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€5 Refundable Leap Card Deposit

ZoZoZo

Hi,

The fact that the €5 charge is described as a 'deposit' and refundable implies that use of the leap card is actually free provided you return it when you are finished with it. How does this work in practice, do you bring it back to the shop where you bought it, post it back to some address or what ? Has anyone ever done this, or in practice does the Leap card cost €5 because its not actually practical to 'return' it ? The fact that they don't specify the return process up front makes me suspicious.

Thanks,

Zozo

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G_R

You just go on to the website and request the refund. It gets transferred back to your bank account. I’ve done it a few times over the years when I’ve lost a card. Usually takes a couple of days and the money is back in your account.

ZoZoZo

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118520468#Comment_118520468

They refund your €5 deposit when you lose the card ? That makes even less sense, are you sure you're not thinking about getting your credit balance refunded ? If you don't have to actually return the card to get the deposit back then what's the point of the deposit ? If I leave a deposit when I rent a bike and I lose the bike I don't expect to be able to have my deposit returned.

L1011

It disables the card.

The deposit is just to stop the cards being free.

G_R

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118521179#Comment_118521179

A quick Google would have answered this for you

https://about.leapcard.ie/card-replacement-refunds

markpb

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118521232#Comment_118521232

I think the deposit is there to allow you to make tag on/tag off trips where the tag on amount is more than your balance. If you have 1.50 on your card and need to make a trip for 1.50, you won’t be able to tag on if the tag-on amount was €2.00. With the deposit, you can tag on and take the trip as normal.

Michael Collins

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118524051#Comment_118524051

Exactly. In fact, isn't it the case if you have 1 cent on the card, you can get a €4.50 Nitelink?

So to stop you throwing the card away and getting a new one for free, there's a €5 "deposit".

ZoZoZo

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118521991#Comment_118521991

Eh, no. I'd already read that page:

select the ‘Refund or Replace’ option and follow the instructions

what exactly are these mystery 'instructions' and if its all above board why don't they just specify them without having to first open and account. I still have no idea how to return my card to reclaim my 'deposit'.

ZoZoZo

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118524081#Comment_118524081

So to stop you throwing the card away and getting a new one for free, there's a €5 "deposit".

But the deposit doesn't stop this behaviour at all if you can just reclaim your 'deposit' if you lose the card. Get up in the morning, can't remember where I left my leap card, can't be arsed to look for it so I just get another, I'm still only, temporarily, out of pocket by the same amount ,€5 because I pay a new €5 for the new card but reclaim the 'deposit' from the previous one by declaring it 'lost'. So no matter whether i keep one leap card for an entire year or just chuck them in the bin every day and use 365 of them I'm still only every out of pocket by €5 in the long term. So, as I say, the deposit appears to be completely pointless unless it is a racket whereby its not actually possible/practical to get this 'deposit' refunded. And the fact that they wont spell out the procedure for getting a refund just adds to the confusion.

G_R

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118555420#Comment_118555420

The link I provided literally spells out the procedure for a refund. It’s not in anyway difficult or hard to understand. You log in, click refund or replace, choose refund and tell them the bank account number you want it lodged to.

Requesting a Refund or Replacement for a Card

To request a refund or a replacement just login to your Account, select the ‘Refund or Replace’ option and follow the instructions. If you want a refund you will need to have your IBAN and BIC numbers to hand. Refunds can be lodged to any Irish bank account as well as other bank accounts in the SEPA region.

If your card is lost or stolen, it is important to request your refund/replacement as soon as possible. Once a card is reported lost/stolen it may take up to 48 hours for the card to be fully blocked.

The deposit is mainly there to allow you to travel when you don’t have enough credit to cover the fare. For example you have 10c on your card, you can take a journey costing €2.20 and it will use €2.10 of your deposit to cover the fare. When you top up this €2.10 will be replaced and you will have (if you topped up by €10) a balance of €7.90 on the card.

Michael Collins

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118555420#Comment_118555420

Perhaps you will only be refunded the balance, though?

ZoZoZo

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118555643#Comment_118555643

You don't appear to understand what the word 'literally' means :)

If it 'literally' spells out the procedure please copy and paste and highlight just the part where it explains how, and to whom, I return the card to reclaim my 'deposit'.

If you can't do this then it DOES NOT 'literally' explain the procedure at all, rather it alludes to some instructions which allegedly exist elsewhere but for some unexplained reason they have not presented in that link.

ZoZoZo

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118555933#Comment_118555933

Indeed, but if they only refund you your credit balance then the initial €5 was never a 'refundable deposit' it was a €5 charge to obtain a leap card.

Michael Collins

I don't know for sure, but one way it may work is that you will be refunded your deposit unless you've gone into the red, in which case you'll be refunded your deposit less what you owe.

irelandrover

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118562027#Comment_118562027

You seem to have invented the fact that you need to return the card, and then complain that no where gives you this instruction. The link provided shows very clearly how to get a refund or a replacement card.

noelfirl

This thread is utterly nuts.

Hippodrome Song Owl

On a related note, has anyone requested a replacement Leap card before? How long did it take in reality? My card is faulty so have requested a replacement this morning and am using a borrowed card in the meantime. It said 10 business days - is this realistic or will I likely be waiting much longer?

Hippodrome Song Owl

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118593646#Comment_118593646

In case anyone finds this on a search for future reference, the replacement Leap card arrived in the post today just 3 days after I requested it online. Very impressive efficiency!

ZoZoZo

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118563459#Comment_118563459

I haven't invented anything. This is the generally accepted meaning of the term 'refundable deposit' which is paid for the temporary use of something. It may indeed be the case that the card doesn't in fact need to be returned in which case the use of the term 'refundable deposit' moronic due to the confusion it causes. If the solution is indeed that the card doesn't need to be returned then why has nobody in the thread stated this clearly. Indeed you yourself have not explicitly said so you have just implied it. Moreover the number of replies suggesting other explanations only confirms my assertion that it is anything but clear. Finally you are wrong, the link does not show clearly how to do anything, specifically it uses the phase 'and follow the instructions.' without elaborating on what these mystery instructions are. If you disagree, then by all means copy and paste these instructions which I have clearly missed on that page.

ZoZoZo

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118564888#Comment_118564888

Agreed.

LXFlyer

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118636106#Comment_118636106

OK in simple English, you must create an account on www.leapcard.ie and register the card on that account in the first place to be able to claim a refund at some point.

Once you have done that, then if you decide at some point you do not want the card any more then you log onto your account and click on "Refund my TFI Card", there you confirm that you want a refund on that card, and then entering your bank details for the refund to be made to. That is all that is involved.

You will then get a refund of the EUR 5 deposit plus any credit balance remaining on the card. If however, you have a negative balance on the card, having dipped into the deposit, then you will only get a refund of the EUR 5 less the negative balance.

You do not have to physically return the card. TFI will put a block on the card to prevent it from being used once you confirm that you want the refund.

That is all there is to it. Nothing more.

Gillman1998

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118638791#Comment_118638791

Patience of a saint!

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122260146#Comment_122260146

[MOD] Please don't reopen old threads like that!