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Old February 28th 07, 10:27 AM posted to uk.transport.london
MIG MIG is offline
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First recorded activity at LondonBanter: Jun 2004
Posts: 3,154
Default Oyster Helpline Cost

On Feb 28, 11:09 am, wrote:
On Feb 28, 12:10 am, "MIG" wrote:

Does TfL make any money from calls to 08453309876?
Is there any means of claiming back the cost of calls in any case,
when this is the only way of resolving problems caused by TfL and
Oyster?
Why is there not a free number, given the punitive extractions of
money faced by TfL "customers" and the limited means of redress?


When I last called them, I was planning to ask for the call costs, but
the man nicely said "lets just make it £1.50 to cover the costs and
annoyance of the call." It was put on my debit card.

If the Oystercard system has fouled up, ALWAYS ask for your money
back. Through no fault of my own, I have been overcharged at least
five times through small amounts (under £1) - I can only assume TfL
think they'll get away with it.

A friend of mine was overcharged the same amount on a trip before
christmas. As a non-London resident, he couldn't have it added to his
Oystercard so was told to call back when he was next going. As this
was unsatisfactory to him, he wrote a letter, to which he sent two
months ago. No response. At the start of the month, a letter was hand-
delivered to Albany House. Still no response. Letter now being sent to
Uncle Ken - reclaiming the costs of the phone call & a stamp. If it
were me, I'd be tempted to charge a £5 "Administration" fee.



In my case, given that my card was refused by the reader on a bus (I
travelled anyway) after I had passed the capping limit, I want to find
out if it is safe to put any more credit on the card or whether it
will be gobbled up by a penalty £4 fare due to there having been a
problem (whoever's fault the problem was).

I don't see why I should pay for a phone call to find this out, but
the bus driver was not able to help. However, as far as I know there
is no money to be refunded at this point.

I am tempted to dump the card and get another one, as long as I can
avoid the deposit again.