Getting money back for using wrong card on exit

[Lifelong]

For a long time I used contactless on the tube but recently moved to a (paper) travelcard as I now have a train journey.

Tonight out of habit I touched out w my debit card not travelcard. Apparently there’s no way of avoiding being charged as I didn’t touch in at start of journey and ‘if I phone my back I’ll get my money back’ (according to the guy on the train line)?

Am I likely to be successful here? Why would the bank refund me £7 I can’t afford to spend. Thoughts welcome, many thanks

 

[NSE]

Usual action is to contact TFL. They sort out fare queries. Far as I’m aware, it’s fairly common and if you have proof of travel it can often be resolved.

 

[MikeWh]

Yes, wait until tomorrow and call the TfL Helpline 0343 222 1234. The worst they will do is ask for proof that you had a paper ticket. If you're lucky they will cancel it before it has been taken from your account becuase they usually delay taking the daily amount if there's an incomplete journey.

 

[43066]

For a long time I used contactless on the tube but recently moved to a (paper) travelcard as I now have a train journey.

Tonight out of habit I touched out w my debit card not travelcard. Apparently there’s no way of avoiding being charged as I didn’t touch in at start of journey and ‘if I phone my back I’ll get my money back’ (according to the guy on the train line)?

Am I likely to be successful here? Why would the bank refund me £7 I can’t afford to spend. Thoughts welcome, many thanks

I did exactly this recently - forgot to use my paper season ticket and tapped out at London Bridge by force of habit, therefore being charged maximum fare. I emailed TfL and they agreed to refund the fare in full when I sent them a picture of my paper ticket.

 

[londonbridge]

I did it a few years ago, came back into Euston from Birmingham and absent mindedly tapped out with my card instead of using my ticket. Reported it as an unresolved journey via the TFL website, got a refund and an email saying they’d refunded me as it was the first time I’d done this, but that they would probably ask for proof of a paper ticket if I did it again.

 

[Lifelong]

Thanks for all the responses, all very helpful and I’ve got my money back. And an assurance that the nonsensical advice given to me would be followed up…

 

[Taunton]

I think it should be pointed out by TfL that if you tap out with the wrong card you can be charged TWO maximum fares. Say you tap in with an Oyster, but tap out with a contractless credit card. Both then get unresolved journeys, and both charge a maximum. I suspect there are some who even if they realise their error and contact the helpline, one gets backed out but the other is still there.

 

[MikeWh]

I think it should be pointed out by TfL that if you tap out with the wrong card you can be charged TWO maximum fares. Say you tap in with an Oyster, but tap out with a contractless credit card. Both then get unresolved journeys, and both charge a maximum. I suspect there are some who even if they realise their error and contact the helpline, one gets backed out but the other is still there.

It is.

Apply for a refund

How to get a refund if you were charged a maximum fare, no longer need a ticket or credit, or your journey was delayed

tfl.gov.uk

Read one card when you touch in and another card when you touch out, charging two maximum fares for your journey

If you are asking the helplne to resolve an incomplete journey they will ask why it is incomplete. If you explain that you used two cards then they will resolve both issues in the appropriate way putting the journey on the card of your choice. You can even resolve one of them yourself (the one where you want the journey to apply). I did this when testing out the Oyster back-end capping.

Testing The New Oyster Capping – Oyster Fares Central

oysterfares.com

Straight away you’ll notice that I had a missing touch on the first journey. This was a schoolboy error as I hadn’t put my usual credit card out of normal reach and I managed to touch out at Kings Cross St Pancras using that instead of the Oyster. With the benefit of hindsight that turned out to be a master-stroke, because it exercised little used parts of TfL’s system, but more on that later.

<snip>

On Tuesday evening I called up the helpdesk to get rid of the incomplete journey on my credit card. The agent was happy with my explanation and was also happy that I’d correct the Oyster journey myself. I entered Kings Cross as the end point for the first journey and received an email confirming my application with a further email to be sent within 24 hours with the outcome.