Dave Liney wrote:
Mizter T wrote:
asdf wrote:
On Wed, 24 Aug 2005 12:50:21 +0100, Roland Perry
wrote:

I'm a bit confused here. Will the 7DTC come on a free Oyster card

Yes, if you don't have one already or want an extra one (although they
seem to be reserving the right to start charging the £3 deposit again
in the future).


(snip)

So Rolan, you've no need for another Oyster card, simply put a 7DTC
onto the one you have already. If you want a monthly or longer season
on your Oyster card then it does need to be registered.

But will they give him his £3 back when he puts his first 7DTC on it?

No. Whilst I see your logic, that's not how things will work. If he
wants his £3 back then he'll have to hand back (or in Oyster speak
'surrender') his Oyster card.

The central database will keep a record of whether a card had a £3
deposit paid on it, so TfL will not be handing out £3 deposits to
people who surrender their Oyster cards if those people never paid a
deposit on the first place - i.e. if they'd got a depositless Oyster
card as a result of buying a season Travelcard, then hand it back, they
won't get £3 given to them.

I've not got one but presumably you got a receipt for your £3 which
you'd have to hand back with the Oyster card to get the £3.

I'm not entirely sure of the proper proceedure for surrendering an
Oyster card. I did it once with a registered Oyster card at a Tube
station and was given my £3 back, and the ticket clerk didn't event
ask me for my security phrase - which was not good, as I could've been
anyone making a quick £3 from a lost card found in the street. That
was in the early days of Oyster when I'm not sure that everyone knew
the correct proceedures to follow.

However I've tried to do it since with an unregistered and been told I
need to either ring the helpline, or write to Oyster customer services
who'll then send a cheque back. If this is the case then those fearful
of 'Big Brother' who wish to keep their personal details dissasociated
from their unregistered Oyster card travel record held on the database
may not ever want to surrender their card, as it would seem that to
claim the £3 deposit back you'll need to provide your personal
details. (It should be noted that the individual travel record is not
kept for longer than three months IIRC.)