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

littlemis

I could be misinterpreting this and if so excuse me,it dosen't accept coins in the weighing machine,but on my way down from laois once I had to make up 30c in coppers and it was accepted by the cashier,now it may since have changed as that was before xmas....

Daisy!

jimbo007 wrote: »

I ended up spending an extra euro on it because it didn't count properly... there was someone behind me so just threw in the extra money, never thought of pushing a help button.. pretty p*ssed off about it at the time... i wonder how much money they're making out of the machine not working properly??

Quite a bit I would imagine. Most people would just put in more change if it said there wasn't enough.

I'm scared to press the help button If I put in all 10c coins it's fine but any coppers and it completely overcharges me.

How hard is it to get the counting machine right? They manage it in banks, shops etc.

Berty

Passed through the Plazas twice today.(Express lane attempts)

Northbound N18. Didn't work at 40km/h(works randomly). Passed through the subline plaza from Coonagh and it worked fine at 40km/h.

Random is the best description I have really.

BESman

Daisy! wrote: »

Quite a bit I would imagine. Most people would just put in more change if it said there wasn't enough.

I'm scared to press the help button If I put in all 10c coins it's fine but any coppers and it completely overcharges me.

How hard is it to get the counting machine right? They manage it in banks, shops etc.

I'm convinced its a scam. Most people will not press the help button on their first attempt, I didn't even see it. I was lucky when it happened to me, I was able to reverse out and use the manned booth where she informed me in future just to press the help button. People shouldn't have to, its a machine built to count money and its not able to do it. Joke.

Also, I didn't have any coppers in my bunch of change as most of those machines don't accept the smaller coins.

Mc Love

I pressed it before - its a joke of an operation out there to be honest. Put money, told to take the change, change comes out, barrier lifts, change comes out of tray, I drive off.

Look in rear view mirror and the guy in the booth is picking up my change

Daisy!

BESman wrote: »

Also, I didn't have any coppers in my bunch of change as most of those machines don't accept the smaller coins.

It says on the machine that they accept the 1c,2c and 5c.

Yet it won't.


Anyone I could complain to about it? Do the tolls have a customer service number or email? Can't seem to find anything.

zuroph

for complaints, Press the help button. You're hardly going to ring and complain if you dont even want to talk to someone who is there to help you.

CelticRambler

Not strictly relevant 'cos I'm a continental driver but the last time I paid cash for a toll was ... ummmm .... ehhhh .... never. Why would you? Whip the card from your breast pocket, hand it to the woman in the kiosk almost before you've come to a stop and she's got the card and receipt back to you and the barrier up just as you move your foot from brake pedal to accelerator again. Who wants to be messing around looking for coins inside or out of the car?

The toll companies don't pay the same rates as shops and the like - they batch process their payments, so you might get all your tolls from say a long-weekend's travel showing up as just one debit on your statement.

Anyway, thanks for this thread - it's convinced one of the neighbours not to try going that way 'round Limerick when he visits Ireland in the summer.

burrentech

Blame the banks, most Continental countries have a scheme that allows you to load up your debit card with electronic cash. In the Netherlands its the Chipper/Chipnik, its simple to pay for small items, put your card in the reader type your pin, and you're done, no routing around for small coins which can hold up the line just as bad. There is no charge per transactions like a cc so retailers like it, and you don't have coins wearing a hole in your pocket. Every time you use it you see how much you paid, and the remaining balance.

Maybe the two pillars of Irish Banking will drag themselves into the 21st century soon :eek:

AnCapaillMor

burrentech wrote: »

Maybe the two pillars of Irish Banking will drag themselves into the 21st century soon :eek:

hhhmm that didn't go so well the last time.

Red Silurian

phill106 wrote: »

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?

So if I show up to the Caherdavin exit with the toll in only 1c, 2c and 5c coins, I have the money but the buckets wont accept it... What happens next?

Paul101

colmtheperson wrote: »

So if I show up to the Caherdavin exit with the toll in only 1c, 2c and 5c coins, I have the money but the buckets wont accept it... What happens next?

You should just get a toll tag. I went through there every day during LIT term anfd never had a problem- well just once when some clown drove up too close behind me and messed upt he system. The system is not great there but if you go through at 50km it works almost all the time

dougie-lampkin

colmtheperson wrote: »

So if I show up to the Caherdavin exit with the toll in only 1c, 2c and 5c coins, I have the money but the buckets wont accept it... What happens next?

Go to a manned lane? Being legal tender they'll have to to accept it within the legal maximum of 50 coins per transaction.

Paul101

dougie-lampkin wrote: »

Go to a manned lane? Being legal tender they'll have to to accept it within the legal maximum of 50 coins per transaction.

This is mad. assuming the toll is 1.80 for a standard car and assuming you have a third of the 1.80 in each coin then that is 12 x 5c, 30 x 2c and 60 x 1c Are you sure you should be driving in the first place

dougie-lampkin

Paul101 wrote: »

Are you sure you should be driving in the first place

And why would I assume you have 60 of each coin? €1.80 / 5c = 36 coins. Not entirely unreasonable paying for something with 36 coins, when they're all the same all the toll operator has to do is count to 36.

