Limerick Tunnel cash only....wtf!!!

Doom

Out the door (with no cash) heading for limerick, decided to save time and take the tunnel, SHíTE no cash, no worries I think to myself, I'll use my CC.
Up I pull, started to give my card, guy says no can do...
He tells me there are no card facillites at ALL, I asked him where are the warnings signs for CASH ONLY, he's says I know it was mentioned to their Boss, that if they have no card facilites should they warn people, he didn't care was the answer they got....modern road, paid for be joe public(eventually) and they have no modern payment methods...joke

So he hands me a docket to sign (to pay later) as I was returning that way later on... later, I hand it in and ask for a receipt for the payment, sorry we have no way of doing that he says...what a Fuking useless company running it, whoever they are...Rant Over:mad:

Mc Love

yeah they arent even taking money now, you have to put it in the bucket and when the change comes out if falls out of the tray! Its not like I even want the change - why couldnt they have a system like they have in Portlaoise. You dont even have to slow down to go through fast lane

They could be trying to avoid something like this too




Never heard of any tunnel accepting credit/debit cards. Although not being able to issue a receipt is a joke.

number10a

Whatever about tunnels, I've come across a lot of toll roads where you can pay by card. I can understand not doing it, but it needs to be well signposted before the last exit before the tunnel.

Victor

You wanted to pay €1.80 by credit card?

http://www.limericktunnel.com/how_to_pay.htm

Victor

Victor wrote: »

You wanted to pay €1.80 by credit card?

http://www.limericktunnel.com/how_to_pay.htm

Sure isin't that what it's for? Paying for goods and services and all.

BESman

It would be ridiculous if everyone paid with credit card, nonetheless, it should be an emergency option for people who forget to carry cash or don't have enough on them.

I also had a bad experience with them. Counted out my change before the journey, put it in a change bag, emptied it into the bucket and it came up as being €1.70. I am 100% sure that it was €1.80. I counted it a few times as I had no other change on me and didn't wanna fall short. I reckon the electronic counter is faulty if you throw too much change in at the same time. I didn't have anything smaller than 10c so thats not a reason either. Frustrating as f*ck, had to go to the manned booth and explain and she let me off. How long will it be tolled I wonder? Forever? I'll probably avoid using it again in a hurry.

AnCapaillMor

Man if you were in front of me and paid with a CC, i'd have to get out of my car.

enda1

Its quicker to pay by card.
Its possible to bypass the pin function like they do on the continent and just scan the card and process later. Its far quicker than messing with cash. And cheaper for everyone involved.

REXER

Hell even in the 3rd world you can pay these thing by CC or even fleet cards.:D

maryk123

I am beginning to hate the tunnel. i went there a couple of days after work to get home faster and i am in a queue of 15-20 cars so i bought a toll tag which didnt work for 2 months so now you drive at 50km and cross your finger that it works if it doesnt work i have to queue up with the 15 cars and then the barrier goes up stating that i have paid. another annoying thing i checked my account i am charged 18cent extra for using a toll tag. i presumed it was the same but you paid for the convenience of going in the fast lane - what fast lane its not faster and more frustrating. i think at this stage it would be easier to queue up down the dock road. ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhh

why can they not make this easier it just amazes me altogether

thesimpsons

I've got a trip card and discovered the other night there was no one manning the booths so I was in situation where I've prepaid for trips, they have my money, but I can't get through !!!! Had to ring the Help button and a guy eventually wandered out to process the card. No advance warning that booths weren't manned. Their systems are a blooody nightmare. I've used CC numerous times in France and it doesn't slow you down any more than paying cash either to a booth or to a basket.

Doom

AnCapaillMor wrote: »

Man if you were in front of me and paid with a CC, i'd have to get out of my car.

Sure ya would...........:rolleyes:

Clareman

Yet another tunnel thread, it has been a while

So the Op didn't have €1.80 on him in cash and decided to pay for cash through what is supposed to be a quick transaction, with a CC, if I was in a shop and noticed someone in front of me paying for the paper with a credit card I wouldn't be impressed let alone someone delaying something that is supposed to be quick.

