On Apr 15, 2:54*pm, Roland Perry wrote:

In message
, at
06:36:26 on Wed, 15 Apr 2009, Mizter T remarked:

Some of the Oyster vending machines sell Oyster cards with no credit
pre-loaded for £3 (i.e. the cost of the deposit), some sell Oyster
cards with minimal credit pre-loaded - I've seen ones selling cards
for £5 with £2 credit pre-loaded, not sure if there are any other
variations.

I've only seen them selling £5 ones. I thought they were non-refundable
(and therefore in effect "Visitor Cards"), but if you say they are
normal ones...

They are the normal ones, I was with a friend who bought one last year
at Paddington.

On 15 Apr, 14:54, Roland Perry wrote:
I've only seen them selling £5 ones. I thought they were non-refundable
(and therefore in effect "Visitor Cards"), but if you say they are
normal ones...

The condom-machine style ones sell ordinary Oyster cards. The original
trial batch took £3 for the deposit and no credit (I don't know if any
of this type still exist) and later ones are £5 (inc £2 credit). Both
types have a refundable deposit as far as I know, and are distinct
from Visitor Oyster cards.

(AIUI, Visitor Oyster Cards come with slightly different terms so they
can be sold easily by third parties, whereas the vending machine cards
are sold by TfL and therefore can use the ordinary terms)

(and it would be a hell of a lot simpler if the ticket machines could
issue cards directly, like they do in Tokyo)

U

On Apr 15, 2:36*pm, Mizter T wrote:
On Apr 15, 12:07*pm, Roland Perry wrote:

In message
, at
11:21:06 on Mon, 13 Apr 2009, Mizter T remarked:

There is a £3 refundable deposit for the card. You can either provide
your details and have it registered, or otherwise have an unregistered
card.

Isn't there some issue to do with refunding people with overseas
addresses?

AIUI the deposit and unused credit can be refunded in cash in a
straightforward over-the-counter transaction at a Tube station ticket
office if it's under a certain amount, but I don't know what that
amount is.
See this TfL Help page:https://custserv.tfl.gov.uk/icss_csi...ion.do?entityN...

I think that if the card is registered then you'd need to quote the
answer to your security question. If the card is not registered then I
think it may have to be registered first before the money could be
returned. I am, as you can see, rather hazy on the details with
regards to this all! (Unfortunately I can imagine some ticket office
bods might be similarly hazy on these matters!)


The unused credit can only be refunded in cash at a ticket office if
only cash or debit cards have been used to top the card up. If a
credit card has been used, refunds can only be done via the Oyster
Helpline.

In message
, at
10:21:17 on Wed, 15 Apr 2009, remarked:
The unused credit can only be refunded in cash at a ticket office if
only cash or debit cards have been used to top the card up. If a
credit card has been used, refunds can only be done via the Oyster
Helpline.

I can see why they might say that, but it's a bit harsh if the
Credit-Card funded top-up is a year or two old. You'd have thought that
news of a fraud would have permeated through by then.
--
Roland Perry

Mr Thant wrote:
On 15 Apr, 14:54, Roland Perry wrote:
I've only seen them selling £5 ones. I thought they were
non-refundable
(and therefore in effect "Visitor Cards"), but if you say they are
normal ones...

The condom-machine style ones sell ordinary Oyster cards. The original
trial batch took £3 for the deposit and no credit (I don't know if any
of this type still exist) and later ones are £5 (inc £2 credit). Both
types have a refundable deposit as far as I know, and are distinct
from Visitor Oyster cards.

(AIUI, Visitor Oyster Cards come with slightly different terms so they
can be sold easily by third parties, whereas the vending machine cards
are sold by TfL and therefore can use the ordinary terms)

(and it would be a hell of a lot simpler if the ticket machines could
issue cards directly, like they do in Tokyo)

....and Amsterdam (the new machines installed for topping up the
OV-chipkaart - strippenkaart machines were, conversely, pretty thin on
the ground)

--
Current nearest station: Shortlands