Revenge of the ATM machines

I've been using my Australian credit cards for many years to withdraw funds overseas in local currencies. I've never had a problem with the amounts being wrong, or the machines grabbing my card, till Saturday.

The ATMs at the bank that I usually go to are generally reliable, and allow me to withdraw my full daily limit - some ATMS here have silly limits and you have to do 3 transactions with 3 lots of fees to get what you need. There is also often a lineup, as others have discovered the Banorte's usefulness, so I decided to get down there fairly early about 10am.

There was no sign that the ATM wasn't functioning correctly - it asked me all the same questions it usually did, but when it asked me the final "confirm your transaction" and I pressed the button, it came up with a message saying Sorry I am Out of Order. (Information that would have been useful BEFORE I inserted my card). I pressed the back and cancel buttons but to no avail, my card had been gobbled.

Fortunately, the bank was open although it's Saturday so I went in, and joined at least 70 other people. I didn't want to line up for a teller, there was no-one at the Customer service desk, so I joined a short queue behind the desk for opening new accounts.  The customer seated at the desk was in no hurry, despite the growing line behind her. She wanted to discuss the pros and cons of each type of account, what colour her card would be, and what would be the best way to do so-and-so. The bank teller attended her patiently, also with not a care for the line, but whenever she left her desk to get copies of something, some impatient man (sorry to say it, but ALWAYS a man) would jump the queue, pounce on her and explain his problem and she would also listen patiently and try to help, again without a care for the others waiting patiently. Although there had been only 1 person ahead of me in the queue, it took me more than an hour to get to her desk, and when I did, it was only 5 minutes to fish the card from the machine and return it to me - thank heavens I had a copy of my passport with me.

I was sick on Sunday so didn't get back to the bank, but Monday morning remembered that I still needed cash so I went to another branch of the same bank. The first ATM kindly told me in advance it had no money, thank you. But the other one let me get through the whole sequence again before the same red notice came up Sorry Out of Order, and again my card was gulped. Again, a visit inside the bank, again a long wait with a woman trying to argue that there was 500 pesos more in her account than what was showing, and wouldn't take no for an answer. I was still feeling lousy from food poisoning so by the time I got to the front I was starting to sway. "Ah no senora, sorry we can't open the machine now, you'll have to come back after lunch".  There's no point either in trying to argue or losing your temper, you learn pretty quickly here that those attitudes only make things take longer.

I went home and had a rest, then at 2pm I trundled up there again. She remembered me, found the card and returned it with a smile.  I still needed money, so I tried again, and this time the machine only asked me 2 questions before swallowing my card and closing down. I was almost in tears of frustration as I returned inside the bank and the teller saw my face. "not again?" she asked me. "Oh yes, the 3rd time in 2 days," I told her. She immediately picked up the phone but after a lot of rapid spanish she sheepishly told me "I'm sorry we can only open the machines once a day, you'll have to come back tomorrow". I doubted very much that was the case, but again not worth arguing.

This morning I fronted up again, and she directed me to who I think was the Manager; I had seen him the previous day ducking in and out of locked doors, trying to avoid being accosted by the people waiting. He pulled from his desk a stack of cards at least 4cm thick, but no mine was not amongst them. He then rummaged through other drawers and finding nothing, he went over to talk to a teller. She left and disappeared into another room, returning with another stack of cards, thankfully mine was amongst these.

"The machine is broken" he told me. Oh really??? "Yes it's just been taking everyone's cards. We have someone coming to look at it this afternoon".
Are they both broken? I asked. "No, the other one will be working in an hour or so" - which I think means that YES they are both broken now but hopefully one will be working soon and the other later today.

I STILL need money, and I'm sitting at home weighing up my options. Having lost my card 3 times, does that mean the run of bad luck is now over and I can happily insert it into another ATM without fear of repeating the experience? Or is it the start of a curse? Should I wash my card in rainwater gathered at midnight, or the tears of a blue goose, or pray over it and sprinkle it with tequila? Any voodoo or hokus pokus you kindly friends can offer, send it NOW!