Are you sure you should be dealing with money on a day-to-day basis?

Paul101

dougie-lampkin wrote: »

And why would I assume you have 60 of each coin? €1.80 / 5c = 36 coins. Not entirely unreasonable paying for something with 36 coins, when they're all the same all the toll operator has to do is count to 36.

Are you sure you should be dealing with money on a day-to-day basis?

Ah now, that is just silly. The origional message said 5c, 2c and 1c I just took an even distribution . of course it could all be 5c or it could all be 1c (180 of them) In anycase whats the big deal.
and if i was any good at dealing with money then i'd be rich which I am not so hopefully you are a better driver than I am a money mad. Happy Tolling

dougie-lampkin

Paul101 wrote: »

of course it could all be 5c or it could all be 1c (180 of them) In anycase whats the big deal.

That by law, nobody (apart from banks) is obliged to take more than 50 coins off of you in a transaction. Of course paying in 180 1c's in ridiculous :pac:

twitchyfitz

The toll tags are very easy to manage and once you have the cop on to follow the guidelines the tag company give you its simple. I fly through everyday coming and goingfrom work. And obviously there will be a admin charge, without such a charge how would you expect these companies to survive, and plus 18 cent is well worth the hassle free

pappyodaniel

How do I get a toll tag? Would be handy and a time saver.

Clareman

I got my one from here, works perfectly once there isn't a fool behind me, there's isn't a management fee, but that might be because I got mine a long time ago.

1huge1

Just to go back to something that was mentioned earlier, there should be an option to pay by Maestro (laser card/debit card), as it is common for machine's in some places where the charge is less than 5€ to not require you enter the code, such as pay machines at car parks etc.

Its simple a case of sticking in your card, waiting 2 seconds then taking it out, can be a lot faster than paying by cash.

Red Silurian

Paul101 wrote: »

You should just get a toll tag. I went through there every day during LIT term anfd never had a problem- well just once when some clown drove up too close behind me and messed upt he system. The system is not great there but if you go through at 50km it works almost all the time

I would but i don't fancy paying an extra €1 per month for something I don't use that often or 18c per trip extra, bloody thing is expensive enough!!!!

dougie-lampkin wrote: »

Go to a manned lane? Being legal tender they'll have to to accept it within the legal maximum of 50 coins per transaction.

You have to use the buckets on the caherdavin plaza, the lads standing in the booth are only there to.... Well I'm not entirely sure why they are there... The operators could save a lot of money by letting them go considering they don't do anything!

dougie-lampkin

colmtheperson wrote: »

You have to use the buckets on the caherdavin plaza, the lads standing in the booth are only there to.... Well I'm not entirely sure why they are there... The operators could save a lot of money by letting them go considering they don't do anything!

Since when is this in effect? I've come through the Caherdavin plaza at many odd hours and it's always had one lane manned. I never use the buckets as I rarely have exact change (and I'd probably have to get out of the car to reach the bucket ).

Red Silurian

dougie-lampkin wrote: »

Since when is this in effect? I've come through the Caherdavin plaza at many odd hours and it's always had one lane manned. I never use the buckets as I rarely have exact change (and I'd probably have to get out of the car to reach the bucket ).

It came in there about 3 months ago I'd say. The lane is still manned 24/7 but the people manning the lanes there just tell you to put the money in the basket

You probably wouldn't have to get out of your car, I'm driving a low down car (Fiesta) and I can reach the basket fairly easily

brian2me

Modern age why not have it like the M50 and push for regular users to have accounts. No queues, no need to man booths pass savings onto users.

In the early days of the tunnel the express lane had major issues, failed to read my card at express lane and at toll booth, op told me they were having issues all week. Asked me to pay by cash told him i had none and was issued a receipt to pay later. I rang them and told them i refused to pay as the issue was ongoing and there was no sign of any fix. Never heard anything else from them.

Still very ****ty service you have to enter the express lane around 20/30 kmh compare to other express lanes around the country.

Berty

brian2me wrote: »

Still very ****ty service you have to enter the express lane around 20/30 kmh compare to other express lanes around the country.

No you don't. 50km/h will do fine. Please do not do such a slow speed.

ronanos

Got caught with the same thing myself. In 2012 not accepting cards? Scandalous. I have a fair idea of the type of people that only deal with cash! They arent exactly who I would hang around with.

Red Silurian

ronanos wrote: »

Got caught with the same thing myself. In 2012 not accepting cards? Scandalous. I have a fair idea of the type of people that only deal with cash! They arent exactly who I would hang around with.

Got caught the other day... Got a piece of paper and was told to hand that in with the correct cash amount next time I went through the toll booth... Though I could also call up and pay with card over the phone lol

CiaranMT

Wanting to use a card for a toll booth is completely impractical. Imagine the queues if even 20% of drivers used their card to pay the toll.

If you're planning on using the toll booth, you should be aware that you're going to need cash. As Clareman put it over 18 months ago:

Clareman wrote: »

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.

zuroph

the queue would only be a problem if they don't use the correct technology. Card scanning is much quicker on the continent, and they can take an imprint of the card in a second, then charge it later.