Luas Fine - but tapped my card!

AlanG

OP, I would be pretty sure a judge would support your case - it is up to Luas to provide a means to tag on and they did not and gave no instruction to you as to how you could validly tag on. If you get a train and there is no means to buy a ticket you can pay later so in this case I would think a judge would see it similarly. The machine should have indicated why it didn't accept your payment and how you could make a payment. 1 line in the software code could fix it.

Under His Eye

bk wrote: »

So if all the tills were down in Tesco, you could just walk in and take whatever you want?

Sorry, doesn't work that way.

Actually that happened to me once. The power failed. The manager simply asked to guess the value of the shopping and pay that by cash.

fxotoole

AlanG wrote: »

OP, I would be pretty sure a judge would support your case - it is up to Luas to provide a means to tag on and they did not and gave no instruction to you as to how you could validly tag on. If you get a train and there is no means to buy a ticket you can pay later so in this case I would think a judge would see it similarly. The machine should have indicated why it didn't accept your payment and how you could make a payment. 1 line in the software code could fix it.

They did. OP just didn’t use it properly. Fair enough, the message on screen didn’t say “wait 90s” or whatever but OP could have checked at the vending machine whether they were tagged on or not. By which time, the 90s woukdhave probably elapsed, and he would’ve been able to tag on properly.

bk

Under His Eye wrote: »

Actually that happened to me once. The power failed. The manager simply asked to guess the value of the shopping and pay that by cash.

That is fine, but you would have been doing it with the permission of the manager, which is completely legal. You and the manager simply negotiated a different price.

It is somewhat similar on DB, policy if the validator/leap are down, is to leave people on for free, but again that is with the drivers permission.

Taking a bottle of milk from Tescos without permission is simply theft, as is boarding a tram/bus without the correct fair.

A hardware failure doesn't give you the right to just take something or ride for free. You have to get permission on what action to take in such circumstances.

zom

gmisk wrote: »

You can stay tagged in for 90 minutes I think, so you could just tag out when you arrive?

What if I use that 90 minutes to do more than I travel like to go 4-5 stops down the line to do some quick shopping and then goes back ? Do inspectors check cards in terms of what stop was it tapped on - or just if it was tallped on ?

gmisk

zom wrote: »

What if I use that 90 minutes to do more than I travel like to go 4-5 stops down the line to do some quick shopping and then goes back ? Do inspectors check cards in terms of what stop was it tapped on - or just if it was tallped on ?

I honestly have no idea.
But I used to say go to town (from IFSC) get off at jervis - do my shopping - and head home on luas all in 90 minutes so not an issue.

JayRoc

Didn't see the point in starting a new thread but wanted opinions on a related problem;

I've noticed some of the TVMs at my local dart stations don't seem to work when someone tries to use a debit/credit card. For example, Blackrock train station has three TVMs but only one of them seems to be able to process debit/credit card transactions without a problem ( you just get an error message to "remove card" and that the transaction could not be processed).

Seapoint train station for some reason has recently removed all but one TVM and doesn't seem to have a manned presence any more.

I have just tried to top my leap card up five times and got the same error message each time to remove my debit card and that the transaction could not be processed. My card works everywhere else so it is not the problem.

I even went so far as to record myself attempting to top up my Leap Card , so in case I get stopped I can show them the video.

Is there anything else that could be reasonably expected of me here?

I have complained in the past about this issue but I am surprised I don't hear more about it given that I have seen this problem in certain stations for years.


Edit: I was also unable to buy a ticket, the same problem occurred.

fxotoole

JayRoc wrote: »

Didn't see the point in starting a new thread but wanted opinions on a related problem;

I've noticed some of the TVMs at my local dart stations don't seem to work when someone tries to use a debit/credit card. For example, Blackrock train station has three TVMs but only one of them seems to be able to process debit/credit card transactions without a problem ( you just get an error message to "remove card" and that the transaction could not be processed).

Seapoint train station for some reason has recently removed all but one TVM and doesn't seem to have a manned presence any more.

I have just tried to top my leap card up five times and got the same error message each time to remove my debit card and that the transaction could not be processed. My card works everywhere else so it is not the problem.

I even went so far as to record myself attempting to top up my Leap Card , so in case I get stopped I can show them the video.

Is there anything else that could be reasonably expected of me here?

I have complained in the past about this issue but I am surprised I don't hear more about it given that I have seen this problem in certain stations for years.

So the credit/debit card reader doesn’t work, and you can’t top up your leap card? Or you can’t buy a ticket?

Does the TVM still take coins/notes?

Are you boarding the train without a ticket?

I’d imagine Irish Rail would take a dim view of you getting on the train with no ticket. They would reasonably expect you to buy a ticket if you can’t top up your leap card. It’s not like there’s no other way of getting a ticket.

howiya

I don't know the area but is there a nearby shop where you could have topped up your card? Or alternatively used an ATM to obtain cash to top-up or buy a ticket?

goingnowhere

Seapoint only ever had a single TVM

JayRoc

howiya wrote: »

I don't know the area but is there a nearby shop where you could have topped up your card? Or alternatively used an ATM to obtain cash to top-up or buy a ticket?

I probably should have said I had no cash on me.

The TVM wouldn't accept card payment for a ticket or a leap card top up.

No shops nearby and no ATMs nearby.

TheChizler

JayRoc wrote: »

I probably should have said I had no cash on me.

The TVM wouldn't accept card payment for a ticket or a leap card top up.

No shops nearby and no ATMs nearby.

I'd imagine they'd take the view that it was possible to get a ticket, you just couldn't use the available method.

JayRoc

goingnowhere wrote: »

Seapoint only ever had a single TVM

Did it? There seemed to be a load of stuff taken out recently. I assumed that's what it was. Ok.

(They definitely have either made it unmanned or dramatically reduced the guy's hours anyway. I have not seen a member of staff at this station in months)