A few year ago my bank switched their ATMs to a new model able to accept cash without an envelope. The problem I have is it rejects any bill that has even the slightliest little fold or bend in it, meaning any cash that has been in a wallet or ever folded often gets rejected. Instead of depositing cash in the ATM and having to try 3-5 deposits to get all the cash to stay in, I go to the teller if the bank is open.
Every god damn time the teller makes some remark about “you know you could just use the ATM” and i have to resist my blood boiling. I’ve tried to use the ATM, it fucking sucks. Invest in better tech or accept I’ll waste employee time.
It’s possible the cash deposit isn’t being used by enough people so they aren’t being informed it isn’t working often enough to actually do anything about it. It could be some simple malfunction, and a maintenance call to the manufacturer could fix the issue in minutes.
Happens a lot in work places, and in tech spaces in general. People don’t want to “raise a fuss” or be labeled “complainers”, so they don’t speak up.
Always speak up. Don’t assume they’re aware of your concerns. Feedback is important, don’t withhold it.
I’ve seen this happen countless times. Some printer or whatever in the office hasn’t been working properly for years, but they just got used to putting up with it and never put a ticket into IT. Then I eventually find and out 20 minutes was all it took to fix it.
Since you didn’t mention it, I’m curious if you’ve tried the smoothing trick. This is where you take the bill from both sides and gently but firmly slide it along a corner edge.
If you have any it doesn’t, then I’m sorry. I wanted to see if I could help. I had to deal with really picky vending machines back in the day which is how I learned that trick.
Thanks for the tip, I’ve had some success with it before. I’m in Canada and our money is made of plastic, it tends to have a really good “memory” once it gets folded. I swear the machines even reject pristine bills as well.
Ahhh gotcha, I’m down in the states with paper based cash. I actually didn’t know Canada’s was plastic. Ugh those machines though they sound like the worst. Hopefully they improve soon
It might be that the machine they’re using is one bought from a manufacturer in the states, and the readers are better at reading paper bills than plastic ones.
It feels like this basic thing should have been caught in testing before the machines even got mass produced. Like the guys building it probably had access to various bills to test with.
Bank bill counters can manage it with both speed and precision, and have been able to do so for a very long time. This is more of a problem with costs than possibility. They ignored the fringe cases intentionally.
The companies making the atms and other vending devices don’t care if you get frustrated, they know you will typically keep trying until it works because “that’s just how vending machines are”. the important thing is their machine is cheap, since it might get vandalized and cost them money to replace.
I feel there’s a reason most of them take cards now (it’s easier to spend more, don’t need change, machines aren’t storing large amounts of cash making them a target, and the tech is easier to have function properly for cheap, plus they can charge an extra fee!). Is not a good move, just part of the enshitification of everything.
A few year ago my bank switched their ATMs to a new model able to accept cash without an envelope. The problem I have is it rejects any bill that has even the slightliest little fold or bend in it, meaning any cash that has been in a wallet or ever folded often gets rejected. Instead of depositing cash in the ATM and having to try 3-5 deposits to get all the cash to stay in, I go to the teller if the bank is open.
Every god damn time the teller makes some remark about “you know you could just use the ATM” and i have to resist my blood boiling. I’ve tried to use the ATM, it fucking sucks. Invest in better tech or accept I’ll waste employee time.
Don’t resist. Let them know how you feel. That both stops the smarmy remarks and makes it more likely someone will look into it.
Exactly this.
It’s possible the cash deposit isn’t being used by enough people so they aren’t being informed it isn’t working often enough to actually do anything about it. It could be some simple malfunction, and a maintenance call to the manufacturer could fix the issue in minutes.
Happens a lot in work places, and in tech spaces in general. People don’t want to “raise a fuss” or be labeled “complainers”, so they don’t speak up.
Always speak up. Don’t assume they’re aware of your concerns. Feedback is important, don’t withhold it.
I’ve seen this happen countless times. Some printer or whatever in the office hasn’t been working properly for years, but they just got used to putting up with it and never put a ticket into IT. Then I eventually find and out 20 minutes was all it took to fix it.
Since you didn’t mention it, I’m curious if you’ve tried the smoothing trick. This is where you take the bill from both sides and gently but firmly slide it along a corner edge.
If you have any it doesn’t, then I’m sorry. I wanted to see if I could help. I had to deal with really picky vending machines back in the day which is how I learned that trick.
Thanks for the tip, I’ve had some success with it before. I’m in Canada and our money is made of plastic, it tends to have a really good “memory” once it gets folded. I swear the machines even reject pristine bills as well.
Ahhh gotcha, I’m down in the states with paper based cash. I actually didn’t know Canada’s was plastic. Ugh those machines though they sound like the worst. Hopefully they improve soon
It might be that the machine they’re using is one bought from a manufacturer in the states, and the readers are better at reading paper bills than plastic ones.
Also the machine might just need serviced.
Our machines (like vending and coin exchange) often reject bills that are too new and crisp, as well as too old and uncrisp.
There’s a sweet spot with tech, and that needs to stop being the case.
It feels like this basic thing should have been caught in testing before the machines even got mass produced. Like the guys building it probably had access to various bills to test with.
Bank bill counters can manage it with both speed and precision, and have been able to do so for a very long time. This is more of a problem with costs than possibility. They ignored the fringe cases intentionally.
The companies making the atms and other vending devices don’t care if you get frustrated, they know you will typically keep trying until it works because “that’s just how vending machines are”. the important thing is their machine is cheap, since it might get vandalized and cost them money to replace.
I feel there’s a reason most of them take cards now (it’s easier to spend more, don’t need change, machines aren’t storing large amounts of cash making them a target, and the tech is easier to have function properly for cheap, plus they can charge an extra fee!). Is not a good move, just part of the enshitification of everything.
It’s only a problem for cheap tech. A casino slot machine will happily work with almost everything short of torn bills.
You could always use the night drop, even in the daytime.
Might not have one.
And wait an unnecessary amount of time for them to add it to your account. Sometimes 24 hours
Have you asked them where to find the ironing board and iron?
Or, you could change banks. Crazy though, I know…