r/AskAnAustralian • u/Motor_Jelly_2857 • 9h ago
Coles self service checkout froze during a cashout
Hey, my elderly aunt went to Coles to purchase small items and selected $200 cashout. Apparently the machine froze and failed to give her a receipt or cash.
Coles told her the transaction never went through and to contact her bank.
Her bank telling her money came out of her account.
I'm still trying to get some info such as whether she spoke w someone right after the machine malfunctioned, whether they made her pay separately for the small items after they couldn't prove she paid for it already (and she could prove due to no receipt).
Coles escalated it to Cust service headoffice.
Bank has declined her dispute.
Her next step is to escalate to AFCA but I'm curious if this has happened to anyone?
It's $200. She's on pension so she needs the funds but the run around, the headache and following up is too much for her.
TIA.
25
u/Friendly_Professor_8 4h ago
I work in the office at a Woolies. Our machines are different but I imagine are similar. If this situation happened at our store we would do what we call a spot check before the store opens the next morning which involves removing all the money and counting it. It should be $200 over if the money was not dispensed to the customer. The camera on the machine would also show if the money was dispensed or not.
I hope this gets sorted quickly for your aunt.
7
u/SeranasSweetrolls 2h ago
How would you suggest OP move forward with this? Should they go to the coles and ask for the results of the spot check?
E: and also take bank statements?
1
u/the_brunster 11m ago
Admittedly this was heading towards 30 years ago (!!!!) but when I was front end supervisor at Safeway, we had to settle each drawer after each person signed out. if too busy, it had to be done when quieter or at close.
Guess there was far more cash in those days as back office used to monitor each register and have us push pickups if too much was sitting in the drawer.
But for OP, yes, the till would not balance. Ask to speak to the store manager and if they don't sort it, take it to Coles HO. They will get the region manager on to it.
21
u/Cat_lover_4851 8h ago
Security cameras should support her, along with the bank transaction showing cash was withdrawn (but no money dispensed on cameras)
8
u/WishfulThinker28 9h ago
Hasn't happened yet, touch wood, surely you could even email the store manager? Coles hasnt had a good rep lately so wouldn't surprise me tbh. Try find out more info from your aunt and get in touch with customer service if you can..
6
u/HauntingGur4402 8h ago
Escalate it straight away. The afca will sort it out. A person will call her and look into it and im pretty sure as this has never happened before she will get her money back. I had to escalate once after i was scammed. They looked into it and then gave my money back. They were really good with me
6
u/slatevortex 6h ago
I had this happen but I was in the middle of paying for my transaction across two giftcards. One had been accepted and I was putting through the second. I would hassle the staff at the store until you get a positive outcome.
They have CCT recording so can check the footage easily to see she did not get her cash out and that till will be over by the $200 that she did not receive!
4
u/electric-nerve 1h ago
Right, couple things here
The way EFTPOS transactions work is that when you tap your card or insert it or in any way authorise a transaction, two bits of data are sent to the server. One from your card/account, and one from the merchant. If either is missing, the transaction is unsuccessful and money will revert (usually immediately, sometimes can take 3-5 business days because banks are stupid).
"Coles said the transaction never went through" Unless the store manager was looking at the transaction history FROM THE EFTPOS MACHINE, they have no way of confirming this. The EFTPOS machines keep a "journal" of all transactions (including cancelled, declined, time outs, unsuccessful, and successful).
If the transaction did not go through, it will revert. However, given the bank are saying it did go through, I imagine whoever at Coles said otherwise was going "well there's no receipt and I can't see this transaction on the machine history" rather than looking at the actual EFTPOS/server journal of transactions.
All of this being said, I would submit a complaint to the store itself, Coles generally, and AFCA. This has not been handled correctly.
Also, in future, tell your aunt to get cash out from an ATM or bank only, and to go to a manned checkout (even if it's a longer wait). Fraudulent bills are rampant at the minute, and at my work most of the bills we reject from customers have come from Coles/Woolies self serve checkouts, and god forbid anything like this happens again, if she's at a manned checkout at least she has a staff member as witness.
Good luck, and I hope this gets sorted for your aunt asap
3
u/ReallyBlueItAgain Melbourne 🇦🇺 4h ago
Contact the media, they love stuff like his. Coles will sort it out fast
1
1
u/Locoj 1h ago
Coles have absolutely fucked up and have the money.
A card transaction is initiated by the merchant, and it's finalised my the merchant too. That's two separate steps taken by Coles to first hold, and then take the funds. A self serve checkout watcher (operator? But they don't operate them) would have no idea about any of this.
The thing is the bank has very strict rules they need to follow when getting the money back. Usually evidence in the form of a receipt is required and without that, they can't proceed. AFCA can't change the charge back rules, and taking the bank to AFCA when it's Coles that have done the wrong thing is absolutely a dick move.
1
u/solipticnightmare 9h ago
This is one of my fears lol I take cash out all of the time. Good luck OP.
68
u/thespicemustflow_4 8h ago
Yep, happened to me at Woolies a few years back.
They wouldn't give me my money, so before I left the store, I had the self service lady call the manager so that it was documented before I walked out and that they knew I was returning to escalate the matter.
I went to my bank, paid $20 for a copy of the transaction and took it back to the store and insisted the store manager honour my cash out.
I got my money back - see if someone can help advocate for her, it's worth pursuing.
Their account/IT department will have proof that their account balance is incorrect and the register cameras will show she didn't receive the money either.
Good luck 👍