As far as I'm concerned the upgrade in roads around the country over the past few years is fantastic, I drove from Ennis to Dublin last week in under 2 hours (Naas Road I'll admit ) when I worked in Castletroy in 1999-2001 it used to take me over an hour every day to get to and from work every day, now it takes me half an hour to get to work in Raheen.

If someone wants to pay by credit card, get a pre-paid solution, I have to admit that I always thought that all tolls were cash only on the stiles, but as I always say about the tunnel, if you don't want to use it, don't it's completely optional.

Itsdacraic

If anybody in front of me attempted to pay a €1.80 toll with a credit card I would crush them with my Monster Truck.

Zapho

I don't see why they don't have a credit card/laser option in fairness. People use the cashier lane because they don't have small coins on them - its a given that its going to be slower than the basket lanes.

Also it takes just as long to process a credit card in the attended cashier lane as it does to give someone change of a €20. On other toll roads I've been on, they just swipe your card and don't bother getting you to sign it or type in your pin.

And this has happened to me on the Limerick tunnel. The cashier was sound enough to let me go a few cent short...

Clareman

Personally I can't understand someone leaving home without cash, yes plastic is very handy but it's not legal tender, I always have a few coins in the ashtray for such occasions, but then again I couldn't understand someone wanting to pay €1.80 electronically, I think it's worth pointing out also that the tunnel folks gave the Op a means of paying for the toll later rather than making him turn around and go back via a non-tolled road

source

If as someone here said, tried to pay for something that cost €1.80 in a shop, with a credit card. Then they would be told to bugger off. Why? because the shop pays a charge for the transaction/ to have the machines in their business place. If the price they're charging is low then they are loosing money to the credit card machine company and it is not worth their while.

This is why shops have lower limits for people wanting to use credit cards, say for example €10 in most shops.

The only road in this country that offers the service is the N25 Southlink toll in Waterford the reason for this, is as I outlined above; the cost of each charge being too expensive for it to be economically viable. Coupled with the fact that easily 95% of people would be paying by cash, it makes it not worth their while to have the machines installed. Also lets not forget that not only are they paying to have the machines in each booth/ outside each booth, they also have to pay for phone/broadband lines to allow these machines to transmit the data to the bank. And all this so that approximately 5% of their customers can use the service.

7. What methods of payment are accepted at the Toll Plazas?

The toll fares can be paid by:

• Cash: Cash payments (Notes and Coin) can be made at manual lanes and a toll operator will be on hand to give change. Exact coins can also be used at semi automatic coin machines (baskets). In addition, one lane in each toll ramp will automatically give back change.

• Credit Cards: VISA and MASTERCARD can be used at SouthLink only, in either the manual or semi-automatic lanes.

• Interoperable Tags: Electronic devices from all the other concessionaires and independent service providers are accepted at all the Toll Plaza's nationally. “Interoperability” of electronic toll collection was established in 2007 and enables the road user to pay the toll fare at any toll plaza in the Republic by using an electronic tag supplied by any of the service providers in the Republic.

Berty

From personal experience on the continent using my credit card. There is no chip and pin crap or handing it to anybody. You arrive up to the machine. Pop in your card into the slot and it spits it back out as fast as it would a ticket.

Clareman

Berty wrote: »

From personal experience on the continent using my credit card. There is no chip and pin crap or handing it to anybody. You arrive up to the machine. Pop in your card into the slot and it spits it back out as fast as it would a ticket.

As is the same in the US. We have far more advanced credit card security than a lot of counties for the simple reason that we were so slow to implement credit cards, credit cards are still seen as a bad thing by a lot of people, I remember being in a shop with my mother 1 day and the bill came to €70 or something, I handed over my plastic, my mother looked shocked, took the card and paid for the stuff for me, she then asked me "have you no money?", she saw credit card use as a last gasp thing.

