Broken ATM causes much whining

[Broomjockey]

There's something wrong with the ATM in the lobby of my Residence since at least yesterday morning. I imagine the amount of whining last night was fairly epic, due to all the kiddies wanting to get some clubbing money, but I wasn't working last night. I can only extrapolate from this morning's prodigious amount of nasal-toned serenading I've gotten.

Compounding the problem is that the machine that you can use your debit or credit cards to load laundry cards is also borked. But at least *that* company came out and tried to fix it yesterday.

At least a half dozen people today have come by to complain about that machine being unavailable, and what can they do? I point them towards the machine right next to it that accepts cash for laundry cards (the people who can't see/find it would be a completely seperate post, but more Brain Burps than Sucky), and that's when the whining about the ATM being broken starts. What's worse is that when I tell them there's an ATM in the grocery store 5 minute's walk away, I either get the rude scoffing noises, or they announce that they don't want to walk that far. And then one and all walks away without saying thanks, bye, or anything. Just conversation terminated.

The people who just want cash are worse though. "I neeeeeeed moneeeeeee~y." or "Can I get some from you somehow?" (Do I look like a bank teller? Do you expect me to have some form of cash-back function? That would require the purchase of something. I have nothing for sale! And they have no way of knowing, but our cashboxes were taken away anyways, so I can't even take payments for room fees.) There are no fewer than 4 different banks 3 blocks away. A TD, Royal Bank, CIBC, and a Bank of Montreal. That covers most people. GO THERE IF YOU NEED CASH.

/rant.

[MrSmiley]

To put it in perspective, I'm living in an apartment complex where to do laundry, either washer or dryer requires a Loonie ($1 coin) and a quarter. There are simply no other possibilities. No ATM, no cards, no service function, no change making. That means I get to dig around in my wallet for coins or walk the 5 blocks to the nearest ATM (2 blocks if I wanted to pay a surcharge at the hotel :P), get out a $20 since these things never carry anything less... then buy something at the convenience store I don't really need to make change.

And, it's really not a hassle

Of course... to highlight my own SC tenancies, it's taken about 6 months before I even considered stockpiling loonies/quarters from my wallet so I don't spend them on other things...

[Chromatix]

I don't use cash very often in this country - virtually everywhere takes the debit card with no surcharge. But that means I haven't got around to organsing my coins properly - I just keep a small stash in my pockets for emergencies, vending machines and supermarket trolleys.

Whenever I need coins, it's an utter pain to find the right ones or even to know how much I have, because the little travel-wallets I use (for comfort) aren't set up to handle cash properly. I do have a proper purse-wallet that works massively better, except for being huge and with metal pointy bits on the outside, which means I don't carry it very often.

[Plaidman]

Heh. Speaking of ATMs, I can't count the amount of times people walk right by it, demanding where it is. Its a big machine. Right there when you come in. Hard to miss.

I also had one or two call it a ATM machine. I'm pretty sure they saw the same comedy skit.

Also:

OMG!!! They charge that much!!! Gimme cash back!

Me: We don't do that.

SC: What can I do then?!?

ME: ??? Use the ATM or go to a bank?

[thehippie777]

We have similar issues with the ATM located in the lobby. A completely seperate company runs it. We just keep it here for guest use. Well, it often runs out of money & the slave workers that maintenance once a week literally only check it out once a week. So...if it's out of money it will be at least a couple days to get it up & going again. There is another ATM in the pub across the parking lot from us. Wow, after I get blamed for our ATM, people don't want to walk across a rather small parking lot to get their so much needed cash!

[protege]

I know what it's like--I once worked at a bank. Without fail, nearly every day some idiot would come in around noon...and bitch because the ATM was down for service. The bank would shut the machine down, simply because they didn't get much business from noon to 1. No big deal, right?

Most people simply went up to First Federal (2 blocks away) or to the other branch less than 5 minutes away out by the highway. But, one of my college professors takes the cake. He'd some in *every* damn day, and bitch about it. The definition of insanity is to do the same thing over and over, yet expect a different outcome...but let's not go there.

Anyway, as I'm helping my boss (senior VP of auditing) and his assistant do a branch audit (that is, to make sure they're following policy), this tool comes in. Right around noon, as usual. He's pissed that the ATM is down, and is screaming at the teller "what we're going to do about it." Needless to say, the branch manager (super nice guy) came out to see what was going on. Not even a second after introducing himself, my professor went off on him

Didn't get anywhere--branch manager said the ATM was getting maintenance, but if he really needed cash, the tellers would be happy to assist him, or he could go elsewhere. Not good enough--he literally stormed out of the place.

But, the fun didn't stop there. I'd heard several rumors about that guy (supposedly, he punched a student; he threw a desk, etc. ) but up until then, I doubted them. I couldn't resist telling any interested parties not only who the guy was, but his reputation. Then the caffeine started flowing, and we came up with ways to mess with him.

Best idea ever...was one of us was going to get inside the ATM, and use its microphone. We were going to say things like "Mr B, I hear you've been talking smack about me. You're not getting any cash today." Soup-Nazi style would have been better