Oyster Helpline Cost
 

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?

Oyster Helpline Cost
 

MIG wrote:
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?

Does 020 72277886 work? (from saynoto0870.com)

Why is there not a free number, given the punitive extractions of
money faced by TfL "customers" and the limited means of redress?

Probably because the 0845 issue is poorly understood in most circles?

If it still bothers you, write TfL, and then your London Assembly person
if they don't provide an adequate response.
--
Michael Hoffman

Oyster Helpline Cost
 

On 27 Feb 2007 16:10:43 -0800, MIG wrote:

Does TfL make any money from calls to 08453309876?

When you call an 0845 number, the recipient does receive a portion of
the cost of the call, so I presume the answer is yes.

Oyster Helpline Cost
 

In message , asdf
writes

When you call an 0845 number, the recipient does receive a portion of
the cost of the call, so I presume the answer is yes.

Its not quite that simple. With an 0845 number the charge to the caller
is fixed, whatever the distance of the call, and the recipient pays or
receives any difference in the actual cost of the call.

But in the case of the Oyster helpline, I would imagine that the
overwhelming majority of calls are local (from the London area) and so I
would expect that they make a profit from using an 0845.

--
Paul Terry

Oyster Helpline Cost
 

On Wed, 28 Feb 2007 08:08:24 +0000, Paul Terry
wrote:

In message , asdf
writes

When you call an 0845 number, the recipient does receive a portion of
the cost of the call, so I presume the answer is yes.

Its not quite that simple. With an 0845 number the charge to the caller
is fixed, whatever the distance of the call, and the recipient pays or
receives any difference in the actual cost of the call.

Little more complicated than that. 0845 has day/eve/weekend rates, and
the recipient can get benefits (call patterns, rerouting) as well as
or instead of cash. A crack down is overdue in 2008. Calls to geo
numbers are also now irrespective of distance for most people so the
excuse of "lo-call" is long blown.

FOI request is probably needed to find out why 0845 is more and more
in use: they have probably been sold a pup. TfL are better than most
in having geo numbers, v. useful when on hold which is a normal
situation for Oyster. Why they don't give priority to emails, or even
answer them, is a mystery. Any call centre should love emails. But at
least the web site is in more robust health than poor old cclondon
(not wildcarded as *.cclondon.com and regular outages).
--
Old anti-spam address cmylod at despammed dot com appears broke
So back to cmylod at bigfoot dot com

Oyster Helpline Cost
 

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.

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.

Oyster Helpline Cost
 

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?

On the few occasions I've had problems with Oyster I've found it more
satisfactory to use what used to be called 'Ask Oyster' to submit a query
online (sales.oystercard.com Help My Oyster).

G.

Oyster Helpline Cost
 

Colum Mylod wrote:

FOI request is probably needed to find out why 0845 is more and more
in use: they have probably been sold a pup.

I think an inquiry to the mayor from a London Asssembly member would be
even more effective. ;)
--
Michael Hoffman

Oyster Helpline Cost
 

On Feb 28, 12:11 pm, "Graham J" 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?

On the few occasions I've had problems with Oyster I've found it more
satisfactory to use what used to be called 'Ask Oyster' to submit a query
online (sales.oystercard.com Help My Oyster).

G.



I've done that, but they may take seven days to reply, and I am not
sure if they can access my specific card details or fix anything.
When they respond I'll see.