Dear Claudienne

I have been reading some of your articles online and I would like to thank you for the assistance you have offered to the Jamaican people as it relates to having issues solved.

I recently went to make a deposit at an NCB ABM at the bank’s St Jago branch. The deposit was on Friday, April 24, 2020 during the time of the St Catherine COVID-19 lockdown. I usually do not use this branch, however, the lockdown did not permit me to leave the parish to visit the branch I usually use.

On April 24, at approximately 3 pm, I attempted to deposit $72,000 that I had collected from a Western Union on the same compound as the bank. I was going to keep the cash, however, I did not feel safe doing so because a few people saw me collecting it. I therefore went down to the ABM inside the bank and tried to deposit the funds.

The first machine worked fine up until I placed the funds inside it. When I attempted to make the first deposit of $12,000, the machine just went blank and flashed a message saying, “Due to hardware failure, your last deposit was unable to be processed.” I stood there waiting for the machine to give me a receipt and return my money, but I got neither.

I then went to another machine to deposit the rest of the cash as I really wanted a receipt to see if the funds were deposited and I did not want to keep the cash on me. I made two more successful deposits of $30,000 each, but the $12,000 previously deposited was not reflected on the receipt!

I then left the machine and went to someone in the bank and asked her what to do about the situation. She told me to log the complaint with customer service. I then called customer service and they took my complaint and gave me a case number.

While I was on the phone with the customer service, some Guardsman workers came and cleared the machine. Other people had also used the machine while I kept watch to see if the machine would eject the $12,000 I had deposited. And if the bank had done a proper investigation, they would have seen me on camera standing and watching people as they used the ABM machine that did not eject my cash.

I watched the Guardsman workers and others use the machine hoping that it would “spit my money out” or even a receipt. I was rather surprised as it was not the first time that the NCB ABM had malfunctioned , however, on the other occasions, I had always got my cash back and a receipt with the error message.

Upon logging the complaint, I was asked by the rep for the machine number and I was able to obtain the number from a Guardsman worker and provide her with it. I then left the bank to conduct further business after being assured that the issue would be cleared within three to five business days.

After leaving the bank, I went back a few moments later to confirm the ATB machine number. As there were several machines and I was not sure which machine it was , I took the numbers for the two middle machines from the guard as I could have made the lodgement in either. I then called back the bank’s customer service centre and gave them the additional information,

Four business days later when I called to inquire about the issue. I was told that there was no evidence that I had deposited the funds. I got very upset and started yelling at the rep who then sent an e-mail to another department. She then told me to wait another three to five business days and assured me that she would call me. I am still waiting for that call!

After another four business days I then called the customer service again. I spoke to a rep who again told me that the bank still had not found any evidence of my transaction. I then made another complaint and he told me to wait 24 hours for a reply. I am still waiting for the reply.

I am very disappointed in NCB as I am sure that a proper investigation was not done! If so, they would have seen me on camera depositing the funds, etc. I have to be calling these people and waiting for up to an hour before a rep can speak to me! They then place me on hold for long periods just to tell me that there is no evidence of what I am saying!

Please assist me to have this issue resolved.

JW

Dear JW

Tell Claudienne has been in contact with NCB about your complaint. The bank has informed the column that they have contacted you and that the money has been returned to you.

We wish you all the best.