Dear Claudienne,

I maintain a business account at the National Commercial Bank (NCB) in Port Antonio, Portland.

At 4:33 pm on Sunday June 4, while en route to Morant Bay, I made a stop at the NCB and attempted to deposit $11,000.00 using the ATM inside the bank. The machine rejected $5,000.00, kept $6,000.00, returned my debit card, and then “I’m temporarily out of service” appeared on the screen. No receipt was issued, and subsequent checks revealed that the $6,000.00 that was retained had not been credited to my account.

I continued to Morant Bay where I deposited $11,000.00 in an NCB ATM. That $11,000.00 was credited to my account on June 5, 2017.

On June 5, 2017 I logged a complaint with a customer service representative (CSR) at the NCB Morant Bay Branch. The young lady seemed to have documented my report on a computer and said that I should receive some feedback in a few days.

After receiving no feedback, I called customer support at 1-888-622-34778 on June 12. The CSR did not see a log of my complaint, so I explained the problem once more and was provided with a reference number. I was also told that I should receive feedback in two to three business days.

Once again, no feedback was received from NCB.

I made another call to the bank on June 16, and the CSR to whom I spoke promised to investigate the matter.

No one contacted me, so I called the bank again on June 19 and spoke with a supervisor at about 4:30 pm. She promised to call back the next day, but did not.

On June 21 at approximately 2:30 pm I called and asked for the supervisor to whom I had spoken on June 19. The CSR who answered the phone said that the supervisor was on another call, but had asked her to inform me that the matter was still being investigated. At that point I requested to speak with someone at a higher level. After placing me on hold twice, she returned to inform me that the manager would call me within three hours.

It is now June 29, 2017, and I have enough reason to believe that I will neither receive any follow-up call nor any resolution to my case.

I am very disappointed that my issue has been treated with such scant regard. I am very concerned at the low level of professionalism shown by those involved. They have neither fulfilled their promises nor carried out a thorough investigation into the matter at hand. I have wasted several hours and spent lots of dollars on phone calls for a problem that I did not create.

I would like to think that NCB values my business, and so I am making a request for someone to look into this matter with expediency. When they have completed their investigation, I would be satisfied with answers to the following:

1. Why did the ATM in Port Antonio retain $6,000.00 without issuing a receipt?

2. Was there a completed audit at the ATM the next day, and if so, did the audit confirm overage of $6,000.00?

4. Can you access footage from the cameras inside the ATM to corroborate my account of the matter?

3. Why didn’t the CSRs and supervisor call me back as promised?

4. Why do the ATMs in Port Antonio malfunction so often? There are two ATMs, one inside the bank, the other outside.

5. Can the ATM outside the bank be reprogrammed to accept deposits? Currently, only the ATM inside carries the deposit function.

I would appreciate your help in having this matter resolved.

JG

Dear JG,

Tell Claudienne has been in communication with NCB about your concerns and we note that they have contacted you.

We have been advised that NCB is committed to continually improving their systems to enhance the experiences of their customers.

The e-mail response we received from NCB stated the following:

“ The issue was resolved and the funds were credited to the customer’s account. Communication was had with the customer regarding this.

Regarding your query around how NCB handles technical ABM issues or system downtime in terms of identifying if there was an error with the customer’s lodgement at the intelligent ABM (IABM), please note below:

Process for Cash Deposited at the IABM.

Day one: Our ABM cash management partner removes and counts all cash deposited at the IABM.

Day two: Our ABM cash management partner emails a report to us with all the cash that was deposited. This report is then verified by us, and all amounts that were not applied to a customer’s account are investigated. After the investigation, these amounts are then applied to the customer’s account.”

Transcribed below is a copy of the e-mail that you sent to Tell Claudienne after NCB spoke to you and resolved your issue:

“ It brings me great joy to report to you that the ATM issue that I had in Port Antonio has been resolved. Earlier today, July 6, 2017, I received a phone call from the head of customer service at NCB informing me that $6,000.00 was deposited to my account on Wednesday July 5, 2017.

I would like to confirm that my account has been credited with said amount.

I am extremely grateful for your assistance, as I am confident your intervention prompted a thorough investigation into a matter that my efforts proved futile in resolving.

Please keep up the good work on behalf of the Jamaican people.”

We wish you all the best.

Have a problem with a store, utility or company? Telephone 936-9436 or write to: Tell Claudienne c/o Sunday Finance, Jamaica Observer, 40-42 1/2 Beechwood Avenue, Kingston 5; or e-mail:edwardsc@jamaicaobserver.com. Please include a contact phone number.