http://www.wichitaeagle.com/news/local/columns/bob/getz1210_txt.htm

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With a crisis like this, who needs Y2K?

This is the short, sad, strange story of how Peggy Johnson became disillusioned and very nervous about things.

Some two weeks ago, Johnson, 48 ("But I look much younger," she said, laughing), withdrew $100 from an ATM in the Dillons store in Derby.

The machine spit out her $100 and a correct receipt for $101.50, which included the service charge.

Then the fun began.

The simple transaction was posted incorrectly in Johnson's bank. Quite incorrectly. Painfully incorrectly. The bank recorded the amount of the ATM withdrawal as $15,004.

Checks bounced.

Johnson learned that her checking balance, due to the $15,004 withdrawal from the ATM, was now "minus $13,274.33."

"I was flabbergasted," said Johnson.

$15,004? How could that happen? She thought you couldn't even withdraw more than $300 from an ATM (actually, it's $500 there). Why wasn't such an absurd mistake caught? What would the bank do about it? Could it happen again? To her or someone else? Like you or me?

She trotted over to the bank. Maybe it'd already been straightened out.

Johnson said, "The first guy I talked to said, 'Oh, my God. This shows you took $15,004 out of an ATM!' "

Soon, a top bank officer talked to Johnson.

He was very nice. He said, "I've never seen this before."

Johnson said, "He told me this was just one of those things. But I could have bounced more checks. I just wrote two. At least God smiled on me there."

I talked to that bank officer twice. I'm not naming him or the bank. The bank did act promptly and conscientiously.

The mistake wasn't the machine's fault.

The officer at Johnson's bank accepted responsibility, explaining that after the transaction reached the bank, a code had been entered incorrectly to create the error.

"It's something that happens, kind of like misprints in the newspaper," he said. "It's not uncommon."

Not uncommon? But $15,000...

"I can say from 15 years experience," the officer said, "we don't generally see them nearly that large."

But Peggy Johnson's problems weren't over. Although the bank officer said there's a simple, routine way of dealing with this kind of situation, where a check bounces as a result of bank error, Johnson still ran into exasperating conflict with Dillard's.

"I was told by people at Dillard's that once you have a bad check on your record in their computer, that it's very hard to get it off," she said.

This week, she was still trying to straighten that out .

Getting back to ATMs, Johnson is now gun-shy, even though the ATM was blameless.

The machine is Intrust Bank's. And Intrust's Mike Neel, who has been dealing with ATMs for 25 years, said, "I know ATMs, and as far as an ATM making a mistake like that, it doesn't happen.

"Can an ATM dispense too much money, like in those cartoons where you see them spewing out bills? Yes, it can.

"There are accidents that way -- generally a loss to the bank. But we can trace those. But they don't make mistakes like that one."

Neel said he's aware of some wariness out there.

"I think ATMs still intimidate some people," he said.

Which definitely brings us back to Peggy Johnson.

"I don't think I will ever use an ATM again," she said. "And I'm closing my bank account and changing banks.

"Maybe we should just go back to the way it was in the days when we kept our money under our mattress.

"You know," she said. "I wasn't worried about Y2K until this happened."

I guess it's safe to say Peggy Johnson, come Dec. 31, probably won't be running over to an ATM to take out an extra 100 bucks.

-- Homer Beanfang (Bats@inbellfry.com), December 10, 1999

Answers

Some people become GIs in unique ways :-)

Thanks for all your On Topic to the max posts, Homer!

-- Ashton & Leska in Cascadia (allaha@earthlink.net), December 10, 1999.

Those nasty machines do make mistakes. About a year ago I went to my local hardware store to buy a few things. The bar scanner was used and the cash resigster promptly range up a total in excess of $274,000!!. I laughed and the worker was embarressed. He redid it and it came out right that second time. Why did this happen? Who knows. It just shows that they can and do make bizzar mistakes.

-- smfdoc (smfdoc@aol.com), December 10, 1999.

That department store is notorious for its credit management. My daughter got into trouble with them, because they were not sending any bills....yet they were charging her late fees. She was in Korea at the time. When she finially was able to get in touch with them, they smugly said that they were not required, by Federal Law, to send anything but one statement a year....It was up to her to remember that she owed money, and make up a statement with her account, etc., and send it every month. I asked Visa about that Fed. Law, and they said that was correct. Costco uses a credit card company (run by Beneficial) that does the same thing. Blessings on their computers. (NOT)

-- Mary (CAgdma@home.com), December 10, 1999.

"The world works in strange and mysterious ways, and it will break in strange and mysyerious ways." Cory Hamasaki

-- Linda (lwmb@psln.com), December 10, 1999.

consider typos just one of those "mysterious" ways. oops

-- Linda (lwmb@psln.com), December 10, 1999.

Mary,

You comment about how Beneficial does not send monthly statements for credit cards with a balance is totally untrue. I should know, I program for the credit card division.

-- Lurker (eye@spy.net), December 10, 1999.

http://dailynews.yahoo.com/h/nm/19991210/tc/yk_money_1.html

U.S . banks pack vaults with cash as y2k insurance

-- Homer Beanfang (Bats@inbellfry.com), December 10, 1999.

Dillon's is a grocery store. Dillard's is a department store. There appears to be some confusion in this article. I'm certain there is no Dillard's in Derby. ATMs would be found in Dillon's.

Derby is the same town which has a bank displaying a two-story 'yield- type' sign which has one word in enormous, bold, black letters, "RELAX".

-- Will continue (farming@home.com), December 10, 1999.

From: Y2K, ` la Carte by Dancr (pic), near Monterey, California

A couple years ago I used an ATM, and after it gave me back my card and a receipt, no money came out. Fortunately, the bank security guard was watching the whole thing and saw the money not come out. Together, we went inside and it took TWO HOURS to straighten everything out to my satisfaction. All I wanted was the cash I had come for, plus a note stating that I had not made any withdrawals from my account prior to the one that we did manually. They thought that didn't sound fair. If the security guard hadn't corroborated my story I greatly doubt that they would have made me whole.

-- Dancr (addy.available@my.webpage), December 10, 1999.

The machine is Intrust Bank's. And Intrust's Mike Neel, who has been dealing with ATMs for 25 years, said, "I know ATMs, and as far as an ATM making a mistake like that, it doesn't happen. "Can an ATM dispense too much money, like in those cartoons where you see them spewing out bills? Yes, it can. "There are accidents that way -- generally a loss to the bank. But we can trace those. But they don't make mistakes like that one."

While camping and traveling in Montana and the Dakotas this last summer, my wife attempted to withdraw $200 bucks from an ATM, and instead was given five $20s and a receipt stating she had received the full amount requested. It took her two weeks and $20 in long distance charges to get the missing hundred credited back to her account. No one she dealt with at any point offered to reimburse her for her expense and effort to correct a bank's

-- panjandrum (panjandrum@samfoote.net), December 12, 1999.

a bank's error.

-- panjandrum (panjandrum@samfoote.net), December 12, 1999.