Problems with Bogota airport atm?

Sanmario says on Jan 14, 2007, 07:53:

I own a home in Santa Marta. I was there over Christmas also. The exchange rate at the time was more or less $2250COP almost everywhere I went. The difference you are referring to is about $45 USA which is likely the bank service charge for using the ATM. On the bright side of things, using an ATM is by far much more "hassle free" than trying to wait in line at a Bank in country.

My Bad......ooops...sorry.....after rereading your post I realize I did not fully read all. Must be "old timers disease finally catching up w/ me. Try a transaction dispute. I have a CC dispute going right now with a Car Rental Agency. geeez what a goatrope!!! Good luck!

Santo

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Azul says on Jan 14, 2007, 08:14:

Did you save the ATM receipt?

las cosas caen por su propio peso

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alvinl35 says on Jan 14, 2007, 08:49:

banks, atms travalers checks in cali how about Cali, I will be there next week and need to know where I can change amerian money into pesos. also, travelers checks,I am not staying at a hotel and need to know where to cash them. Atm where and are they in english?? what is the best way to have moeny in cali??
ALvin lamore, vero beach, florida

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aztec says on Jan 14, 2007, 08:51:

alvinl35, travelors checks... ...are more trouble than they are worth. Use the ATM.

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miamimike says on Jan 14, 2007, 10:53:

Not Mentioned but very safe are Prepaid Mastercards they cost a little to open, like $10 and the ones I have used have a limit of $2500. Get a couple if more are needed. http://www.mastercard.com/us/personal/en/aboutourcards/gift_prepaid/index.html


Wow, I see Metabank listed in this above link has a Max of $10,000!~

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miamimike says on Jan 14, 2007, 10:56:

Thats what I do also Mario If in a Mall and the ATM is on the ground floor, I also want to know if there are guys hanging around ABOVE on the second floor with cell phones. I like the City Bank ATM in Bogota as its behind closed doors and the doors are guarded with a couple guards with Rifles,,,

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adrimm says on Jan 14, 2007, 12:01:

Alvin agree with Miamimike about safer ATMS - Safest ATMS are those that are located inside bank doors - others have a higher chance of being tampered with.

Most banks charge between $4 and $6 for overseas transactions, and that is the cost of convenience. My experience with travellers cheques is that the only good place to cash them is at the airport (El Dorado so far at the exit area)... Banks seem to use a network that was always down - thus incredibly inconvenient.

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getting better says on Jan 14, 2007, 19:23:

Ways of getting cash Travellers cheques: as others have stated these are vitually useless and can only be changed at a few banks in Bogota, once you have taken them once to Colombia you will never take them again.
ATMs: generally work well in most towns, but occasionally in small towns they don't work for foreign cards (e.g. Tumaco), not sure why. The experience of the guy at El Dorado is very unusual and I suggest a accidental clerical error not a fraud, though very irritating just the same. You can only get $300,000 at a time but can draw twice from an ATM in succession, which is charged by your bank as two transactions. Take care not to accidentally press the button to make a small charitable donation!
Cash from banks: You can get at least $1.5m from some banks at the counter with a VISA card (e.g. Bancolombia). Takes about half an hour to queue, wait for them to phone for authorisation and wait again at another counter for the cash.
Credit cards: VISA credit cards widely accepted. Where it says cc write your passport number, you have to put your phone number and they won't accept it without, so write your hotel number or if not available seven random digits.
Friends: in last resort when desperate borrow money from a Colombian friend, when you can get cash go to a branch of their bank and pay the money into their bank account.
When travelling in rural areas there is always a tricky balance between the security risk of having too much cash and the risk of running out and not being able to get to an ATM that works.
If you are British a Nationwide Building society debit card will save you at around 6% when getting cash from ATMs.

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blogota.com says on Jan 14, 2007, 19:51:

Mario.. Bank of America branch? Please confirm Hey Mario... I just called the number you wrote for the BofA branch on Bogota, but it's actually some government agency.

Could you please check your information and let me know the actual number and/or address? The address you provided does not seem to be a logical location for a bank or even an office (I could be wrong). Thanks!

blogota.com

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aztec says on Jan 14, 2007, 20:29:

Mario I haven't found it either. There is one Bank of America branch in Bogota BTW: Open 9 - 3 and located at #124-51 Carrera 9. Tel: 312-2020

Is that not some commercial division of the bank?

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Gomezman5 says on Jan 15, 2007, 00:00:

Mike Just curious....why would someone want to use a prepaid credit card? In credit card addicted US, I cannot imagine anyone traveling to Colombia would not already have a credit card of their own to use. The only people I have ever heard of using a prepaid credit card, are people whose financial status (credit) is sub standard, or people who are trying to repair/reestablish their credit after a bankruptcy.

Travellers checks?? Now that is a joke. In Colombia? ha! Back in the late 80s and early 90s, when people used them more often, except for your hotel, nobody would take them and there were very few places that would cash them. And, may I add, if you could find a place that would cash them, you had to have your passport and a half a dozen people verify that you were indeed in the lawfull holder of these check.....Same old Colombia nonsense.

