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Call Kurtis: The ATM Ate My Cash Deposit but Didn't Credit My Account

WILLOWS (CBS13) - Bank customer Linda Stites shows us how she put 445 bucks cash, right into this Umpqua Bank ATM.

"You could hear it in there shuffling and then it says continue, I put continue and it says please wait and it just froze," said Stites, an Umpqua Bank Customer.

No receipt spit out and that money Stites desperately needed for bills, it never showed up in her account.

"The only thing I could figure, it was still stuck in the machine," said Stites.

But she says the bank told her, it could take up to 10-business days to figure out what happened.

How would she pay her bills?

"Yeah it's not like I just had that money laying around," said Stites.

"I'm not a fan of depositing cash at the ATM", said Greg McBride Chief Financial Analyst for BankRate.com.

Although cases like these are rare, McBride says you should always deposit cash inside a branch.

"That really is still the safest way to make sure that your cash gets into your account," said McBride.

We reached out to Oregon based Umpqua Bank about their ATM they told us in a statement, "occasionally they do malfunction due to software or systems issues, which was recently the case…".

After we got involved and 12-days after the ATM ate Linda's cash, it showed up in her account.

"I think I'd probably still be waiting for my money if I wouldn't have reached out to you guys," said Stites.

Stites said that Umpqua did not charge her overdraft fees, but she had to take out a loan to cover her bills during the deposit mishap.

We've see other complaints online of similar issues with ATM's happening at other banks too.

Umpqua's Full Statement:

ATMs are a reliable and convenient way for customers to access funds. However, occasionally they do malfunction due to software or systems issues, which was recently the case with our Willows, California, ATM.

According to industry statistics, the most common issues are: cash/check acceptor jam, cash and checks being deposited get stuck in the ATM.

And here are some simple tips on what consumers should do if they experience an issue with an ATM while making a deposit:

After every ATM transaction, review your receipt and verify that the deposit has gone through and is credited to your account.

If not, notify a customer service representative to file a dispute - the sooner, the better.

If an ATM holds your card or if you don't receive a receipt for your deposit, immediately notify a bank associate or call the customer service line.

An associate can file a dispute right away, so the issue can be researched and appropriate action can be taken. Customers should know that banks often need to research the issue to make sure fraudulent activity isn't involved and have a total of 10 business days to complete this research and credit a customer's missing funds.

In the meantime, most banks (including Umpqua) will provide customers with a "provisional credit" when notified by the customer, which allows customers to use the money deposited while the dispute is being reviewed.

-Umpqua Bank Spokesperson

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