Personally I pay for everything on my CC, that way I just have to clear it once a month through online banking besides going to and from the ATM, I still find it amazing the amount of people that will get petrol, get money out of the ATM with their laser and then pay for the petrol.

Anway, very off topic, if I was in a pub and the person being served before me paid for his pint with a credit card I would be very miffed, if everyone was to do this I would be extremely annoyed, it just slows everything down

phill106

Itsdacraic wrote: »

If anybody in front of me attempted to pay a €1.80 toll with a credit card I would crush them with my Monster Truck.

Then i would be stuck behind you beeping as your monster truck would be too big to get through the toll barrier or the tunnel!

AnCapaillMor

I remember when i was in poland, we went to to KFCski and the person with me tried to pay with a credit card, i had to hide. I laughed though thinking of handing in a credit card at the hut.

Laphroaig52

Clareman wrote: »

Anway, very off topic, if I was in a pub and the person being served before me paid for his pint with a credit card I would be very miffed, if everyone was to do this I would be extremely annoyed, it just slows everything down

Aha! Maybe you are not so different from your mother after all! There's no reason why credit cards shouldn't be used in pubs as well as everywhere else.The technology is there to complete the transation as quickly as a handing in cash, and counting out change. Also in a busy pub, late at night, it eliminates human error and fraud ("I gave you a fifty!").

I was in New Zealand a few years ago and that's the way it is there. Pubs, fast food, taxis....pretty much everywhere use credit cards as the primary means........even the beggars (OK I made that up).

In fact, after a few hours in the pub I felt that it was I who was holding up the show with my bloody 'cash'.

Clareman

When Ennis was awarded the Information Age Town they introduced electronic cash, everyone got a card that you could "top up" with your change at a number of locations and use as a credit card, almost instant, that was great, no PIN, no delay, very useful.

phill106

From http://www.urenio.org/courses/files/4/articles/C-Ennis_Virtual-Real.pdf


Smart cards. Ennis hosted a 12 month electronic purse trial to evaluate a
smart card alternative to cash – an experiment centered on the concept of a
cashless society. This experiment provided invaluable research into the uses
and limitations of smart card technologies. While very successful in
unattended sites – public car parks and public phones, for retail businesses,
the transactions were too slow and the technology too cumbersome. The long
established, conventional financial systems remain.

Limerick Dude

I'm pretty sure they have credit card facilities at other toll plazas in the country, pretty sure I remember seeing one on the M4.

Doom

Itsdacraic wrote: »

If anybody in front of me attempted to pay a €1.80 toll with a credit card I would crush them with my Monster Truck.

Monster trucks aren't allowed in the tunnel:pac:

Doom

I didn't realise so many boardies are cave people, its the electronic age, if I don't have cash I should be able to pay electronicly.....
Just ye all wait till I'm your overlord.....:cool:

jc84

I rarely carry cash, they need to adopt the wave and pay visa system, most other countries have it, always use it when in uk, chip an pin is over and 1.80 is a ripoff for that crappy tunnel

Doom

Clareman wrote: »

Personally I can't understand someone leaving home without cash, yes plastic is very handy but it's not legal tender, I always have a few coins in the ashtray for such occasions, but then again I couldn't understand someone wanting to pay €1.80 electronically, I think it's worth pointing out also that the tunnel folks gave the Op a means of paying for the toll later rather than making him turn around and go back via a non-tolled road

I live in a house not a bank, trust me lots of people have forgotten cash, thats why they have method of paying later

Berty

Do what other asshats are doing.

Drive into the express lane at 1km/h and stare confused why the barrier is not lifting(not having a tag usually). Wait for the other muppet( aka Berty ) to arrive behind you with his tag. Barrier magically opens.............asshat drives through and the barrier closes in front of me. I then have to exit the express lane and go through the regular lane.

Happened soooo many times that if I see people going through in front of me slowly I just avoid the express lane.

phog

Berty wrote: »

Do what other asshats are doing.