This thread got far afield from the authors question (as if that is a rarity). Anyway, to the author....the only way you can resolve any discrepancies is by contacting the bank which is the custodian of the account from where your money has been withdrawn. There is a procedure for verifying the accuracy but keep in mind that they need time to research the matter. If you have a good relationship with your bank, they will act as your advocate if something improper was done.

I had a fairly nasty experience in Panama City, Panama. I attempted to make a withdrawl, and I got a message telling me that they were unable to disburse the funds, and that I should contact my bank. I walked down the block to another bank, and tryed again, and same result. I called my bank in Chicago and they could not understand why I was getting that message. You think the idiots in Panama had an answer? Well, I got cash from the hotel by charging my credit card. I was not happy because of the extra cost for money advances but I was in a bind. Guess what. I get back to Chicago and check my balance, only to discover that the money that the two banks were unable to disburse, had been deducted from my account anyway, even though I never got a dime. The branch manager researched the issue and a few days latter, he credtited the account back for the amount debited.

So now you know how great these ATMs can be

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miamimike says on Jan 15, 2007, 04:37:

People Use Prepaid Mastercards for other reasons Gomezman If someone was interested in buying a Property in Colombia for example they could load up these cards with cash needed for the purchase. The Limit on one card(isued by metabank) was $10,000 so you could put $9999.99 into the card without triggering goverment reporting. This could be done on subsequent cards(9999.99) also without triggering government activity. Sure beats carrying large amounts of cash, sure you could have the money electronically transferred but others may(and do) want to go the prepaid mastercard route. Many here in Miami going to various countries go the prepaid route-have been for years, like many Haitians here in Miami for example who in the past routinely carried large amounts of Cash for Miami friends to their families in Haiti on vacations there. Now with the Prepaid Matercards again, this risk isn't necessary as they just load up the Credit cards with the cash and much less worry. I didn't realize it is that unusual out of Miami but evidently is is,,,

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pedro says on Jan 15, 2007, 06:38:

Contact your own bank Olaf, you should contact your own bank and register it as a disputed transaction.

I had this happen to me once in Brazil. I wasted a lot of time trying to get some kind of statement from Citibank in Brazil.

The proper way to do it is to contact your own bank and they follow it up. In my case, it was fixed within 24 hours.

que nota!

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olafgypsy says on Jan 15, 2007, 20:38:

Unfortunately, I lost the receipt. Stupid, stupid . . . so I'm not sure if I have any leverage in this dispute -- it would really be my word against the bank's.

Just to put this in perspective and clear up any misperceptions about the safety of using Colombia atms, this was my fourth trip to Colombia -- I've been to Bogota 3 times and Cartagena once. I have always used the atms, of many different banks, and this is the first time I have ever had a problem. Also, I am usually only charged $2.00 per transaction.

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Gomezman5 says on Jan 15, 2007, 23:37:

Hey Mike....interesting Now that is creative.

See, you really can learn something valuable on PBH.

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lpdiver says on Jan 16, 2007, 05:27:

For my wedding... I did the following...

I brought a small amount of cash ($2,000.00)

I brought a prepaid credit card (to limit potential loses, not due to lack of credit)

I brought $8,000.00 in American Express travellers checques. No problems cashing them at banks.

THe best deal was my credit union credit atm card no fees other than the colombian banks.

T

"cook some rice!"

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lpdiver says on Jan 16, 2007, 05:32:

For my wedding... I did the following...

I brought a small amount of cash ($2,000.00)

I brought a prepaid credit card (to limit potential loses, not due to lack of credit)

I brought $8,000.00 in American Express travellers checques. No problems cashing them at banks.

THe best deal was my credit union credit atm card no fees other than the colombian banks.

T

"cook some rice!"

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aztec says on Jan 16, 2007, 07:48:

Mastercards for other reasons miamimike, We actually attempted using our cards for a large down payment on property being built by Gomez. We could have used one of our cards for the entire purchase. Could not work it out. They would not even consider it.

Don't know if they were so set in their procedures or if they simply didn't know how. As you know, Gomez is a large and respected developer in Colombia and you would think his firm would see the advantages for the foreign investor.

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Robert Jorge says on Jan 16, 2007, 22:08:

Davienda Bank lets you withdraw 500.000 pesos at a time. I have never ran into an ATM that allows only one withdrawal. I sometimes made as many as 4 withdrawals at a time. The only thing that sucks is you have to pay the fees for each withdrawal. But they are fair, and you get the fair exchange rate for the day.

BEWARE of gold diggers.

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aztec says on Jan 19, 2007, 07:33:

Did you type it right? DonGringo I copied it from Mario's post where he says there is a Bank of America in Bogotá.

We have not been able to find it. I believe any office found of Bank of America serves only commercial interests. Would be nice if one existed there for the consumer.

Please let us know about the BOA in Chapinero.

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