Frankfurt Hbf left luggage lockers

[DeverseSam]

Frankfurt Hbf left luggage lockers:

• Previously €3.50 cash-only, keys used
• Now €7 card-only, electronic locking and barcodes used

The increase in price is hard to accept but also does anyone know what happens in a power cut - do the lockers stop working at all or do they just open automatically? Which system is more secure?

 

[mad_rich]

Neither of those sounds like an ideal solution!

My guess is battery backup for a time, with mechanical key backup beyond that (possibly off site and slow to respond). But it's not something I would spend time worrying about. Lockers that I can't use because they're full/ broken/ I don't have the right coins are the much bigger problem.

There's always Stasher and other third-party providers.

 

[dutchflyer]

DB-or more likely the comp they hire to serve these things, has this yr indeed slowly started-mostly in the main big cities, to replace the dozens yrs old system with these new things. Germany is still and remains a rare country that does love real cash (the major reason often given is to protect privacy-f.e. they also do remain to hang on anon. ticketing and thus object against SNCF with its policy to put it all online with your mail/fone). I have fairly often seen in such major touristy cities that some enterprising house/cafe etc on station-forecourt or nearby also offers this ´kept luggage´ service in all manual-but no idea if that also applies to Bankfurt (as this FRA is often nicknamed).
But its DE so one can reasonably expect they have thought about a fail-safe way to solve such possible problems- but cannot remember this topic having seen on DSO=the german equiv. of this forum.

 

[duesselmartin]

Not heard of major issue at Cologne which is automated for years now.

 

[zero]

Cologne is awful, I put my bag in and the machine had an error when paying. Apparently the behaviour when there is an error is to close the hatch, thus "kidnapping" my bag into the bowels of the station, with no way for the user to retrieve it.

I had to walk off to find some staff to help, and while I was away the same thing happened to the next 2 people to use the system. The staff managed to get the machine to call up random boxes and took a while until the box with my bag was located.

I think I then went to Muelheim station which had the traditional coin lockers. I much prefer those and I always have lots of euro coins anyway. Though I am not opposed to adding a card reader for those who want to use card.

 

[cornishjohn]

Frankfurt Hbf left luggage lockers:

• Previously €3.50 cash-only, keys used
• Now €7 card-only, electronic locking and barcodes used

The increase in price is hard to accept but also does anyone know what happens in a power cut - do the lockers stop working at all or do they just open automatically? Which system is more secure?

Isn't €7 the old price for a "large" locker? Are they now one size only?

Many lockers have used electricity for ages - an LED display frequently shows the tariff. Whilst not card-payment I used an electronic locker (maybe in Austria) at the latest in the nineties - I had to choose a PIN and type it in and a little printed slip was generated. The PIN opened the locker when I got back.

Dont actually know about a power cut, but if theres a power cut in the middle of Frankfurt there are probably bigger problems. Be surprised if they just spring open though, Germany is usualy cleverer than that..

 

[DeverseSam]

Isn't €7 the old price for a "large" locker? Are they now one size only?

€7 is the current price for 24 hours in the smallest locker. The next size up is €9 I think