Refunding an Oyster card

[island]

The non-refundabile thing is why I'm only putting small amounts on my New York MTA Metrocard. Annoyingly, you have to top up in $11 amounts if using a machine, but journeys cost $2.50!

You can put whatever amount you want on, down to the penny, at a ticket booth.

 

[Brucey]

My parents have today left me with their Oyster cards, which have about £5 on each. They'd like this and the deposit back as I'm leaving London soon and don't have any plans to visit here again soon.

What is the best way to get a refund on these? I guess a tube office won't do anything as I don't have any ID. Any other way to get a refund on these?

 

[Deerfold]

What is the best way to get a refund on these? I guess a tube office won't do anything as I don't have any ID. Any other way to get a refund on these?

No ID whatssoever?

 

[Brucey]

No ID whatssoever?

Not in the same name as the cards are registered.

 

[CyrusWuff]

It's possible to request an Oyster refund by post (TfL recommend using "Signed for" or "Special Delivery"). The address is:

Oyster Refunds
4th Floor Yellow Zone
14 Pier Walk
LONDON
SE10 0ES

 

[Deerfold]

Not in the same name as the cards are registered.

Does it need to be?

Presumably if TfL know who's got the refund and then subsequently someone claims their card has been stolen they'll know where to go looking...

 

[a729]

Buses going cashless is more to do with contactless bank cards which will be able to cap like Oysters in the future. Then, rather than being money tied to a particular card, it will just be your money. The capping will be done in a back-office process which will look at all your travel and work out what you should have paid, rather than being worked out on the hoof as at present.

Also meaning if you're overcharged you could be left with an unauthorised OD* rather than a mere negative balance on your oyster!

*potentially incurring fees and interest!
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I don't think you're cynical enough. The more people who have Oyster cards, especially visitors/tourists, the more money that TfL gets to hold onto on behalf of those people. 1million tourist/visitors with a £5 deposit is 5million in cash earning interest. They learnt from the banks it seems.

This may be for money laundering purposes, but it has the added benefit of making it less likely many of those people will claim/get refunds in a timely fashion.

I remember reading that TfL does NOT earn interest on oyster credit.
--- old post above --- --- new post below ---

I suppose so, but they can record it as an asset

Anyway, there are far more than 1 million oysters (though not all of them will have a £5 or even £3 deposit). I personally have 10, mainly because they used to ask you to apply for a new student one every year... though I will admit that on one I was charged a maximum cash fare for some reason and it was cheaper to just never use that oyster again.

This is the real reason TfL introduced the deposit!
--- old post above --- --- new post below ---

I suppose so, but they can record it as an asset

Anyway, there are far more than 1 million oysters (though not all of them will have a £5 or even £3 deposit). I personally have 10, mainly because they used to ask you to apply for a new student one every year... though I will admit that on one I was charged a maximum cash fare for some reason and it was cheaper to just never use that oyster again.

This is the real reason TfL introduced the deposit!
--- old post above --- --- new post below ---

Tracing money laundering I suspect.
Load cards to the brim with stolen credit card details online, then cash them out in the station....

I guess this would only catch small scale criminals! With the £90 maximum top up limit!

 

[tractakid]

I don't normally need oyster, as the vast majority of the time I use a travelcard. However, on Saturday I found myself at Watford station after a walk, and saw that trains were heading to Amersham! Not wanting to miss the opportunity to do the north curve, I vended an Oyster and TfL took £10 of my money.

Once I was back in Watford, I couldn't refund my money as, at 1600 on a Saturday, the ticket office is closed. I then tried Watford High Street and found that Overground ticket offices can't refund Oyster.

So I am now £7 lighter than I wanted to be until I return to London on the 28th March.

Now I read that I will need to take my passport with me in order to get my money back. (I am assuming this is still the case)

Funny how they are much more willing to take money than they are to give it back.

 

[island]

The cynical side of me says that this request for ID and proof of address is nothing to do with anything other than making it too difficult to claim a refund so TfL just keeps the money, either gaining interest on it until it is used (and anyone who says TfL is not gaining interest, either directly or indirectly by reducing the amount it has to borrow for something else, is unlikely to be correct) or finding that the Oyster card gets lost and expires, and keeping it.

 

[paddington]

Leftovercurrency.com appears to refund oysters for a fee if you post them to them.

I wonder whether they know they need ID, and if they do then it means that TfL will do it with an ID in another name