"Leap" into the unknown: The feedback thread

Captain Chaos

Got off the train at Howth Junction today at 15:00. On the Donaghmede side all turnstyles were out of action, station unmanned and access gate locked. I counted 26 of us and we all had to climb over the barriers to get out of the station. Women had to be helped and lifted over, un real. No body's tickets worked and all leap card readers would not work. I'm getting fed up with this at this stage. These broken ticket machines, automatic barriers and un manned stations are happening far to often.

Victor

Captain Chaos wrote: »

Got off the train at Howth Junction today at 15:00. On the Donaghmede side all turnstyles were out of action, station unmanned and access gate locked. I counted 26 of us and we all had to climb over the barriers to get out of the station. Women had to be helped and lifted over, un real. No body's tickets worked and all leap card readers would not work. I'm getting fed up with this at this stage. These broken ticket machines, automatic barriers and un manned stations are happening far to often.

There are emergency help point on the platforms.

E-mail Irish Rail explaining what happened and ask for a full refund.

foggy_lad

Victor wrote: »

There are emergency help point on the platforms.

I tried to use one of them at platform 2 in Maynooth some months ago to allow a disabled passenger use the gate there and there was nobody at the other end. it just rang and rang. I eventually had to cross the bridge and get the guy in the station to open the gate.

Captain Chaos

Victor wrote: »

E-mail Irish Rail explaining what happened and ask for a full refund.

It's the leap card crowd, I have to ring them at least once a fortnight with validators not working at various stations meaning I can't tag off. I'm getting fed up at this stage having to ring up so much for refunds. All these €4:30 one way trips add up fast, especially when it happens twice in one day.

Not worth the hassle of IE's contractors won't maintain the equipment. Better off with cash or doing what I was going to do since the DART capacity got halved is go back to the car full time seeing as I have unlimited free parking at work and space is not an issue. Weekly fuel costs are the same as my weekly leapcard fare so why wait around in this miserable weather, get mashed onto shorter trains and trapped in stations.

MOH

Victor wrote: »

There are emergency help point on the platforms.

E-mail Irish Rail explaining what happened and ask for a full refund.

I was on a DART before where the doors didn't open in either our carriage or the adjoining carriage. One of the fifteen or so people trying to get off the train pressed the emergency help button on board. Train pulled off, doors worked in the next station.

In response to my letter of complaint, Irish Rail said that the emergency help button had to be "pressed quite hard". :rolleyes:

(They also said they were unable to reproduce the door fault. About a year later I read a letter in the Irish Times where someone complained about the exact same thing happening).

magluby

Captain Chaos wrote: »

It's the leap card crowd, I have to ring them at least once a fortnight with validators not working at various stations meaning I can't tag off. I'm getting fed up at this stage having to ring up so much for refunds. All these €4:30 one way trips add up fast, especially when it happens twice in one day.

FWIW, I find emailing to be a lot less hassle than ringing. You just have to be sure to include the following information: The stations you travelled between, the time you tried to tag off, and how you want to collect your refund. Here's a template I use that has always resulted in prompt refunds, which some of you might find useful:

To: customer.care@leapcard.ie
Subject: Refund request

Hi there,

I travelled from [station] to [station] today, arriving at about [time], but the scanner was not functional, so I couldn't tag off and was overcharged as a result.

Please return the overcharged amount to my leap card.

My leap card number is [number], and I'll collect the refund from an Irish Rail validator/gate.

Thanks,
[name]

Van.Bosch

Trial starting today on one bus operated by Swords Express. Good to see progress but can't see how they can use a different operator e.g Luas/SE but an annual bus ticket for DB can't be rolled out.

Dravokivich

Because tickets seems to fall under a different phase of the overall project. Things tend to be implanted incrementally, sure its taking a while, but we don't know much of what's going in behind closed doors. Pay zone seem to have a new section on their units for tickets. So seems testing for that might be due soon.

coylemj

Can you load a Travel90 ticket on to a Leap card yet?

Mr Simpson

coylemj wrote: »

Can you load a Travel90 ticket on to a Leap card yet?

