Charged twice by Thameslink on single Key Smartcard journey

[Richardr]

I travelled St Albans to St Pancras on 2nd December - and have correctly been charged (£8.30) for the outward part of the journey.

I returned overnight that evening on the 4:44 am train back, but have been charged twice for the one journey.

Initially my account showed a 5:16am tap out at St Albans (correct) and no tap in at St Pancras, so I filled in a tap in at 4:30, assuming that would give me the correct charge. That then went through as an £8:30 charge for a journey Friday 3rd (which it was in the early hours of).

Then after that had gone through, the system found a 4:29 am tap in at St Pancras, a minute before my addition, and has given me a further journey of that in and 4:30 am "autofill" at St Albans and has charged me a further £8:30 for Thursday 2nd.

Quite apart from 1 minute not being long enough to make the platform, let alone St Pancras to St Albans, I assume I have been caught over some day change confusing the system. The previous train was in fact an hour before at that time of night, so no chance of any other train ay 4:29am.

Thus I have been charged for a one minute journey to St Albans at 4:29, and a 46 minute journey a minute later.

Having complained to customer services, and given them the detail, they say "after checking our records, I haven’t been able to see any double payments for the journeys you have taken on 2 and 3 December 2021".

What is my next move - is it to go to the rail ombudsman, and / or the credit card company or is there a prior step I should take?

 

[Fawkes Cat]

What is my next move - is it to go to the rail ombudsman, and / or the credit card company or is there a prior step I should take?

I’d suggest taking a screen dump of where you see the two journeys, and copying that to customer services to show them what you are talking about.

 

[Richardr]

Thanks. Done that as part of the original email response to them without success.

 

[WesternLancer]

Thanks. Done that as part of the original email response to them without success.

By without success do you mean they have replied to say you are wrong / denied your claim or just not responded at all (yet)?

 

[robbeech]

Does the smart card debit straight from your bank per journey ? If so does your bank account tally up with the extra charge ?

 

[Jan Mayen]

KeyGo seems to assume the day ends at 0429 and starts at 0430. It doesn't seem to like journey's that go over the 0429/0430 period.
I'd go back to your journey history and see if it still shows the extra journey from St Pancras to St Alban's, as it may have been corrected automatically or manually. I'd also check your payment card statement.
If your card statement does show you've been charged twice, then email customer services and ask them to explain what the second charge is for.

 

[Richardr]

Just to say yes - I have gone through customer services, and as per the quote in the original email they have concluded following email correspondence that "after checking our records, I haven’t been able to see any double payments for the journeys you have taken on 2 and 3 December 2021"

There is of course one journey, not plural.

The charges went through my credit card on two separate days.

 

[WesternLancer]

Just to say yes - I have gone through customer services, and as per the quote in the original email they have concluded following email correspondence that "after checking our records, I haven’t been able to see any double payments for the journeys you have taken on 2 and 3 December 2021"

There is of course one journey, not plural.

The charges went through my credit card on two separate days.

hard to know what is next course of action.

would it be

a) contact credit card company to dispute payment
b) further message to TOC customer services saying they seem to have misunderstood (which is the clear plain English interpretation of their reply) and you will be referring the matter to the Rail Ombudsman if they do not repay the over-payment within x days)

So are we to conclude this is another payment system that the railway has devised and then not programmed to work properly with their actual pattern of services (ie a train that crosses the 'time barrier') supported by staff who are unable to understand what has gone wrong and put things right?

Is there any financial (as opposed to convenience) advantage of using keygo? If not I guess best thing to do is avoid using it in future.

 

[island]

Skip the emails and pick up the phone. The TfL customer service line will readily realise what's gone wrong and sort it.

 

[WesternLancer]

Skip the emails and pick up the phone. The TfL customer service line will readily realise what's gone wrong and sort it.

It's not TFL though is it? isn't Key smart (I use the word 'smart' cautiously given the thread) card a Southern product?

 

[island]

Ah, my mistake on whom to call.

 

[Haywain]

It's not TFL though is it? isn't Key smart (I use the word 'smart' cautiously given the thread) card a Southern product?

It's a GTR product. The Thameslink website gives a contact phone number of 0345 026 4700 (between 08:00 and 18:00).

 

[datdad]

Skip the emails and pick up the phone. The TfL customer service line will readily realise what's gone wrong and sort it.

Can I endorse this route? I had a muddle over tapping out at Finsbury Park where I didn't see the Machine to do so, there wasn't a gateline & the corridor was unfamiliar and crowded. The young bloke on the TFL help line (working from home) couldn't have been nicer once we'd gone through what had happened and I received a refund and paid the 'proper' charge. Do try them on the phone, I'm sure you'll be v nice with them, they are busy and best wishes. An Edit, just seen the note that its Thameslink not TFL, good luck with them.

 

[Alex365Dash]

An actual endorsement for the GTR helpline in this case - whilst I haven’t had the exact same issue, the helpline does have the ability to correct journeys. They took a while to pick up, but once I was through to someone they solved my KeyGo issue regarding a same station exit at a station with a validator pretty much immediately.

Do give them a call and I’m sure they’ll be happy to help.

 

[Richardr]

Thanks for your comments.

I sent an email back yesterday asking for them to look again, pointing out the facts again, and saying I will go to the Rail Ombudsman and the credit card company as a next step.

I also phoned them this morning. They said they have received the email, it looks clear (to the lady on the phone), and is being examined by the refunds team, so I can just wait for now.

 

[Richardr]

Thanks for the comments on the thread - Thameslink have now accepted that a one minute journey St Pancras to St Albans following a tap in, and a further journey 15 minutes later also St Pancras to St Albans based on the tap out, are indeed just the one journey, and will refund the difference.