D8 boy wrote: » Has anyone else tried to use a Leap card with a negative balance on a bus ? I've been using my Leap card since before Christmas without too much bother. Like some other contributors to this thread, I find the display on the card reader hard to read and, aware of the queue of other passengers normally boarding after me, I tend to focus on the green light as a signal that the transaction has completed. I made a number of bus journeys recently and had no idea of my balance. One evening I boarded a no. 13, placed my card on the reader to find that the machine didn't seem to be detect it. The driver got me to hold it different ways, stared at his display and eventually concluded the "the doo-dah must be broken, all you can do is sit down". Assuming this was a problem with the reader, i sat down and enjoyed my free journey home. Next day, different bus, usual routine of putting the card on the reader and ask for €1.70. Again not a flicker from the reader, despite trying the card at different angles. This time the driver jabbed some buttons on the machine and said what sounded like "your balance is €1.25". Since this was less than the fare I had already asked for, I then asked what the cash equivalent of €1.70 and dived into my pockets to find €1.90 in change. By the time all of this was completed it looked like every pair of eyes on the lower deck was drilling into me... When I got home I logged on to find that my balance was in fact -€1.25. I topped it up and it's working fine. It seems a very strange design to make the card appear "dead" when it is in fact out of cash, but since this happened twice it seems unlikely to be a fluke. The Luas card readers make a warning noise and show a message when your balance is low and make a different noise again when the balance is insufficient to make a trip. And in London I know the Oyster machines on the buses make a suitably embarrassing noise when the card has run out. Between the too-small displays, inaudible sounds, sloping reader surface and illogical handling of low balances, has Dublin Bus bought the worst smart card system ever?!!
robd wrote: » I would hazzard a guess that the it is the smart card that uses floating point, rather than the website. This would therefore be a technology limitation as it likely has limited memory hence lack of integer maths.
Tarabuses wrote: » The same thing happened to my daughter when she tagged off at Sutton having travelled from Connolly. She was also charged €4.30.
D8 boy wrote: » Has anyone else tried to use a Leap card with a negative balance on a bus ?
It seems a very strange design to make the card appear "dead" when it is in fact out of cash, but since this happened twice it seems unlikely to be a fluke.
Cyndaquil wrote: » A. tag on at Dundrum, tag off at Stephens green, tag on again at Abbey St and then off again at Heuston.
Cyndaquil wrote: » Question, if I am making a Luas journey from Dundrum to Heuston, do I A. tag on at Dundrum, tag off at Stephens green, tag on again at Abbey St and then off again at Heuston. or B. tag on at Dundrum and not tag off until I reach Heuston Thanks
Victor wrote: » This. The cash fare would appear to be €1.90 (two zones) or €1.75 with Leap. That actually seems to be good value.
goingnowhere wrote: » You must tag off at Stephen's Green and tag on again at Abbey Street
AlekSmart wrote: » Correct and right,incredibly enough,in cash-fare terms the two Luas lines are totally seperate entities with equally seperate Fare-Zone specifics......and people wonder at why we can't integrate public -transport modes..:rolleyes:
monument wrote: » As I said the "Luas Fare Comparison tool" puts it as a single journey (for the record, as well as for Leap, it also puts it as a "Single journey" for a paper ticket):
Victor wrote: » By "single", they mean "not return".
Victor wrote: » If you were to validate your ticket at say Red Cow and then Ranelagh, Luas doesn't know if you have travelled via the city centre, route 17, 18 or 75 and when or where you have forgotten to tag-on or -off.
goingnowhere wrote: » The system is intelligent and considers a red line to green line trip where there is a tag on/off at Abbey Street/St Stephen's Green as a single journey.Similar situations occur in London where you have to exit the underground and then pass through barriers again to get to the next train. If you don't believe me, try it both ways. But don't complain when you get ripped off. If I buy a single ticket from Cobh to Derry and change at Cork, Heuston, Connolly and Belfast Central, its still a single journey.
goingnowhere wrote: » The system is intelligent and considers a red line to green line trip where there is a tag on/off at Abbey Street/St Stephen's Green as a single journey. Similar situations occur in London where you have to exit the underground and then pass through barriers again to get to the next train. If you don't believe me, try it both ways. But don't complain when you get ripped off
AlekSmart wrote: » My opinion on the Dundrum-Heuston journey was based on the Cash-Fare situation rather than LeapCard.
monument wrote: » It may be wrong, but luas.ie says you only need one paper ticket to travel Dundrum-Heuston.
monument wrote: » Is it not also the case with the Underground you also can pass from line to line without passing any barrier or tagging off? I've done it more than a few times. .
BenShermin wrote: » Yes, normally this is the case, however there are a few exceptions, for example, if you're changing from a Piccadilly Line tube to a Circle Line tube at Hammersmith Station you have to exit the barriers at the "Piccadilly" side then cross the road and walk to the "Circle" side. Even though you have to tag on/off twice when changing tubes at Hammersmith the Oyster system recognises it as one journey.
SerialComplaint wrote: » The Luas guys tell me that "A credit card cannot be used twice within a 7 day period" for fraud protection reasons. This is a real barrier for legitimate customers. I brought the family into town last Saturday, and used my credit card to buy tickets for the family, while using my own Leap card. On Monday, my Leap balance was low, so I needed to top up - but my credit card was declined, with no explanation why. I had to get onto the customer services folk to find out why it was declined. This seems like a very restrictive limitation to me, and is creating a barrier for legitimate customers.
foggy_lad wrote: » Strangely enough Luas and Veolia seem to be the only transport operators who have grasped and nourished the whole leap card concept! They have turned all their validators into leap card validators removing any and all Luas smart card logos and every door on every tram has a large sticker reminding you to tag off or asking have you tagged on depending which side you look from. They appear to be well in tune with the whole "progress is good for us and our passengers as well as for the country" idea which is sadly lacking in all other Irish state transport operators as well as all state departments!
KD345 wrote: » To be fair the same stickers have been placed over the validators of every bus in the Dublin Bus fleet. There is no requirement to remind passengers to tag off on the bus, so those other type of stickers are not necessary. Most buses also contain full sized posters advertising Leap. Dublin Bus also have a similar flashing ad box on their homepage "leap forward in commuting". To be honest, I find the information on the Dublin Bus page fare more informative than that of Luas.
foggy_lad wrote: » How easy is it to use a leap card on Dublin Bus compared to Luas if you do not require the maximum fare? Luas does not have the same trouble as Dublin Bus with the card because they are a far more progressive company and see the benefits of zonal fares instead of the stage fare system that no longer exists on Dublin Bus but which they still insist on using. Only in Ireland would such incompetence be tolerated! in other less developed countries people have been jailed for much less!
goingnowhere wrote: » It has sold more Leap cards than any other location
bk wrote: » Exactly and I'm sure it would sell even more if it bothered to advertise it. Also you would think it would make sense for them to have LEAP Ticket Vending Machiens for purshasing and topping up leap cards there?
foggy_lad wrote: » They have plenty of room outside the window to put a few leap vending machines but that might require union approval.