Not as far as I know. Paper ones are still in place

ongarboy

Does anyone know if you need to have a minimum of €4.50 credit on your Leap card at all times or does it allow your balance to go from credit to negative between tagging on and tagging off? I notice on the trains the validator deducts 4.50 everytime you tag on and only reimburses the difference between the fare and the 4.50 when you tag off. I'm concerned if I only have eg 2.50 credit and my fare is 2.30, that somehow it will seem like I don't have enough credit to allow the automated 4.50 to go off and back on? Hope this question makes sense.

Secondly, I plan to use Nitelink tonight for first time in 10+ years but you used to buy your tickets from a stationary bus/kiosk with cash years ago. With the leapcard, can you just scan it on the bus validator like with daytime trips and it will deduct the 5 euro that way?

Davy

ongarboy wrote: »

Does anyone know if you need to have a minimum of €4.50 credit on your Leap card at all times or does it allow your balance to go from credit to negative between tagging on and tagging off? I notice on the trains the validator deducts 4.50 everytime you tag on and only reimburses the difference between the fare and the 4.50 when you tag off. I'm concerned if I only have eg 2.50 credit and my fare is 2.30, that somehow it will seem like I don't have enough credit to allow the automated 4.50 to go off and back on? Hope this question makes sense.

Once you have a positive balance it will let you use up to €5 of IOU credit, so next time you top up it will repay it from that. If you have gone into minus of 10 cent, and want to use €1 of the €5 it allows, it wont because you are already in a negative balance.

ongarboy wrote: »

Secondly, I plan to use Nitelink tonight for first time in 10+ years but you used to buy your tickets from a stationary bus/kiosk with cash years ago. With the leapcard, can you just scan it on the bus validator like with daytime trips and it will deduct the 5 euro that way?

Yes

Victor

.

We would like to invite you to sign up for our Leap Card Auto Top-Up trial.

Auto Top-Up is the easiest way to Top-Up your Leap Card. Auto Top-Up makes sure you never run out of Travel Credit by automatically topping up your Leap Card with funds from your bank account, whenever your Travel Credit balance falls below €10. You can choose to Auto Top-Up by €30.00, €40.00 or €50.00.

The trial is open to the first 200 people who choose to sign-up at www.leapcard.ie between 12 noon and 9pm on Wednesday 8th May.

To take part in the trial, just follow these steps;

1. Register your Leap Card (If you've already registered skip this step);

2. Sign in to your online account between the following times on Wednesday 8th May 2013 12:00 to 21:00

3. Click “Manage Auto Top-Up” which will be under the “My Leap Cards” tab while the sign-up period is open;

4. Fill in the online form;

§ Select the amount you wish to Auto Top-Up by;

§ Provide your bank account details;

Your bank account must be a Republic of Ireland account where only one signatory is required, and the bank account must accept Direct Debit.

5. After three days you will be able to activate Auto Top-Up by simply using your card as normal on any Dublin Bus or Luas service. Please note, for the trial you will not be able to activate Auto Top-Up on DART or Commuter Rail services.

6. Once activated, your Leap Card will then Top-Up automatically when you travel on Dublin Bus, Luas, DART and Commuter Rail services.

Important Notes:

You will need to ensure you have sufficient funds in your bank account at all times. If you receive an Auto Top-Up but the direct debit fails to collect the funds from your bank account, your Leap Card will automatically be blocked.

After you apply you will have up to 21 days to activate the Auto Top-Up facility on your Leap Card. If you do not activate within this time your Leap Card may need to be replaced if you wish to use Auto Top-Up.



Yours sincerely

Leap Card Customer Care

The Black Oil

I'm a n00b to this having just purchased a card and trying to work out the fares for my commute.

Morning leg - 33X - Station Road, Lusk House, Stop 3766 to D'Olier Street, O'Connell Bridge, Stop 333 - €2.45

Next part from D'Olier Street, Stop 334 to Stop 2013 Stillorgan Road - Not sure on this, €2.45 again?

Evening leg - Stop 2065, Stillorgan Road to Stop 792. €2.45?

Last bit - Abbey St. - 33 route, stop 289 to Lusk - Stop 3766 €2.45 again?

Does that sound right?

etchyed

The Black Oil wrote: »

Does that sound right?

