The Citibank experience

First of all, I strongly discourage any Citibank account holders to rely on the "international network" they offer when going abroad.
Unfortunately, I did, and regret it already. Citibank have several branches in India, and I decided to go to the branch next to Connaught Circus for my cash withdrawls.
The building is quite modern, in contrast with most of the places around it, and to get into the bank (3rd floor), you pass 3 different controls, all looking through your bags and other items for security. This is fine, if they were actually controlling no one comes in from the "unsecured" exit.
Anyway, once in the branch, I found out that the only banking environment I was able to use was the basic ATM machines, the branches in different countries are not linked, so the only advice they give you for assistance is to call your bank in London. Great.
Out of the 3 ATMs, one had an "out of order" sign. But I guess that's fine if there are two left....

After several unsuccessful attempts to get cash, a security guy kindly offered to help. He explained that you must do the same operation twice in a row on the same machine if you actually want it to work (for the paranoid ones, I have checked, there is no double debit). By the time I had taken out 10000 ruppes from a machine, the "out of order" sign had ben switched to the other ATM. So I tried the recently mended one. No success. The security guy then talked to the machine, which for some reason responded in perfect Hindi. He then told me to try again, and it worked ! After I got my notes, this guy came out from the side of the ATM, as if he was manually operating them... I tried a last withdraw for 5000, and as the machine was about to hand out the notes, it crashed, so no notes, and no receipt showing it didn't work. I have been debited from my account, but according to them, I will be recredited in the next 2 to 3 working days. BLOODY THIEFS BANKERS !!

After going back the next day, I was finally informed that I couldn't withdraw more than 20000 rupees a day. They couldn't explain why, and the kind lady on the Citiphone assistance didn't know either. The system to know why a card wasn't working had crashed according to her. I am no longer surprised.
In the end, I was told that if I still wanted to withdraw money, I should go to HSBC.