Customers at a petrol station in Greater Manchester, UK, got a pleasant surprise this week when an ATM started giving out double the money requested.
Hundreds flocked to the Nationwide ATM in Stretford to make the most of the machine’s ‘generosity’, with many making withdrawals on multiple bank cards to maximise their ‘free’ money.
The ATM started its charitable splurge on Thursday morning at 11am after being loaded incorrectly by a Nationwide contractor. Customers report that it paid out £60 for a £30 withdrawal, with various other cash multiples being given away depending on the exact amount requested.
News of the boon soon spread across the town although the building society was not made aware of the error until an engineer was called at 5pm. Although Nationwide have not yet confirmed the exact amount, it has estimated that an extra £10,000 was paid out to customers during that time.
A spokesperson for Nationwide commented: "There was a problem. We are investigating what transactions took place.
"It is disappointing no one reported the matter earlier in the day when lots of people were aware and it is disappointing some people were deliberately using the machine to take extra money.
"Legally, recipients of payments made by mistakes are not entitled to benefit from it.
"We will reserve the right to contact people about the matter on an individual basis."
Whether Nationwide pursues the individuals who benefited from the windfall, something that would be no mean feat considering withdrawals were made from numerous bank and building society accounts; or simply look for compensation from the contractors who made the error remains to be seen.
In the meantime however, those who benefited from the unexpected luck are simply celebrating the rare chance to get a little something back from their bank.
