Steve Lewis wrote:
I remember reading somewhere that all of those unspent funds in
Oyster accounts has to be listed in TfL's accounts as a liability.
With hindsight, from the start of Oyster the Ts & Cs should have
included a provision for unclaimed balances to eventually expire.

I don't see a problem with the current regime. The balance on PAYG
Oysters is shown in the accounts as part of short term creditors - along
with the balance of travelcards and bus passes which are in the nature
of payments in advance. The total for all those was £m357 in 2014.
AFAICS that does no harm to TfL because it has of course had the money
which goes into the pot of reserves of over £m4,000. So I am willing to
trust to TfL's business (and political) judgment that it better to carry
unspent balances on PAYG Oysters rather than incur the many costs of
dealing with greater numbers of requests for refunds; and the costs of
dealing with complaints (eg "your outrageous system did not just grab my
£9 without warning but also stranded great aunt Agatha in her wheelchair
at midnight - and her without a spare colostomy bag") - plus the
reputational damage.

10 or 20 years from now I can see a case for a review but for now I'd
let sleeping cards slumber on in peace.


--
Robin
reply to address is (meant to be) valid

In message , at 16:57:39 on Fri, 14 Aug
2015, Roland Perry remarked:

Ironically my bank recently had to replace my bank card and the new
one isn't contactless and I wasn't given a choice about that.

I've been using an "Orange Cash" prepay card but I got an email
yesterday saying that EE are bailing out and I'm going to be
transferred to a different issuer.

Optimum by Prepay Technologies

It's not clear if the replacement is also contactless, so I've
queried this by email.

12 days later they've got back to me with a one sentence reply of "yes
it will be contactless".

It now occurs to me that I asked the wrong question, and should have
been enquiring about whether such a card, if contactless, was accepted
by TfL.

I'll continue trying to pull these particular teeth.

So I asked the question, and six weeks later... no response.

The Optimum card itself arrived yesterday (2nd October) so only a day
later than the Orange Cash card went to meet its maker. The good news is
they did transfer the balance across, and it's contactless.

I suppose I'll have to try it out next time I'm in London to see if TfL
accept it.
--
Roland Perry

In message , at 12:14:57 on Sat, 3 Oct
2015, Roland Perry remarked:

I've been using an "Orange Cash" prepay card but I got an email
yesterday saying that EE are bailing out and I'm going to be
transferred to a different issuer.

Optimum by Prepay Technologies

It's not clear if the replacement is also contactless, so I've
queried this by email.

12 days later they've got back to me with a one sentence reply of "yes
it will be contactless".

It now occurs to me that I asked the wrong question, and should have
been enquiring about whether such a card, if contactless, was accepted
by TfL.

I'll continue trying to pull these particular teeth.

So I asked the question, and six weeks later... no response.

The Optimum card itself arrived yesterday (2nd October) so only a day
later than the Orange Cash card went to meet its maker. The good news
is they did transfer the balance across, and it's contactless.

I suppose I'll have to try it out next time I'm in London to see if TfL
accept it.

And in later news, trying to set up the Optimum Account App (on Android
phone) it barfs with "the server has had a hiccup, please try later".

A bunch of amateurs, or what??
--
Roland Perry

In message , at 12:14:57 on Sat, 3 Oct
2015, Roland Perry remarked:

I've been using an "Orange Cash" prepay card but I got an email
yesterday saying that EE are bailing out and I'm going to be
transferred to a different issuer.

Optimum by Prepay Technologies

It's not clear if the replacement is also contactless, so I've
queried this by email.

12 days later they've got back to me with a one sentence reply of "yes
it will be contactless".

It now occurs to me that I asked the wrong question, and should have
been enquiring about whether such a card, if contactless, was accepted
by TfL.

I'll continue trying to pull these particular teeth.

So I asked the question, and six weeks later... no response.

The Optimum card itself arrived yesterday (2nd October) so only a day
later than the Orange Cash card went to meet its maker. The good news
is they did transfer the balance across, and it's contactless.

I suppose I'll have to try it out next time I'm in London to see if TfL
accept it.

They do.
--
Roland Perry