Here is a story that has happened to me recently when I was trying to use Bitcoin ATM. Just thought someone might benefit from it.
When I approached the machine I was first asked whether I want to "Buy" or "Sell" BTC. I pressed "Buy" and luckily decided to try a smaller amount first. I've put the banknote inside and agreed with the amount of BTC to receive. After pressing "Create a paper wallet" I was forwarded to a screen summarizing the operation performed. This is the point where I was supposed to receive a paper with my private key based on the videos I saw on the internet.
However, that was not the case. The ATM was just hanging there for minutes not giving me any paper back. After some more time waiting I pressed Clear (the only button on that screen) which returned me to the main menu again without any paper in my hands. So the ATM just consumed my cash without giving anything back.
Astonished by the impudence of the machine I tried to get some help from the people working at the university but they politely stated that this machine is not related to the building and provided me with phone numbers of Bitcoin ATM support. It was Sunday and the support wasn't working so I just went out of the university without my money.
I called support later on Monday and they told me they would take a look at the problem and call me back. But they didn't. I've made another call on Wednesday and again they said "ok, we'll call you back". Couple of hours later a guy from technical support reached me, asked a couple of questions and finally sent me a paper wallet by email with apologies for the inconvenience.
Not sure what the problem was (might be some technical issues) and I'm not writing this to blame anyone. I'm a big crypto-fan myself and I understand that Bitcoin ATM ecosystem is only a couple of years old so it might not work 100% ideal for now. However, I think it makes sense to let everyone know some simple steps one should follow experiencing problems with that kind of machines.
So if you have your cash "eaten" by Bitcoin ATM, and you're not ok with that, just do the following:
- Make sure you remember the approximate time of your interaction and the amount you entered for this transaction.
- Call support and explain your situation step by step. The telephone number for your location is sometimes written on ATM, if not just google it.
- You need to finally reach a technical specialist that will send you the paper wallet through email.
- If support is not calling you back don't worry, just call again. It appears they love persistent people :)