Skip to main content

Vet says ATM ate his money, bank refused refund

Chase after investigating: ‘Machine balanced at end of the day'

ORLANDO, Fla. – United States Army veteran Joshua Citron says he is outraged after an Orlando Chase ATM ate his money.

"It's terrible," he said. "I mean, they stole my money -- $250. To me, that's not chump change. That's a lot of money."

[WEB EXTRA: Copy of receipt | Tips on avoiding ATM mistakes | ATM issue shows Bank Tech downside ]

Citron said he was trying to deposit cash into the ATM near Conway and Michigan when something went wrong.

"Immediately, an error message came up and it said something along the lines of, 'There was an error when you tried depositing your cash. Call this number to make sure the money was deposited into your account,'" Citron said.

Citron said the phone number he was given did not work, so he immediately walked into the bank for help. That's where he said it was confirmed to him that the money never made it into his account. He asked them to make it right.

"We went through a bunch of hoops," Citron said. "I gave them a phone call. They said they would investigate it and see if there was extra money in the ATM. They called me back or sent me an email about a week later and said when they counted the ATM it was a complete wash and there was no extra money and I wouldn't be refunded anything."

Local 6 searched for other people who claimed to have ATM problems like Citron's and found several customers complaining online. One customer told BankRate.com her story. She said an ATM failed to deposit her money, and after weeks of complaining, she said Chase "found the money" and admitted "there was an error with the ATM," which was located in New York, according to BankRate.com.

Chase corporate spokeswoman Maribel Ferrer sent Local 6 a statement in response to questions about Citron's case.

"Our ATMs manage millions of transactions safely and securely every day," Ferrer said in the statement. "Our evening audit of that ATM showed that the machine balanced at the end of the day. But we take customer concerns very seriously and are continuing to investigate his claim."

Citron figured Chase had closed his case shortly after he made his complaint in February and was told he wouldn't be getting refunded because there was no extra money found in the ATM.

"I served six years in the United States Army," Citron said. "I'm not a liar. I'm an honest person."

Citron said he'll never use Chase again.

"For me to put that into an ATM that's supposed to work, get an error message saying there was an issue, make sure the money was put into your account, and there's a camera on the ATM, and I walked into the bank immediately to show them, and then for them to tell me, 'Sorry, there's not enough proof, it is what it is,' that's not right," Citron said. "You don't tell someone it is what it is when it's their money. That's robbery."


Recommended Videos