180 Days in Mexico

On my last night in Playa del Carmen I figured I'd better go to an ATM and grab some money for travelling the next day. I tried several times to take money of out an HSBC machine but each time it wouldn't work. I figured the ATM probably didn't have any money left in it. Which is often the case in Mexico. So I walked over to the Scotiabank on 5th Avenue and tried the ATM there. I tried twice to take money out. First I asked for 3000 pesos and then 1000 pesos. Both times a slip came out saying my card was declined. I knew I had money in the account so it wasn't being declined because of insufficient funds. I bank with Scotia in Canada so I figured if it was a card problem it would work in a Scotia ATM. Nope it didn't.

When I got back to the house I went online to check my balance. I was shocked (and pissed off) to see I was missing $341.59 from my account. I could see all the HSBC transactions. They took the money out and then when the transaction didn't go through they put the money right back in. It shows a bunch of withdrawls and then credits on my account. But the two Scotia withdrawls came out and never went back in. I have a withdrawl for $247.33 (3000 pesos) and a $5.00 service fee, as well as $84.26 (1000 pesos) and a $5.00 fee.

Yesterday I was busy flying back to Manzanillo, so I called my bank today. They gave me a lame apology and said they would contact the bank in Mexico. They said it would take between 4-7 days to receive a response. It's Mexico they're dealing with, so I'm sure the response won't be quick. I've had friends tell me it could take up to 6 months to get my money back. I also may never see it again.

This sucks. Grrrr. :(

Update January 14th - This is part of an email I just received from Scotiabank. It says it could take up to 47 days after the Mexican bank refunds the money.

I checked the status and got the feedback that your case is under review at the present date.

Scotiabank has initiated an investigation and has sent the request to the bank that you used when you made the ABM withdrawal. There is no definite turnaround time for the refund to be issued back to your account by the other financial institution.

Our policy states, if a transaction is charged back to the other financial institution, please allow up to 47 days for a refund to be issued to the customer's account.

(You would think they could move things along faster since the 'other' institution is also a Scotiabank. But no. This is definitely going to take a while...patience is not one of my best virtues.)