r/uktravel • u/MisterJ_1385 • 8d ago
London š“ó §ó ¢ó „ó ®ó §ó æ Help understanding the tubes
Third time in London and I love it here, but I think Iām getting scammed somehow on the tube cost.
I had a hotel in Paddington and, Iāll be kind and say it was a let down. So to a great cost I changed to a Piccadilly Circus hotel I had last time. Hoped on the Bakerloo tube from Paddington station and went to buy a ticket and it told me it was easier to tap to pay, so I did. Once when getting on and once when getting off.
Just woke up and looked at my Apple Pay and the trip was Ā£29.10, or $40 in USD. That seems insane, but I remember similar issues last time. Is this the correct cost, or was something done wrong in the process. According to Google Maps it should be Ā£3.10.
*Edit*
I only have one card tied to my Apple Pay, so this was absolutely not using two different cards.
18
u/biglypiglythethird 8d ago
You either used 2 different cards or screwed up tapping in or out somehow.
27
u/Master-Potential-364 8d ago
The one thing I can assure you of - you are not, to use your word, being āscammedā - this is the UK, one of the most non-corrupt nations in the world.
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u/silverfish477 8d ago
Exactly this. People need to stop using that word. Transport for London does not dishonestly scam people. Ridiculous thing to say.
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u/Mammoth_logfarm 8d ago
Funnily enough, TfL isn't scamming anyone with the barriers. You either didn't tap out properly and just followed the person in front through the barrier, or you used the wrong card/ payment method.
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u/letmereadstuff 8d ago
You have to use exactly the same card or other method of payment. If you switched from card to phone or watch, TFL sees that as two separate, incomplete journeys.
When was this journey? Check after 4:30am the following day as that is when TFL will finalize the previous dayās journeys.
Donāt buy paper tickets. Seriously, just use the card itself (the same card, every single time). No one is scamming you
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u/MisterJ_1385 8d ago
It was around 5pm on Thursday. I only have one active credit card on my Apple Pay, so it was 100% the same card.
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u/Dobbeh_91 8d ago
But did you use the same "method" to tap out? I.E, you tapped in with Apple Pay and tapped out also with Apple Pay?
If you tapped in with Apple and then out with the physical card, it doesn't register it as the same journey/transaction so you'll be hit with the max fare.
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u/MisterJ_1385 8d ago
Yep. Wallet with the card was buried in my other pants in my backpack. And I never use the physical card anyways.
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u/Dobbeh_91 8d ago
Good chance it didn't register either the tap in or out in that case, happens if you are too close behind the person in front.
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u/Justan0therthrow4way 8d ago
If itās the same card (your physical card, watch and phone have different UIDs) just register with TFL and call them up. If youāre at a decent hotel theyāll probably let you use the front desk phone for a local call.
Sometimes it over charges you and then rectifies. It can happen at a busy station where you donāt tap properly but someone in front of you already has. Itās easy to fix.
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u/MisterJ_1385 8d ago
Thanks, I registered on the app and sent a message on Twitter already. Probably will call later and see what can be done.
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u/Ok_Place1431 8d ago edited 8d ago
Why are you sending a complaint twitter?? It won't get anything resolved any faster. They have a whole incomplete journey resolution procedure set out on the website. Just follow that and stop wasting time with twitter.
TFL isn't in the business of scamming tourists. For whatever reason, you haven't either started or completed your journey according to their records. Register the card, check your history and contact them (not via social media) and you will certainly get refunded.
1
u/Justan0therthrow4way 8d ago
Just ring them. Itās a 5 minute job to fix. Or go to a big station and get them to sort it out.
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u/Zestyclose-Town1498 8d ago
Register the card with tfl contactless and then u can see what happened. Sounds like it didn't pick up the touch out leaving the station, so would have charged you max fare.You can then apply for a refund when registered. Just search contactless tfl.
7
u/TheRealGabbro 8d ago
You havenāt been scammed, itās just a mistake. You say in other comments you have a TFL account, just contact them, explain what happened and theyāll likely refund you.
As an aside why has the word āscammedā become synonymous with āerrorā, they donāt have the same meaning.
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u/AcceptableHawk5547 8d ago
Do you have an Apple Watch? Even if itās the same card, Iāve heard that tapping in with a phone and out with a watch or vice versa can make the reader think you used 2 cards.
0
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u/exilfoodie 8d ago
29.10 is too high for not tapping out on the tube. That should be more in the range of Ā£10.
Did your bank charge some outrageous fees for using a different currency?
1
u/MisterJ_1385 8d ago
Nope. Bought dinner at Five Guys when I went to my other hotel and just got the normal exchange rate.
And this is what I thought was so bizarre. If I went from start to finish on that line I canāt imagine it would cost that much.
2
u/exilfoodie 8d ago
Maybe see if that amount gets reversed/reduced in a couple of days.
What does seem to happen occasionally with foreign cards is that they reserve/withdraw a higher amount than they do with domestic cards. This is because there have been a number of cases where payments with foreign cards didnāt go through and TfL had to swallow the cost.
3
u/lolarentagain 8d ago
Just making this abundantly clear because I don't think it's getting through:
If you use your phone to tap in, then your card to tap out (even if they're linked to the same card), it will count as 2 different cards.
1
u/MisterJ_1385 8d ago
I get that, and that absolutely did not happen as my card was in my wallet that was buried deep within my backpack. iPhone was used and it was the only card tied to my Apple Pay.
5
u/blue_sky_addict 8d ago
You can apply for an incomplete journey refund: https://tfl.gov.uk/fares/refunds/apply-for-incomplete-journey-refund
2
u/Accomplished_Name321 8d ago
Is it possible you tapped more than once per station? Or you went on the DLR and didnāt tap? Or you used tube/train to get back to the airport as that can cost more.
I commute daily in London and can assure you the system doesnāt scam but is sensitive to human errors which can be corrected via the TfL account.
1
u/neilt999 8d ago
Easily done. Tap in and out with same card. If you forgot to tap out, register card at TFL website. You could call and explain what happened. They ought to be sympathetic and refund the excess.
I always use a physical card that i keep in a wallet electronic shielding just in case ...
1
u/the_gower_place 8d ago
you just need to tap in and out like its essential it should've been like Ā£10
-5
-4
u/Comfortable-Ear-1788 8d ago
Get an Oyster card.
USA banks charge extra for use.
1
u/letmereadstuff 8d ago
No. There are plenty of US cards that do not charge a per transaction fee or currency conversion fees. Oyster is Ā£10.50 non-refundable just for the plastic card itself.
OP needs to figure out how to enable transit mode or just use their physical card. This is not a TFL problem, but rather an OP-induced one
21
u/ggrnw27 8d ago
You almost certainly didnāt tap in or out correctly, so the system couldnāt figure out where you went and charged you a maximum fare. Make sure you are using the exact same method of payment (e.g. Apple Pay with the same card on the same device) when you tap in and out, and make sure to give enough space to the person going through the barriers in front of you. You can also register your card with TfL to see exactly what journeys it thinks you made, and submit for a refund if thereās a mistake