Cash Machine ripped me off.....

I've been using ATM banking machines since roughly 1977/8. That's 30 years worth. I've used them every place I've been since then, including Canada, Australia, the US, Singapore, Malaysia, Taiwan, Hong Kong and more.

In the Canadian province of Ontario, the banks have allowed 3rd-party ATMs operated by no-idea-who. Presumably the mafia. Probably the mafia! One fine day last year, while working in Toronto for several months, I found my (Canadian) bank account frozen. A message had been left for me to come to the branch with two pieces of ID if I ever wanted to access my money ever again. Being Canada, where bureaucracy REALLY is out of control (NZ is a paradise by comparison) the provincial health card photo-ID I carried wasn't valid ID for banking, but the photo-free federal SIN card is. Never mind the photo on the health card matched the photo on my Ontario drivers license.

Why did they freeze my account? "I don't know, sir. There may have been security concerns." Oh.

They don't explain why they do these things because they would then have to tell you that some criminals got hold of your banking details from the 3rd-party ATM records when you got that $40 cash out of the ATM in the pub the other night. Why do they have these Mafia-driven, non-bank ATMs all over the place? Because EFT-POS services ("Interac") in Canada are still at a quite primitive level of implementation as compared to New Zealand. New Zealand is 2nd to no one in the banking area from my experience.

You know how we can deposit money easily and simply into each other's accounts to pay for stuff? Not in Canada. If the other person isn't an account holder at your bank, you have to use "e-mail Interac" at C$1.50 a throw.....and it's ugly. There is NO way to perform an overnight transaction between banks. They want your money for 5 working days. Don't get me started on Canadian banks. Hmm. too late.

Despite ALL that, I've never ever had an ATM actually rip me off. If I asked for $40, they gave me $40.

Until now.

The "Quikcash" machine on level 4 of Glenfield Mall gave me $20 when I had asked for $40 and gave me a receipt for $40 and debited my account balance by $40. Whoa! My ATM rip-off "cherry" had been popped loud and clear for all to hear.

I looked closer at the machine. It was a "Diebold". The same Diebold that has been at the centre of great concern in American elections. The "Two votes for George, one vote for his opponent" Diebold.


Looking at my sole $20 note....it was clear to me they can't count money either.

For the record: I went down to the Kiwibank branch, filled in a form, gave them the receipt, and 2 days later they credited my account with $20. So NO BIG DEAL......but still a crossroads of sorts had been reached. My life will never be the same.

Here is the YouTube version of the story: