Remember the first rule of the jungle/camino!!!!!

[mark connolly]

In a prior forum, someone mentioned the first rule of the jungle is, on the camino the
atm will eat your bank card when the bank is closed; or something to that effect, etc. Well it happened
to me. No, not on the camino, but at an ATM in NYC on Sunday (obviously the bank was closed and Monday,
Labor Day, is a holiday in the US). And guess what? I leave for the
camino on Thursday. Now don't worry, this was my spare or extra ATM card. As you can see,
this is a reminder to all, use the ATM during banking hours and keep an extra/spare ATM card
and some spare cash seperate for the other ATM/cash that you already have. With that
being said, I am off to Lourdes to start my camino. Wait....wait..in France it is called le chemin
and in Spain it is called el camino....so I am off on Thursday to Lourdes to start my chemin.
Buen camino, I mean bon chemin

Mark

 

[nycwalking]

Glad you learned on US soil and not in Madrid!
Buen camino

p.s. missing NYC.

 

[Waka]

Are you saying that you can only use the ATM when the bank is open?

 

[alaskadiver]

In a prior forum, someone mentioned the first rule of the jungle is, on the camino the
atm will eat your bank card when the bank is closed; or something to that effect, etc. Well it happened
to me. No, not on the camino, but at an ATM in NYC on Sunday (obviously the bank was closed and Monday,
Labor Day, is a holiday in the US). And guess what? I leave for the
camino on Thursday. Now don't worry, this was my spare or extra ATM card. As you can see,
this is a reminder to all, use the ATM during banking hours and keep an extra/spare ATM card
and some spare cash seperate for the other ATM/cash that you already have. With that
being said, I am off to Lourdes to start my camino. Wait....wait..in France it is called le chemin
and in Spain it is called el camino....so I am off on Thursday to Lourdes to start my chemin.
Buen camino, I mean bon chemin

Mark

Something is not right with your card. I've used my ATM card at home and abroad at all hours and never had a card taken. The only time this happened to me was when I forgot my PIN number and entered the wrong numbers 3 times in a row. I had to go inside the bank to retrieve.

 

[alaskadiver]

Are you saying that you can only use the ATM when the bank is open?

That's what he wrote but that's not how ATMs work. Something went wrong there. This is not normal by any means.

 

[Scott Sweeney]

Are you saying that you can only use the ATM when the bank is open?

That statement would be wrong. We have found ATMs that didn't like our card or the card in-network that ours is, but it doesn't eat cards. I believe that is the intent of ATM'S to service customers when the branch is closed.

 

[Rick of Rick and Peg]

Are you saying that you can only use the ATM when the bank is open?

No. This was a warning that if you want to avoid problems on the camino you should use only use ATMs located at banks that are open. That way, if the ATM takes your card and doesn't return it (as happened to the OP), you can go into the bank and get your card returned. Otherwise you may be out of funds for a few days while waiting to get your card back.

 

[Finisterre]

one of my mates used to have his card fastened to a strip of sticky tape so that he could pull it back out if the machine tried to take it.

 

[poogeyejr]

Are you saying that you can only use the ATM when the bank is open?

I think he is saying it is safer to us an ATM when the bank is open. Then if there is a problem they can help you.

However, these days, some bank ATM's are being serviced by outside companies, so even when the bank is open the branch staff have no keys to retrieve captured cards.



I learnt on this forum: Always keep $50-100 (E50-E100) with you in a safe space in case of emergencies.

 

[poogeyejr]

That's what he wrote but that's not how ATMs work. Something went wrong there. This is not normal by any means.

Like all machines ATMs can fail. If they restart or have a computer error during your transaction, you may not get your money or your card back.

It is rare, but it definitely happens.

 

[Jen Fawkes]

Not a silly thread at all. My husband (travelling on his own at the time) flew from Rome to Madrid, not only did his pack fail to arrive (2 weeks later found in the transit luggage in Rome airport) then his bank card was eaten by the machine at the airport. So we NEVER travel without a spare 50 euros in the pocket and another bank card for emergencies in the money belt. Technology is wonderful when it works!

 

[Rick of Rick and Peg]

However, these days, some bank ATM's are being serviced by outside companies, so even when the bank is open the branch staff have no keys to retrieve captured cards.

And other things can go wrong too.

[Repairman] gets stuck in ATM and slips 'help me' notes through receipt slot:
http://www.cnn.com/2017/07/13/us/repairman-stuck-in-atm-room-trnd/index.html

 

[EmoJohnson]

Not a silly thread at all. My husband (travelling on his own at the time) flew from Rome to Madrid, not only did his pack fail to arrive (2 weeks later found in the transit luggage in Rome airport) then his bank card was eaten by the machine at the airport. So we NEVER travel without a spare 50 euros in the pocket and another bank card for emergencies in the money belt. Technology is wonderful when it works!

What did your husband end up doing? Did he delay his camino?

 

[David St Augustine]

p.s. missing NYC.

W63/WEA checking in

 

[Tommybhoy]

Hopefully that's your 'glitch' for this Camino. Have an awesome journey.
Buen camino!

 

[nycwalking]

W63/WEA checking in

One of my many old neighborhoods.

 

[SYates]

Are you saying that you can only use the ATM when the bank is open?

No, he didn't say that at all! You can use an ATM even when the bank itself is closed BUT if you run into problems it is easier to get help if the bank is open. Happened to me some days agao. I was paying in money via the ATM and the "put your money in here opening" got stuck. I couldn't leave the ATM (unless I wanted to risk that somebody pinches my money) and was glad that another customer went into the bank and got a clerk/employee who solved my problem with --- tweezers ;-)

So, always keep Murphy's Law in mind and try your best to prepare for it ;-)

Bon/Buen Camino/Chemin, SY

 

[SYates]

Something is not right with your card. I've used my ATM card at home and abroad at all hours and never had a card taken. The only time this happened to me was when I forgot my PIN number and entered the wrong numbers 3 times in a row. I had to go inside the bank to retrieve.

Cards can be taken and have been taken for a wide variety of reasons:

The chip is damaged.
The card is flagged for "suspicious use" (you forgot to tell your bank that you are traveling abroad).
Hard/Software failure of the ATM.
Electricity outage in middle of transaction.

etc etc etc

Always take a back-up card. Buen Camino, SY

 

[Waka]

It's about time I fessed up and admit that my post was a bit stupid, I just thought things might be different in other countries outside of Europe, how wrong can I be.
I promise to be more sensible in future.

 

[Rick of Rick and Peg]

It's about time I fessed up and admit that my post was a bit stupid

No, what was stupid was a Telebanco ATM message telling me something like "Funds already drawn" leaving me to assume that someone had already withdrawn the daily maximum amount from my account. The message actually should have been "Insufficient funds".

 

[alaskadiver]

Cards can be taken and have been taken for a wide variety of reasons:

The chip is damaged.
The card is flagged for "suspicious use" (you forgot to tell your bank that you are traveling abroad).
Hard/Software failure of the ATM.
Electricity outage in middle of transaction.

etc etc etc

Always take a back-up card. Buen Camino, SY

True. But the OP stated that ATMs don't work after banks are closed. That's what I was responding to. Not the other reasons that might cause an issue.

 

[SYates]

@alaskadiver If you re-read the OPs post again, you will note that he referred to a version of Murphy's Law, but never stated that ATMs don't work when/after banks are closed. Here the quote (bolding by me):

"... the first rule of the jungle is, on the camino the atm will eat your bank card when the bank is closed;

Buen Camino, SY

 

[SeaHorse]

No. This was a warning that if you want to avoid problems on the camino you should use only use ATMs located at banks that are open. That way, if the ATM takes your card and doesn't return it (as happened to the OP), you can go into the bank and get your card returned. Otherwise you may be out of funds for a few days while waiting to get your card back.

Different countries, different banks, different times, the same story: ATM eats the card, bank is open, its even the card issued by that same bank, but no, they don't service that ATM and all you can do is call the card service company to block that card and send you another (and not to the camino, but to the address they have in their system). Just be ready.

 

[Rick of Rick and Peg]

As a couple we were covered pretty well with Peg having a card from her own bank and me from mine and we both had a card kept hidden away to access our joint account. We used mine because it had no fee for international usage although we did use her card twice at the end of the trip when mine had insufficient funds. I had scheduled automatic weekly transfers of funds from our joint account to mine but had failed to notice that the transfers would stop after 8 weeks and our trip was 12 weeks. Peg is cheap what I call a child of the great depression and since if we didn't withdraw her funds from a Deutsche Bank there would be a charge we took what might be called a couple of financial pilgrimages through Pamplona and Barcelona.

 

[Susan Peacock]

This definitely happens. Happened to us in Leon. For no apparent reason the ATM kept the card. Luckily, the bank was open and after an appeal to the bank manager, the card was retrieved and returned. So I definitely try to plan ahead and use banks that are opened for business.

 

[Older Guy]

I have had a US ATM eat my Debit card. I immediately called the bank to speak to an operator to see how I could get it back as the bank was closed. They didn't care. They didn't even want to know which machine it was. They told me that these things happen. Since then I always try to go to banks that are open, so that if this happens again, I can talk to the manager to see if I can get my card back.

There was no suspicious activity on my card or any other problem. The machine just malfunctioned.