Lothian Buses Edinburgh shady Ridacard top-up system query
mtodak
Posts: 5 Forumite
I would like to get advice regarding Lothian Buses (Edinburgh) shady monthly ticket top-up system as it does not look right and is a rip-off if you are not aware of it.
Here is what i emailed to Lothian Buses customer service:
"Hello, Its regarding Ridacard 4 weeks topup. Ridacard number: xxx. On 18/06/19 i arrived at the Edinburgh airport where i purchased another 4 weeks credit. To my surprise when i used it on the first day (25/06/19) of my arrival it was showing valid till 16/07 instead of 23/07 at the bus display. It looks like i am short 1 week here despite paying 57 pounds. Can you sort it out please? Regards, M."
And the reply was:
"Hello there Martin,
So having checked on our system with your card number, what it is showing me is that you did indeed top up your card for 4 weeks on the 18th of June. The reason that it is running only until the 16th of July and not the 23rd is that the card when topped up still had until the 18th of June on it until it expired, so until midnight that night. When you top up a card that still has time on it, the time will run onto the back end of what you still have on the card, rather than the time starting when you first use it.
Hope this helps
Waverley Front Counter
Regards,
Martin.
Here is what i emailed to Lothian Buses customer service:
"Hello, Its regarding Ridacard 4 weeks topup. Ridacard number: xxx. On 18/06/19 i arrived at the Edinburgh airport where i purchased another 4 weeks credit. To my surprise when i used it on the first day (25/06/19) of my arrival it was showing valid till 16/07 instead of 23/07 at the bus display. It looks like i am short 1 week here despite paying 57 pounds. Can you sort it out please? Regards, M."
And the reply was:
"Hello there Martin,
So having checked on our system with your card number, what it is showing me is that you did indeed top up your card for 4 weeks on the 18th of June. The reason that it is running only until the 16th of July and not the 23rd is that the card when topped up still had until the 18th of June on it until it expired, so until midnight that night. When you top up a card that still has time on it, the time will run onto the back end of what you still have on the card, rather than the time starting when you first use it.
Hope this helps
Waverley Front Counter
Regards,
Martin.
0
Comments
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Every time you use your card to displays the expiration date, why would you pay for 4 weeks when you have a week left?
It's not like the travel passes I've used before where it's a photo card and a separate card showing the length / time limit of the pass.Mortgage started 2020, aiming to clear it in 2026.0 -
So you bought a 4 week pass and it only lasted 4 weeks?0
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I think that the OP expected the "Top up" to follow on. Below is an extract from the T&C's
8. Advance Purchase
8.1 Following initial card purchase, advance purchase 1 week and 4 week “top ups” can be purchased from PayPoint agents within the Lothian Buses operating area.
8.2 Zone C & D Ridacards cannot be topped up at PayPoint agents – “top ups” for these cards can only be purchased at one of our Travelshops.
I would suspect that the OP used a Paypoint or did indeed use a Travelshop but didn't specify that it needed to follow on and the shop didn't offer/ask either.0 -
Not surprising that all these transport companies are flocking to so called 'smart' cards because as they look to London they see what a cash cow it is.0
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8.2 Zone C & D Ridacards cannot be topped up at PayPoint agents – “top ups” for these cards can only be purchased at one of our Travelshops.
Hide it in the small print...... a classic!
Bit like the 'we'll charge you a Zone 1 fare even if you don't go through/use Zone 1' thats hidden in ghe small print as well.0 -
It did follow on. The new top up only started when the old one finished, which was after midnight that day.I think that the OP expected the "Top up" to follow on. Below is an extract from the T&C's
8. Advance Purchase
8.1 Following initial card purchase, advance purchase 1 week and 4 week “top ups” can be purchased from PayPoint agents within the Lothian Buses operating area.
8.2 Zone C & D Ridacards cannot be topped up at PayPoint agents – “top ups” for these cards can only be purchased at one of our Travelshops.
I would suspect that the OP used a Paypoint or did indeed use a Travelshop but didn't specify that it needed to follow on and the shop didn't offer/ask either.
The OP thinks that because they didn't use their pass for the first week they should have got an extra week free to compensate.0 -
stragglebod wrote: »The OP thinks that because they didn't use their pass for the first week they should have got an extra week free to compensate.
From what the company said in response, this was a reasonable expectation on the OPs part.
From the sound of it - if they'd bought a 4 week top up on a card with *no* remaining time on it, then that 4 week pass would have started when they first used the card, not from when they topped it up. However, because there was still 1/2 a days time left on the card when they topped it up, it automatically ran on.
i.e. if they'd topped it up a day later on the 19th, then it *would* have run from 25/06 to 23/07.0 -
Why is that a reasonable expectation? Where - other than in the T&Cs which make it clear what happens if you buy a pass when one is active - does their website give misleading information about when the pass starts?0
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stragglebod wrote: »Why is that a reasonable expectation? Where - other than in the T&Cs which make it clear what happens if you buy a pass when one is active - does their website give misleading information about when the pass starts?
Because it's a thing that does happen under the correct circumstances - the OP just got the timing wrong.
It's not unreasonable to expect that a 4 week top-up always "behaves" the same way when bought (i.e. it starts from when you first use it). It may not be a *correct* expectation, but it isn't unreasonable.
If the capability exists for a top-up to remain inactive on your card until you first use it, then why doesn't that always happen? It's certainly not in the interests of a customer to have it automatically run on.
i.e. "When you top up a card that still has time on it, the time will run onto the back end of what you still have on the card, rather than the time starting when you first use it." Makes no sense from the customers perspective - why would you *ever* want that to happen, when the system is clearly capable of not doing it.0
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