Drive into the express lane at 1km/h and stare confused why the barrier is not lifting(not having a tag usually). Wait for the other muppet( aka Berty ) to arrive behind you with his tag. Barrier magically opens.............asshat drives through and the barrier closes in front of me. I then have to exit the express lane and go through the regular lane.

Happened soooo many times that if I see people going through in front of me slowly I just avoid the express lane.

Brilliant better than tailgateing Thanks for the heads up.

Conor Bourke

Limerick Dude wrote: »

I'm pretty sure they have credit card facilities at other toll plazas in the country, pretty sure I remember seeing one on the M4.

No sir, got caught lovely on it last April. Went from Limerick to a meeting in Carton house where everything was paid for so didn't need to have cash on me. Used the last of my ashtray change in Portlaoise going up and never gave it a second thought til I was on my way back to Sligoland that night and only realised when I got to the toll that I had no change. Was absolutely mortified, they practically walked me through the gate for fear I'd escape and then had to give me a receipt with a code that I had to quote when ringing in to the toll operators hq to pay by laser.

finbarrk

Who in their right mind would want to pay less than €2 by a card?

STADEdeLUC

People These Days (: Whatever Happened To Keeping Cash In The Little Money Box In The Car (:

Conor Bourke

finbarrk wrote: »

Who in their right mind would want to pay less than €2 by a card?

STADEdeLUC wrote: »

People These Days (: Whatever Happened To Keeping Cash In The Little Money Box In The Car (:

Alaskimo-cake wrote: »

No sir, got caught lovely on it last April. Went from Limerick to a meeting in Carton house where everything was paid for so didn't need to have cash on me. Used the last of my ashtray change in Portlaoise going up and never gave it a second thought til I was on my way back to Sligoland that night and only realised when I got to the toll that I had no change. Was absolutely mortified, they practically walked me through the gate for fear I'd escape and then had to give me a receipt with a code that I had to quote when ringing in to the toll operators hq to pay by laser.

I ran out of ashtray change

thesimpsons

STADEdeLUC wrote: »

People These Days (: Whatever Happened To Keeping Cash In The Little Money Box In The Car (:

only problem is the kids know where theres a steady cash stash - they regularly clean it out :mad:

ninty9er

I'd often pay for a car park with my laser card. €2.40/€2.50. I don't want to be getting €47.50 change in €2 coins...no thank you!

Stupid not being able to pay by card.

highlydebased

I regularly use my card for small amounts- e.g 99 cent in tesco 10 minutes ago.

phog

ninty9er wrote: »

I'd often pay for a car park with my laser card. €2.40/€2.50. I don't want to be getting €47.50 change in €2 coins...no thank you!

Stupid not being able to pay by card.

I was paying for car parking in Shannon a few years back, put in a €20 or €50 and got my change back in coins, never again. I always use my cc now unless I have close to or the exact amount.

Paul101

Why not get a Tolltag. There are tolls all over the country. makes sense to me anyway.
(Sorry I realise this thread is from a week ago but I don't get on the computer much )

Paul101

Berty wrote: »

Do what other asshats are doing.

Drive into the express lane at 1km/h and stare confused why the barrier is not lifting(not having a tag usually). Wait for the other muppet( aka Berty ) to arrive behind you with his tag. Barrier magically opens.............asshat drives through and the barrier closes in front of me. I then have to exit the express lane and go through the regular lane.

Happened soooo many times that if I see people going through in front of me slowly I just avoid the express lane.

haha Berty. that has happened to me too. Still years back we had problems with people on roundabouts too. they will learn, I fly through express lane but agree with you. Slow car in front caused a mess so have to swing left

maryk123

was in dublin yesterday and went through m50 toll and tolltag worked fine. Back through Limerick Tunnell and the same problems. As far as I am concerned the Limerick one is just not working properly plus you are paying 19c extra on top of 1.80 for what to queue with everyone else because the fast lane works when it feels like it ahhhhhhhhhhhhh it drives me mad. when you ask the girls taking the money about the tolltag they even admit it doesnt work.

