got done £20 for 50p over on Oyster card!!!!

Wiggynut

when I went to Slavakia we jumped on a tram and stood there confused... there wasn't anything to buy a ticket from or person!

A rather nice lady gave us her ticket as she was getting off.. we had to go to information (we had books on the area but there was no mention of this problem) to find out how to pay... you buy a small ticket (looks like something you get when you hand in your coat in a club). You then get this stamped on a little machine on the tram- most people were honest and did this - I suppose this is what they are trying on those bendy buses but you get 20 people getting on but only hear about 3 or 4 beeps so lots of freeloaders!

This is why they have a lot of inspectors and groups of police along the route... they do this daily for weeks at a time... I'm not dumb enough to think of not paying on this route and think I wouldn't get caught which is why I'm rather shocked to be treated this way for 50p and I pay for all my journeys anyway - but you will be surprised at the amount of people who take the bus everyday and still try to get away with it... well, ok... they run so they do actually get away with it!!

so I guess this is a bit similar to the Toronto buses/trams... but do you get fined for being 50p down by (genuine) mistake?

I wont use a oyster card now - I walk anyway but will just buy a paper travel card if I need to go anywhere else. It's only slightly more and I've not saved any money by using the oyster card if I'm going to get fined like this.

Wiggynut

*sigh*
just got my complaint email bounced back - auto response - this email address is no longer in use... so why is it on their website then????

yeslek

Wiggynut wrote: »

No other way to check as I cannot log into the Oyster website - it wont let me log in.

ok first off it isnt your fault you forgot you login details (they are very funny and i've often forgot mine as i dont use the capitol/letter/number thing they do.

also its not true having no way to check - go to the nearest tube station, scan either on the turnstiles or at the ticket machine - they both give values (obviously the turnstile one isnt as accurate if your just scanning in as it has the 'out' part of the journey to consider)

it's really you responsability for making sure you have enough on the card (i have a habit of overchecking EVERYTHING, banks, petrol, credit cards etc. its safer to KNOW that just make a hopeful guess.


that said, it isnt fair that others get away with more than you. fair enough, your over by 50p but surely the ones that NEVER pay should be charged say £100 a time. I agree totally with you that its unfair but there's little you can do besides becoming a super-bus-conductor.


in regards to complaining. send a letter RECORDED, it'll only cost about 70p or so second class and if sent right away will still be delivered at least 20 days before the requested 30 - that way you have proof that hand delivering cant give you.
Also, do the same for the train service (if its still within reasonable time after the 30 days) and explain your case truthfully and that yes you realise its out of the 30days but you didnt expect a hand-posted letter to take so long to circulate to the correct office and to avoid that happening again you are sending in a recorded letter.

I personally wouldnt let it lie but would definitly make sure i had enough on my card for the future (in fact, i always make sure i have more than enough for a day card, so usually about £5-£6 minimum)

Wiggynut

yeslek wrote: »

(in fact, i always make sure i have more than enough for a day card, so usually about £5-£6 minimum)

that's what I thought I had on the card - try and keep a spare fiver on there as I have to walk 20 minutes in the wrong direction to find a tube station.
Not sure if there's any others on the way as it's an hour & 15 mins walk one way so I tend not to make many turns offs... and it's south London - blink wrong and you get a butch of !!!!! giving you attitude! :rolleyes: or trying to fight you.

I know that I'm responsible for having money on it but if their site will not allow me to buy over the net and the local shops machines rarely work - hit and miss - tend to have to go to several before I can add any money! of course say this to someone and they don't believe me then they proceed to tell me all their problems with their oyster card!!!!

I only take the bus once a week - sometimes only 2 or 3 times a month so I guess I got it wrong... like most people I can't remember everything - doesn't make me a criminal. or that I should pay over the odds for a bus trip that you can never get seat.. rubbish and urine coated seats that is... hmmm.. just as well I can't sit down!

I've complained before and they just say they got the letter late... ie: you used to get 3 months to complain but they say they got the letter 3 months 1 day later = sorry you are too late to complain! I hand delivered the thing the next day and got a receipt too - they were not interested!

Their email address is not in use anymore... why is it on their website if you can't use it to contact them!!

I did work in a complaints department once with a very large company so I know that they just send standard copy & paste letters out and rarely actual look at what the person is complaining about.

I'll send another email and send a hard copy through the post.

