Irish Rail TVMs issue with Bank Cards

foggy_lad

http://www.irishrail.ie/cat_news.jsp?i=4839&p=116&n=237

Certain payment cards not charged from Iarnród Éireann ticket vending machines in recent weeks

07 June 2013
Arrangements for charging outlined

Iarnród Éireann Irish Rail advises customers that in recent weeks, purchases made by certain payment cards at Ticket Vending Machines (TVMs) in Iarnród Éireann stations have not been charged against customers’ accounts. This fault has now been rectified and the company has outlined for customers how it will now charge customers for tickets purchased.

Information for customers

Ticket vending machine issue

During the course of a recent software upgrade at TVMs by our contractor Scheidt & Bachmann, a fault developed which saw tickets issued and payments authorised against certain payment cards. However, the payment was not subsequently deducted from customer accounts.

Q. What cards did this affect?

A. This affected certain payment cards, but primarily affected AIB Maestro Debit cards. Over 9,000 individual cards were not charged as a result.

Q. When did this affect purchases?

A. Purchases made with these cards at TVMs from 28th March to 31st May inclusive were affected.

Q. Has this fault been rectified?

A. This fault has now been rectified. TVMs are now charging correctly against all cards.

Q. Could I have been overcharged?

A. No. The technical issue caused payments not to be processed on certain payment cards only. No overcharging occurred.

Q. Arrangements for charging of customers

A. Iarnród Éireann is now making arrangements to process the authorised payments which were not charged during the period of this fault. Recognising that processing cumulative payments at one time may cause difficulties for some customers, these payments will be processed as follows:

• All affected cards with one single transaction over this period will be processed on Monday (10th June)

• All transactions conducted on affected cards from 24th-31st May inclusive will be processed on Monday

• All affected cards with multiple transactions of a cumulative value of less than or equal to €50 will be processed on Monday

• Affected cards with multiple transactions prior to 24th May, the cumulative value of which exceeds €50 over this period, will be charged on a phased basis. This will be in line with the intervals between the original transactions, or one week intervals, whichever is shortest. This will commence from Monday beginning with the earliest charge.

Iarnród Éireann has established a dedicated Customer Helpline for any customer queries relating to this issue at 1850 885 865 (Mon-Sat 09.00hrs-17.00hrs).

We apologies for any inconvenience this fault causes customers.



Example of processing:

1. I made one payment of €60 on an affected card at any time during the period of this fault.

- Your card will be charged on Monday for €60.

2. I purchased four different tickets on an affected card, the total value of which was €40, during the period of this fault.

- Your card will be charged on Monday for €40.

3. I purchased four different tickets on an affected card, the total value of which was €170, during the period of this fault. I made these purchases as follows: Purchase 1: €70, Purchase 2 (3 days later): €20, Purchase 3 (9 days later) €60, Purchase 4 (2 days later) €20.

- Your card will be charged €70 on Monday, followed by €20 (3 days later), €60 (7 days later) and €20 (2 days later)

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Carawaystick

So the tvms didn't work with cards or banknotes...
Scheidt machines I'd say

Dravokivich

Don't think there was an issue with cash transactions. Just cards mentioned in the release there. How'd they charge your card for a cash transaction?

L1011

Dravokivich wrote: »

Don't think there was an issue with cash transactions. Just cards mentioned in the release there. How'd they charge your card for a cash transaction?

They were very late in accepting the new €5 notes.

Dravokivich

MYOB wrote: »

They were very late in accepting the new €5 notes.

Completely different issue and that was the same with Luas.

Jamie2k9

So who realised that over €330,000 wasn't collected?

Carawaystick

Dravokivich wrote: »

Completely different issue and that was the same with Luas.

How is this different?
not accepting payment when valid payment choice made by customer

Rascasse

Carawaystick wrote: »

How is this different?
not accepting payment when valid payment choice made by customer

The €5 note issue was pan-Europe. Deutsch Bahn TVM's, amongst others, aren't accepting them. Some screw up with the ECB I'd imagine.

I didn't notice I hadn't been charged on my card. I saw the notice today when checking train times. Only €20 so went unnoticed.

Dravokivich

Carawaystick wrote: »

How is this different?
not accepting payment when valid payment choice made by customer

The ticket machine in the carpark off Parnell St wasn't accepting them initially either, want to complain to Irish Rail about that?

That's how it's completely different.

Victor

Rascasse wrote: »

The €5 note issue was pan-Europe. Deutsch Bahn TVM's, amongst others, aren't accepting them. Some screw up with the ECB I'd imagine.

But Dunnes Stores machines were accepting them from the start. It was basically down to some of the various machine manufacturers not willing to have a bond in place (to prevent notes entering circulation early) to get some notes before the official launch.

XxMCRxBabyxX

Hi guys

Is anyone who caught by this issue still being charged different amounts? Since June I have been charged 11 times totaling over €300. While I accept that I certainly owed some money and I am more than willing to pay that, I feel like I'm being overcharged at this stage. I also can't afford these random payments at the moment!

Victor

Drop a note to them asking are any more payments due.

You might get a bank statement and check the dates the transactions were made.

XxMCRxBabyxX

Victor wrote: »

Drop a note to them asking are any more payments due.

You might get a bank statement and check the dates the transactions were made.

I sent an email earlier asking exactly that and noted the dates of all the payments taken so far. I was just wondering if anyone was having the same issue.

