The Phantom Forty

I work for a big bank that has locations all over New York City and a few other areas across the country. This call happened several years ago when I was working overnights. Usually, the calls came from international account holders or people on the far west coast. This call was from an ATM at a New York branch.

Me: “Thank you for calling [Bank]. My name is [My Name]; how can I help you today?”

Customer: “I just withdrew $40.00 from the ATM, but the receipt shows that $80.00 was taken out. What is going on?”

Me: “I’m very sorry to hear about that issue. Let me bring up your account and see if I can figure out what is going on.”

I got the client’s account information and identified the caller per normal

Me: “So, I am looking at today’s activity and I do see the ATM withdrawal that you just completed a few minutes ago. According to the computer, a withdrawal of $40.00 was taken out.”

Customer: “But the receipt I have shows $80.00 was taken out. What is going on?”

Me: “Just to make sure I am following everything fully, you went to the ATM and requested $40.00, and the ATM gave you $40.00 as you requested, but the receipt you received shows $80.00 being debited. Do I have that right?”

Customer: “Yes, exactly. What is wrong with your system? Why would it withdraw $80.00 from my account when I only requested $40.00? How stupid is your system?”

Me: “Well, I can only go by what I am looking at now, and it does show that only $40.00 was debited from your account and that is the only transaction you did today. Nothing else is coming out of your account.”

Customer: “When I had a problem last time, they did some sort of investigation. Why can’t you do that now?”

Me: “If there was a difference in the amount received versus the amount requested, then we could submit an investigation. But you requested $40.00 and received $40.00, so there is nothing to investigate.”

Customer: “But why does this receipt show that you withdrew $80.00 from my account? I just don’t understand why you can’t send someone out to fix this issue.”

Me: “Let me check one final thing with you. Do you still have the receipt in your hand?”

Customer: “Yes, why? I already told you the receipt shows $80.00 was taken out but I only got $40.00. You still owe me $40.00 more.”

Me: “If you requested $40.00, you received $40.00, and your account was only debited $40.00, there is no discrepancy. But the reason I asked if you have the receipt is that on the receipt, it should show the last four digits of the ATM/debit card used for the withdrawal. Do those numbers match the last four digits on your card?”

Customer: *Click*

I guess not…