Contactless or Oyster monthly ticket?

rach_k

Anybody with an ounce of common sense will check their online account regularly, as you would when using your card anywhere else, and be able to fix any problems from there. I've never had a correction refused, whether it was my fault (I forgot to tap out) or possibly theirs (I thought I did tap out) or definitely theirs (the machine wasn't working).

OP, my husband recently did a similar thing - going from a travelcard to using contactless as now working more from home. I'd definitely give it a go. Make sure all of the cards you might use are added to your account (but use the same card for the whole day) so can easily see everything, then keep an eye on it for a couple of months to make sure you're getting the best value.

giraffe69

Whenever I've had an incomplete fare it has
a. been my fault
b. been corrected without problem

Your anti tfl stance makes you lose any objectivity or sense.

lisyloo

I’ve always had any issues corrected.
Sometimes it’s been their fault and sometimes mine, but not had any issue.

Mr_Singleton

..... because the evidence is on my side.
Using TFL's own figures shows that an unbelievably shocking 5% of journeys generate TFL a maximum cash fare. To put that into actual figures there are about 125 million journeys every 3 months. Its simply not credible to believe that this is purely down to user error. The Telegraph newspaper put this to TFL.... " So what do the TfL chiefs have to say? Not much really". Completely understandable as from TFL's perspective as its a cash cow worth £100's millions.

For those that are gushing about how wonderful TFL are....
"TfL won’t pay out if you have already claimed three maximum fare refunds in the same calendar month"
So even if it's TFL's fault they won't refund you. What other company could get away with that?

martindow

emigre wrote: »

I could do some advice here. I currently use a monthly ticket costing me £194 a month to travel within zones 1-4 for my commute. I also like to pop into the museums in London on a Friday and go into the town centre to pick up my groceries on the weekend via the bus. When I'm off, I like to bum around the sights of London and some shopping. I've been doing this for a few years, I haven't thought too much about the individual cost per trip.

I'll be undergoing an office move where there's less space so I will be working from home twice a week. Because of this, I'm trying to work the economic way forward. On days where I end up bumming around the city, I can take advantage of the daily cap (£10.10).

My thinking is I go contactless and just PAYG, I'll end up saving money. I'll still be travelling within zones 1-4 so working to the cap my commute to work will cost £30.30, put another couple of quid for any bus fates and my commute should cost £35 a week and my monthly travel cost should now be £140 a month and give me a decent saving.

I'll be interested in other's thoughts if they've been in a similar situation of working out new travel costs.

I'm quoting the OP as I'm sure emigre would like an answer to their question. This thread seems to have got a bit lost ...

Andy_L

Mr_Singleton wrote: »

..... because the evidence is on my side.
Using TFL's own figures shows that an unbelievably shocking 5% of journeys generate TFL a maximum cash fare.

is that 5% fail the tap out & thus default to the capping limit or that 5% of journeys reach the capping limit?

Mr_Singleton

Andy_L wrote: »

is that 5% fail the tap out & thus default to the capping limit or that 5% of journeys reach the capping limit?

5% of journeys that require a start and finish generate TFL an incomplete fare penalty. So if the barriers are faulty or there’s a electric blackout TFL will automatically charge you a maximum cash fare. TFL is quite happy to let you request a refund...
but only 3 tines a month.

If you’ve got nothing better to do with your life you can check your account every day and if you do find a max cash fare due to a faulty barrier then you’ve got to wait 48 hours to ring up the “help”line....then wait 20 minutes for an advisor, pray that your asking less than 3 times for a refund in a month and then you might get the money you should never have been taken, back. Again TFL gets to pocket around 50% of these max cash fares equating to £100’s of millions.

There is no cap when it comes to maximum cash fares so technically you could pay TFL £100+ in a day.

Mr_Singleton

martindow wrote: »

I'm quoting the OP as I'm sure emigre would like an answer to their question. This thread seems to have got a bit lost ...

Bit hard to offer any specific advice as there’s not enough info.

lisyloo

Mr_Singleton wrote: »

5% of journeys that require a start and finish generate TFL an incomplete fare penalty. So if the barriers are faulty or there’s a electric blackout TFL will automatically charge you a maximum cash fare. TFL is quite happy to let you request a refund...
but only 3 tines a month.

If you’ve got nothing better to do with your life you can check your account every day and if you do find a max cash fare due to a faulty barrier then you’ve got to wait 48 hours to ring up the “help”line....then wait 20 minutes for an advisor, pray that your asking less than 3 times for a refund in a month and then you might get the money you should never have been taken, back. Again TFL gets to pocket around 50% of these max cash fares equating to £100’s of millions.

There is no cap when it comes to maximum cash fares so technically you could pay TFL £100+ in a day.

If tfl know about an issue they will fix the billing.

I check my credit card statements, if something was amiss I’d notice.
Surely it’s mse to check your statements.

You don’t have to sit on the phone. You do it online and it takes about 2 mins whenever it suits you.

If people don’t bother to check their post especially if they KNoW there was an issue, then whose fault is that??

Mr_Singleton

lisyloo wrote: »

If tfl know about an issue they will fix the billing.

I check my credit card statements, if something was amiss I’d notice.
Surely it’s mse to check your statements.

You don’t have to sit on the phone. You do it online and it takes about 2 mins whenever it suits you.

In theory you might be right but as this is TFL..... nah!

Not surprisingly TFL has refused to disclose how many of the near 15 million incomplete journeys a year it has 'fixed'. Lip service comes to mind which Kinda says it all really.

I use the Oyster 100+ a month tallying all that up on a credit card statement is going to be a PITA especially as some charges don't come through to the next day. Also if you do have an incomple journey from 18 days ago because of a faulty machine are you going to remember a the details? An obviously don't forget TFL impose a maximum of 3 refunds* regardless of the reason, so faulty gates, blackouts, station evacuations etc are very very profitable.

So as I say if you absolutely must use public transport in London use an OysterCard and top it up regularly so if you've be scammed by TFL (which will happen) you'll notice quickly and be able to resolve it rather than having to wait for a messy CC statement.

* I think I'm correct in saying that somebody threatened TFL with court over the 3 refund limit and TFL very quietly backed down "as a goodwill gesture"...... cowards!