Backdated Oyster Card bill - advice needed

finneyflash

I have auto top up on my Oyster card set to automatically top up my card with £40 when the balance drops below £10. My travel pattern results in an auto top up payment about once a month. TFL promote this as a handy way to not have to remember about topping up - just forget about it and go. I've been doing it this way for years without any problems.

Because it's automatic I rarely have to log in to my account - that's one of the benefits of an auto system. I did so today because I needed to print a one-off journey history for an expense claim and was shocked to see a message saying that I owed £280 because of several failed attempts to top up my card. My debit card is still valid and there are always plenty of funds available, so it's a glitch in the system that has caused the failure.

What astonishes me is that my credit ran out in Oct 2015 but TFL has not contacted me about it. They have tried to take auto payments every month since October, resulting in 7 failed attempts of £40 each time, totalling £280. So I have been travelling around London for the last 6 months, blissfully unaware that I have been racking up a large bill.

How is it possible that my Oyster card has still been valid and TFL has not tried to contact me to rectify this? When it tops up you should receive an email to confirm. I now realise it's been a while since I received one, which should have alerted me to the problem - but it's very easy to not notice, and the whole 'forget and go' system is promoted on the basis of not having to think about it - so I haven't!

So TFL can email me to confirm a payment has been taken, but not contact me to say a payment has failed? If I had not happened to log into my account today this would have gone on indefinitely and the bill would have just kept rising. I dread to think how long this would have gone on - the bill could potentially have run into thousands. I'm happy to pay for the journeys I make - but I'm not happy that my bank account will now suffer an unexpected hit of paying for 6 months travel in one go. Any advice? Can I refuse to pay if it's their failure?

reehsetin

finneyflash wrote: »

So TFL can email me to confirm a payment has been taken, but not contact me to say a payment has failed?

Complain to them and ask them to improve their processes

finneyflash wrote: »

I'm happy to pay for the journeys I make - but I'm not happy that my bank account will now suffer an unexpected hit of paying for 6 months travel in one go. Any advice? Can I refuse to pay if it's their failure?

No - you could maybe ask to pay in installments but you do owe the full amount

Mr_Singleton

finneyflash wrote: »

but I'm not happy that my bank account will now suffer an unexpected hit of paying for 6 months travel in one go.

Can't think that TFL is going to be too happy at having given you 6 months free credit. The money that you would have spent is still in your account so what's the issue?

finneyflash

Thanks for the advice. The problem for me is the unexpected bill - so just tough luck on me I guess. What's particularly frustrating is that my account balance on the journey history gives no indication that something is wrong. The journey history shows the oyster card being credited with £40 on each of the 7 occasions they tried and failed to take the money. And today's balance is showing as £23.10 in credit - even though I owe them £280. It makes no sense.

agrinnall

Why didn't you notice that £40 a month wasn't being taken out of your account by TfL?

wealdroam

Forgive me for asking, but what was TfL's response to your questions?

Errr... you have asked them, haven't you?

Here's an idea... ask your bank why they have refused these auto-toppup requests.

DCFC79

My advice, check your Oyster and bank accounts more often.

katejo

It does seem strange that TFL still allowed you to travel despite the failed payments.

macman

You say you usually have a auto-top up monthly So you should have had 7 bank statements where you've failed to notice that £40 had not been deducted by TFL?

chuckley

What did TFL say? this defo sounds bizarre.