon in areas where there are tourists. I would be surprised to see data showing that they are common in Europe and rare in the US, but a lot of people seem to feel that way. I would take the same precautions in New York city as I would in a tourist area in Italy.

I think it is prudent to keep only a minimal amount of money in the checking account associated with your ATM card. My bank allows me to make instant transfers from savings to the checking account via the internet, so I just transfer what I need before visiting the ATM.

Open a new bank account for the vacation? Moneybelts? Watching each others' back constantly? Doing an inventory after every bump felt? Looking for little cameras at the ATM machine? What a pain in the @ss! Who the hell wants to go to Italy any more? I swear.. if any of this crap happens to me while in Rome I will never go back there again. What a bunch of Bullsh!t. Sorry for the outburst.

Kurt

Kurt, You have to relax! Italy is not the land of lawlessness. You won't enjoy your vacation if you keep on thinking all this bad things will happen.

I went to Italy/Europe on my first trip outside the US when I was in my twenties. I didn't have any problems and I walked everywhere including late at night, carried my purse on my shoulder, and didn't were a money belt

I usually buy my currency at home (free at my bank) and take two credit cards. When I go out I take one credit card some cash and leave the rest in the safety deposit box in my room with my passport. I take two credit cards not because I am thinking I will get robbed but because I LOVE to shop. You will be find. First time in Italy is the best.

Kurt, there is nothing like Italy, I would hate for you to miss out because you are so worried.

P.S. I guess I shouldn't warn you about taxi drivers. Just Kidding!

Hi Cafe' goddess. Thanks for the reassurance. Last night I drank too much coffee, which made me snap too quickly.
I think what I'll do when I do go to Rome is to dress as a pickpocket.

Fortunately I won't need to use the cab too often unless I stay up late wandering around. I'm going to learn the most offensive Italian words known to man in case I have a close encounter with one of these "artists". They will be so shocked that they'll just want go away.:)

Thank you again CafeGoddess!

I have recently returned from Italy. I noticed on at least one atm machine a notice that said something like take your cash immediately. So I did! Once I didn't get a receipt which worried me but other than that the atm's worked fine everywhere I went-- no problems.

One time I did notice a shady looking character following me down a dark rainy street near Santa Croce, Florence, and as I started to take out my atm card he stopped and watched; I just changed my mind and kept walking and he disappeared. That could happen anywhere in the world.