I will pay from now on its a bloody rip off. I rang up the other day to make an enquiry and when I complained the girl just hung up on me talk about bad customer service.

Daisy!

BESman wrote: »

It would be ridiculous if everyone paid with credit card, nonetheless, it should be an emergency option for people who forget to carry cash or don't have enough on them.

I also had a bad experience with them. Counted out my change before the journey, put it in a change bag, emptied it into the bucket and it came up as being €1.70. I am 100% sure that it was €1.80. I counted it a few times as I had no other change on me and didn't wanna fall short. I reckon the electronic counter is faulty if you throw too much change in at the same time. I didn't have anything smaller than 10c so thats not a reason either. Frustrating as f*ck, had to go to the manned booth and explain and she let me off. How long will it be tolled I wonder? Forever? I'll probably avoid using it again in a hurry.

This has happened to me a few times at the Portlaois toll. I've noticed now that if you put in 1c,2c or 5c coins it won't count them properly. I've often had to throw in up to a euro more despite knowing that I had the correct change. They shouldn't say you can pay with the small coins if you can't. From what I can see it will only count it properly if it isn't any of the smaller coins. Rip off. I thought it'd be a great way to get rid of all the change.

phill106

Daisy! wrote: »

This has happened to me a few times at the Portlaois toll. I've noticed now that if you put in 1c,2c or 5c coins it won't count them properly. I've often had to throw in up to a euro more despite knowing that I had the correct change. They shouldn't say you can pay with the small coins if you can't. From what I can see it will only count it properly if it isn't any of the smaller coins. Rip off. I thought it'd be a great way to get rid of all the change.

Just to make sure you know, the machines in limerick toll do not accept 1c 2c or 5cs. Doesn't say till you are at the toll though, which is nice of them, isn't it?

Berty

People. If you arrive up to an unmaned booth and know you put in the correct change. Do not put in anymore. Press the help button and tell them you put in the correct amount and would like the barrier lifted.

slinky2000

Just get a toll tag or eflow! You never have to worry about paying a toll again! Plus then you can use the express lanes!

STIG83

Im from Waterford, the N25 Waterford City Bypass definitely has a credit card option, that's madness there no CC option on the Limerick Tunnel!!
I used it 2 weeks ago to go to Bunratty it really takes some time off the journey.

phog

slinky2000 wrote: »

Just get a toll tag or eflow! You never have to worry about paying a toll again! Plus then you can use the express lanes!

If they gave a few percent off for toll tag users then I might especially whe they have your money in their account.

Paul101

maryk123 wrote: »

was in dublin yesterday and went through m50 toll and tolltag worked fine. Back through Limerick Tunnell and the same problems. As far as I am concerned the Limerick one is just not working properly plus you are paying 19c extra on top of 1.80 for what to queue with everyone else because the fast lane works when it feels like it ahhhhhhhhhhhhh it drives me mad. when you ask the girls taking the money about the tolltag they even admit it doesnt work.

I will pay from now on its a bloody rip off. I rang up the other day to make an enquiry and when I complained the girl just hung up on me talk about bad customer service.

Hi Maryk. There are problems on the Limerick tunnel for sure.. I use it daily and I feel I have it figured out. Enter at 50km (30mph) and keep steady and it works. There is a concerning delay between entering the express land and getting the final green arrow but it works for me every day. You should try it and see how you get on.
The M7 plaza is much better and not so fussy about the speed
The problem is with the plaza though and not your tolltag.

maryk123

thanks paul.

I did the 50km a couple of times but it doesnt work always and if you continue to the barrier in fast lane the barrier doesnt always lift so you have to veer off and join the queue.

There was a queue the other day of about 8 cars so the problem then is my tag has beeped and then when I go to pay and the barrier is still up because of the car ahead I dont know if I have to pay or not - its all too confusing.

I agree with another comment there is no incentive to continue using the tolltag, I didnt realise I was being charged for my continuing frustration so I will use it this time and not top up and just pay at the barrier save myself a fee for using the tag and stay in queue because thats where I always end up anyway.