I really don't believe they will take any notice but I'm sick of passively bending over and .....;)

yeslek

how come you cant top-up online? (dont mean to make you feel bad but i've never had problems with the card...aside from me forgetting my password)
isnt there a number on the Oyster site? (i cant recall seeing one but i'm never usually looking for it either)

if you have proof about handing in the letter i'm sure you can take them to a small claims court if they are basically ignoring you. (would be worth checking for sure on that as you do have to pay a small - yet reclaimable when won - amount)

dont let it lie. Definitly not the train situation (cos unfortunatly they can always use the 'well you were 50p down' excuse spun in whatever way they need)
if no one complains how will things ever get resovled?

pinkshoes

You should take it up with them, because they have breached their terms and conditions. I would consider 50p to be "just short" therefore you shouldn't have to pay the fine!! If they refuse, then pay the £20 in 1ps, and tip them out onto the counter of the place you have to pay the fine.

Personally I find english public transport such a rip-off compaired to other countries, especially the tube - it's not even air conditioned!! When I visit my mates in London (quite often), I always make sure I give my day travel pass to someone else when I'm leaving the city, as it's SO expensive it deserves a whole day of use!!

The London buses confuse me. I had to catch one from Victoria that went to New Cross, and neither my mate (who lives in London and has an Oyster Card) nor I could find any form of ticket machine, nor any method of paying for a ticket on the bus, so I didn't pay!! I would have happily purchased a ticket if I could work out how!

Wiggynut

yeslek wrote: »

how come you cant top-up online? site either doesn't work often or has maintenance - or password doesn't work yet I've written it down allowing for 1 caps & 1 number included but it still will not let me in or it freezes - only needs to happen several times and you stop trying after awhile. (dont mean to make you feel bad but i've never had problems with the card...aside from me forgetting my password). my first card was fine for two years... no probs... then lost that one and the next was worse.. never let me scan through and money went missing - never got resolved either - Oyster are costing me a fortune and that's not counting the actual travel fare!
isnt there a number on the Oyster site? (i cant recall seeing one but i'm never usually looking for it either) I think I will just get stroppy if I talk to someone.. .also you have to go through those menus and costs money on a mobile (landline phone has broken wire & not buying a new one just for one call!) via email & letter is better.

if you have proof about handing in the letter i'm sure you can take them to a small claims court if they are basically ignoring you. (would be worth checking for sure on that as you do have to pay a small - yet reclaimable when won - amount) This was several years ago now plus I didn't know about the legal side of things - and on my own so a bit of a scardy cat with courts/legal stuff - which I hope to remedy by using this site!

dont let it lie. Definitly not the train situation (cos unfortunatly they can always use the 'well you were 50p down' excuse spun in whatever way they need)
if no one complains how will things ever get resovled?

true... but London transport are known for being c.....p no matter how many complaints.

I don't see how it's useful to treat their customers like criminals for 50p.. .can understand if it's more or that person goes over a lot.. .it's all electronic so I'm sure they can add a 'flag' to the account so the inspectors know. better PR for them I would have thought... 'p'ing people off doesn't help them when they hike up the prices - once someone is annoyed with a company they tend to stay that way! Especially when it's over a tedious, easily rectified problem!

I'll try the email & letter route but I'm not hopeful (I'm rubbish at writing letters)

Aphrodite

The Oyster card site can be a bit irritaing to use but if you keep trying you do get there in the end! To see a history of where you've been and how much it all cost online you need to register the card online. Otherwise if you scan it in a ticket machine at a tube station you can see a history of where you've been, it may be worth it to see where your money has gone, I always seem to end up with less that I think I should have. Oyster can be a bit tricky to deal with but when they took £10 of my money and only topped up my card with £5...I managed to get it back so don't give up hope! I emailed them through a form on their site, and after a few emails I did manage to get it sorted.

I'll have to be more careful now having read what's happened to you, because I've gone into debt on my oyster card after touching out but I didn't think it was a problem, I'll have to top up more often.

I hope you get some result with Oyster.

asea

When i tap my oyster card on the reader at buses it automatically tells me how much credit i have each left & how much was taken off for that journey on the reader each & every time - they do that so you know how much credit you have left & as a reminder to top up!

dangeroussports

I know.

It seems the other posters seem to think that the beep and the LCD display is for entertainment purposes only.

TFL made a point of including a LCD displays showing how much credit you have left. It however isnt on all public transport though.