I don't know, but what's definitely not right is for you to be using a Leap Card. If I understand you correctly, you're taking four buses a day. If that's correct, you need to get yourself a 30-day non-consecutive Rambler ticket for €125. This works out at €4.17 a day, or €1.04 per bus journey.

If cash flow is a problem and you can't stump up €125 in advance, a 5-day rambler (€25) will work out at €5 a day, or €1.25 per bus journey.

The Black Oil

Oops, thanks for that...I've already thrown a heap of credit on it.

I only work part-time at the moment, so I'm not on a bus 5 days per week. Would still have odd journeys on trains and buses here and there. Sometimes take the train home for the last leg of the commute if it means less hanging around time.

etchyed

The Black Oil wrote: »

Oops, thanks for that...I've already thrown a heap of credit on it.

I only work part-time at the moment, so I'm not on a bus 5 days per week. Would still have odd journeys on trains and buses here and there. Sometimes take the train home for the last leg of the commute if it means less hanging around time.

Rambler tickets can be used on non-consecutive days, and have a very long time limit. Even if, for example, you only do that four-leg bus journey five times in the next three months, it's still worth buying a 5-day Rambler and keeping it in your wallet.

For days when you use the bus in the morning and the train in the afternoon, or vice versa, a Travel 90 might be a better option for you. €2.50 for a multi-leg bus journey, where you board the last bus within 90 minutes of boarding the first. It's €25 for a card containing 10 journeys. Basically works out the same as the 5-day Rambler, but with more flexibility if you don't use the bus on your way home.

I'd hang on to that Leap credit and use it on the train - you'd be throwing it away on bus journeys when there are such better value ticket options available to you.

Bear in mind that if you do follow my advice, and end up carrying a Travel 90 and a Leap Card in your wallet, that you'll have to take the one you're using out to use it - if you just hold your wallet up to a validator, you'll confuse it, or worse, be double-charged (probably unlikely, but not worth the risk).

We're talking massive savings here - at the moment you appear to be paying nearly twice what you should be for bus travel. This is not your fault by any means, with ticketing information for public transport in Dublin spread over a plethora of websites. But it's well worth doing your research.

The Black Oil

Thanks for the comprehensive feedback.

_Kaiser_

etchyed wrote: »

Rambler tickets can be used on non-consecutive days, and have a very long time limit. Even if, for example, you only do that four-leg bus journey five times in the next three months, it's still worth buying a 5-day Rambler and keeping it in your wallet.

For days when you use the bus in the morning and the train in the afternoon, or vice versa, a Travel 90 might be a better option for you. €2.50 for a multi-leg bus journey, where you board the last bus within 90 minutes of boarding the first. It's €25 for a card containing 10 journeys. Basically works out the same as the 5-day Rambler, but with more flexibility if you don't use the bus on your way home.

I'd hang on to that Leap credit and use it on the train - you'd be throwing it away on bus journeys when there are such better value ticket options available to you.

Bear in mind that if you do follow my advice, and end up carrying a Travel 90 and a Leap Card in your wallet, that you'll have to take the one you're using out to use it - if you just hold your wallet up to a validator, you'll confuse it, or worse, be double-charged (probably unlikely, but not worth the risk).

We're talking massive savings here - at the moment you appear to be paying nearly twice what you should be for bus travel. This is not your fault by any means, with ticketing information for public transport in Dublin spread over a plethora of websites. But it's well worth doing your research.

You know what jumps out at me from that (and nothing against you) - the whole system is a mess.

We all know about the problems with the cash fare structure and the stage system (who knows how many stages they travel - particularly non-regular users), but it seems to me that they've managed to completely botch the cashless system too.

Leaving aside the LEAP debacle (as extensively documented in this thread), the above highlights just how needlessly complicated it all is... reading that you could just as easy imagine it starting with "you can use THIS card but only on a Wednesdays, in autumn, if it's not raining...."

FFS what was wrong with the old 10-journey tickets. Clear discount in place, use them when you want, regardless of the distance (regular services anyway) and when you have used the last one, just buy another!

No "topping up", faffing around with "activations", dodgy card readers, confusion between multiple tickets etc.