Will throw an update up when I get a reply!

Dravokivich

XxMCRxBabyxX wrote: »

I sent an email earlier asking exactly that and noted the dates of all the payments taken so far. I was just wondering if anyone was having the same issue.

Will throw an update up when I get a reply!

With money constantly coming out, id be more inclined to ring'em. It sounds very off to me that they are charging you around 300 in unpaid credit card transactiins that didnt process for them.

XxMCRxBabyxX

Just an update on the above. I am still waiting for an answer two weeks later. Emailed and phoned and the hotline for this issue hasn't once been open. I have followed up on the email and followed up again, I can't find any other number to call and now I'm stuck. Anyone know what I can do next?

foggy_lad

XxMCRxBabyxX wrote: »

Just an update on the above. I am still waiting for an answer two weeks later. Emailed and phoned and the hotline for this issue hasn't once been open. I have followed up on the email and followed up again, I can't find any other number to call and now I'm stuck. Anyone know what I can do next?

Contact them via their Twitter account and make a show of their customer relations, two weeks ignoring you is a disgrace.

XxMCRxBabyxX

foggy_lad wrote: »

Contact them via their Twitter account and make a show of their customer relations, two weeks ignoring you is a disgrace.

Done. Will let you know if I get a response!

Victor

They have mentioned on Twitter that they have a backlog of customer service issues due to a bunch of delays when there were lots of delays and refunds are due.

Hilly Bill

XxMCRxBabyxX wrote: »

Just an update on the above. I am still waiting for an answer two weeks later. Emailed and phoned and the hotline for this issue hasn't once been open. I have followed up on the email and followed up again, I can't find any other number to call and now I'm stuck. Anyone know what I can do next?

Did they respond to you in any form? Acknowledged that they received your claim?

Hilly Bill

Victor wrote: »

They have mentioned on Twitter that they have a backlog of customer service issues due to a bunch of delays when there were lots of delays and refunds are due.

Shouldnt be an issue Victor. They have a section that deals only with that complaint. All it takes is a response via an e-mail reply that they have received the complaint and that they will get onto it asap.

XxMCRxBabyxX

Hilly Bill wrote: »

Did they respond to you in any form? Acknowledged that they received your claim?

Not a single response except the automated emails. No response on Twitter yet either.

What's annoying me most is that noone is answering the phone line that was set up for this issue! What's the point in it so.

Hilly Bill

XxMCRxBabyxX wrote: »

Not a single response except the automated emails. No response on Twitter yet either.

What's annoying me most is that noone is answering the phone line that was set up for this issue! What's the point in it so.

I'd say that they are up to their necks in it.

Call the 1850366222 number and you will get a response.

XxMCRxBabyxX

Hilly Bill wrote: »

I'd say that they are up to their necks in it.

Call the 1850366222 number and you will get a response.

Well when I say unanswered, I mean closed with a voice mail giving their opening hours (during which I was calling!)

I'll try give them a ring once I have time tomorrow or Thurs.

Victor

XxMCRxBabyxX wrote: »

Well when I say unanswered, I mean closed with a voice mail giving their opening hours (during which I was calling!)

From their twitter account, that message also comes up when the line is busy.

:rolleyes: @ Irish Rail

XxMCRxBabyxX

Victor wrote: »

From their twitter account, that message also comes up when the line is busy.

:rolleyes: @ Irish Rail

I hadn't seen that myself but thanks for passing that on :-)

Seems a little pointless putting you onto voicemail and then hanging up on you. It's almost like they're trying to avoid calls...

I'll try that other number tomorrow. Cheers all for the help.

bikeman1

I think it might be a case of "Talk to Joe". Always gets peoples minds focused!

XxMCRxBabyxX

bikeman1 wrote: »

I think it might be a case of "Talk to Joe". Always gets peoples minds focused!

Please don't make me do that! I could never forgive myself!

Hilly Bill

bikeman1 wrote: »

I think it might be a case of "Talk to Joe". Always gets peoples minds focused!

I think Joe is the public's answer to the Labour court

XxMCRxBabyxX

Another update:

I've been a little busy over the last few days so haven't had a huge amount of time to chase this (though "abuse Irish Rail" was still number one on my to do list!) but I called up the number given to me here today who put me through to the taxsaver/smartcard division. I was given the email address of the manager in charge of this division and so have forwarded the email on to her. I am hoping for a fast reply!

In regard to everything else:
No reply to the original email or its follow-up
No reply to the tweet
The other number is still closed

XxMCRxBabyxX

A final update:

It took a good few days before I heard anything else but I eventually heard from someone and explained my issue yet again. He said that he'd email me a breakdown which I got a few days later. Everything has been matched up so no actual problems in the end (except how on earth did I manage to spend so much on travel) but I could have saved a lot of time and effort if they had just answered that damn phone line or replied to my email a month ago like they should have!!!

Thanks again for all the help.

Hilly Bill

XxMCRxBabyxX wrote: »

A final update:

It took a good few days before I heard anything else but I eventually heard from someone and explained my issue yet again. He said that he'd email me a breakdown which I got a few days later. Everything has been matched up so no actual problems in the end (except how on earth did I manage to spend so much on travel) but I could have saved a lot of time and effort if they had just answered that damn phone line or replied to my email a month ago like they should have!!!

Thanks again for all the help.

Good to hear that you got sorted in the end.