Santander Cycles charging account with no money in it

throwaway_question

A couple months back 2 Santander bikes were taken out on my card and upon realizing the £8 total was not withdrawn from my account I called to clarify the fee, I was told that the bikes had not been docked and I had run up a fee of around £60 per bike, and that the charges would not be dropped. I told the representative that I did not have enough money in the account for that to be charged and was informed that the card will be charged periodically until there was enough.

I have 2 questions...
1) Is it worth going to my bank to discuss the matter?
2) Will using a switch service carry with it the extortionate charge to a new account?

Any advise would be greatly appreciated

chris_m

I guess the first question is - were they actually docked?

If they were, then you need to take it up with the operators, TfL?
If not, then you didn't follow the T&Cs and should be liable for the charge.

throwaway_question

Thanks for the prompt response, I was certain they were as the green light was 100% on at my docking station. I've already had a few calls with TFL about the incident and they refuse to give any benefit of doubt, they must have the bikes because I was not charged £300 per bike. I agree that I should be liable if they bikes weren't docked but it has turned into my word against theirs, I am also aware of cases of faulty docking stations.

Do you have any answers as to my specific questions?

chris_m

Well, if TfL are adamant that the charge is correct, I doubt your bank will be able to help, TBH.
As to the switching, I'm not sure. However, I suspect that your "old" bank would forward any charges to the "new" one.

Kernel_Sanders

What a bizarrely constructed OP and thread title. I thought this was about Santander account charging cycles! Totally incomprehensible unless you twigged it was about bike hire. I didn't even know Santander hired out bikes!

chris_m

Kernel_Sanders wrote: »

What a bizarrely constructed OP and thread title. I thought this was about Santander account charging cycles!

So did I, I had to google them to find out that they are what's commonly referred to as Boris Bikes. Santander are the current sponsor.

Archi_Bald

Kernel_Sanders wrote: »

What a bizarrely constructed OP and thread title. I thought this was about Santander account charging cycles! Totally incomprehensible unless you twigged it was about bike hire. I didn't even know Santander hired out bikes!

You not knowing about it doesn't mean "Santander Cycles" doesn't actually exist. https://tfl.gov.uk/modes/cycling/santander-cycles

Although covering an unusual incident, the thread title does make perfect sense.