Progress eh.. seems to me we're only going backwards in this country! I'm not even going to start on the "logic" of charging more and more for reduced services and usage :rolleyes:

AlekSmart

The Black Oil wrote: »

I'm a n00b to this having just purchased a card and trying to work out the fares for my commute.

Morning leg - 33X - Station Road, Lusk House, Stop 3766 to D'Olier Street, O'Connell Bridge, Stop 333 - €2.45 Incorrect: correct Leap fare is €4.00

Next part from D'Olier Street, Stop 334 to Stop 2013 Stillorgan Road - Not sure on this, €2.45 again? Correct

Evening leg - Stop 2065, Stillorgan Road to Stop 792. €2.45? Correct.

Last bit - Abbey St. - 33 route, stop 289 to Lusk - Stop 3766 €2.45 again? Incorrect,again Leap Fare is €4.00

Does that sound right?

Nope,Black Oil,it don't sound right at all.....

Next time you travel,ask the driver for a printout,The latest (and best) way to check your fare,for regular travellers,is the Fare Calculator tab on www.dublinbus.ie

Whats puzzling me is how you are being given a €2.45 Lepacard fare on an Expresso service ?

Sad Professor

I can't get access the leapcard website using Safari on a Mac. It keeps looking for authentication. Anyone else having this problem?

The Black Oil

Sad Professor wrote: »

I can't get access the leapcard website using Safari on a Mac. It keeps looking for authentication. Anyone else having this problem?

Yes. I'm getting that request, too.

Thanks for the additional posts. I'll come back to them this evening.

Stevek101

I seen on their Twitter feed a while ago someone having issues with Safari on an iPhone.

Here was the link they posted as a suggestion to fix it.

https://discussions.apple.com/thread/4463457

https://twitter.com/LeapCard/status/321185859657428993

bk

Same problem here on Safari for Mac.

coylemj

Kaiser2000 wrote: »

FFS what was wrong with the old 10-journey tickets. Clear discount in place, use them when you want, regardless of the distance (regular services anyway) and when you have used the last one, just buy another!

I used to buy them, I suspect they were too easy to clone, a simple magnetic stripe. They reduced the ticket capacity to two journeys and then scrapped them altogether several years ago.

I don't think they could be used 'regardless of the distance', IIRC there was a separate 10 journey ticket for each adult fare.

Victor

coylemj wrote: »

I used to buy them, I suspect they were too easy to clone, a simple magnetic stripe. They reduced the ticket capacity to two journeys and then scrapped them altogether several years ago.

A combination of a lack of maintenance of the ticket machines and physical abuse of the tickets led to the tickets and customers being confused as to how many trips were left, leading to negative sentiment.

I don't think they could be used 'regardless of the distance', IIRC there was a separate 10 journey ticket for each adult fare.

Yes.

The Black Oil

AlekSmart wrote: »

Nope,Black Oil,it don't sound right at all.....

Next time you travel,ask the driver for a printout,The latest (and best) way to check your fare,for regular travellers,is the Fare Calculator tab on www.dublinbus.ie

Whats puzzling me is how you are being given a €2.45 Lepacard fare on an Expresso service ?

Thanks.
That was a mistake on my part. Misread the 'Leap Card Fares' section on www.leapcard.ie I spoke to a Dublin Bus customer service rep who reckoned the 30 Day Adult Rambler ticket €125 might be the best option for me...which matches what etchyed said earlier. And I recheck using the correct Leap figures via the care calculator. If I went that direction it would be 154.80 based on 3 days per week (Mon-Wed, assuming 4 weeks a month, so the €125 definitely sounds better. Do you touch those tickets off of the same validator used for the Leap Card, or insert them into the other machine thing? Does it prompt you when it's closing to expiring, or something?

Dravokivich

The validator is for all smart cards, so you'd use it on that. Think it's only the taxsaver cards that go through the machine now.

It should prompt you with how many days remain.

stop

Could be sure I saw some reference to a cap and a large number like €999x.xx on the Dublin Bus Leap Card machine this morning.. anyone else seen this?

goingnowhere

For testing purposes the daily cap level is currently 10,000 euro