Refunding OV Chipkaart

[Gerald Fiennes]

Anyone any idea what the latest position is on refunding an anonymous OV Chipkaart? I have one that expires on 1st November and I read that up to EUR30 can be refunded if I take it to an NS/GVB/RTM etc office, and I am charged EUR1 for this service. Some questions:

a. Can I do this after 1 November, or does the card 100% expire then?
b. If the balance is over EUR30, there is a form to send it back to Amersfoort and it will be refunded to a bank account. There is space for an IBAN number on the form, but presumably they won't refund to a non-Dutch IBAN account? And since I have to send the Chipkaart itself back and it will be pretty obvious what it is at least to the Post Office in Amersfoort, what happens if the card is 'lost'?
c. Will Amersfoort refund the card after expiry?

 

[MisterT]

You can ask for a refund up to one year after the card expires. After that year, the only way to get your money back is via the online form and sending the card to Amersfoort.
I think there shouldn't be a problem with an non-Dutch IBAN, but I'm not sure about that.

 

[AlexNL]

Trans Link Systems (the company behind the OV Chipkaart) are making it easier to ask for a refund, and the service fee will be waived. You can ask for a refund by going to their website and following the steps on this page: Expired card? Request a refund!

 

[Gerald Fiennes]

Thanks. Any views on whether it's safe to send the OV-Chipkaart back to Translink in the post as it will be very obvious what it is?!!

 

[AlexNL]

I wouldn't worry too much about that, the Dutch postal system is pretty safe.

 

[dutchflyer]

IN fact about anyone here in NL would do the same-send it back. There have never been any reported issues on that. Postage is free here in NL for that-but not from outside NL. Most people though would only send the claim-form (and most would do that online of course).
You do not seem to grasp what IBAN means-it means a pan-Europe common banking-account nr. system and in that way is thus (as being made expressively just to do that) accessible as any local/domestic account-another thing you Brits are likely to loose if brexit comes. There IS a draw though-it works only in €=EUR, the common money we have here on the continent. How your (assumedly Britsih bank) handles that I really cannot say.
And yes-that 1€ fee has been waived-it certainly is after expiry and as alex tells, just this week there as a large campaign here in the news that they will now also refund any remaining amounts on longer expired cards-or you can donate to a good cause. However, some of the named companies do charge a fee for personal handling service (mostly 50 cts, this certainly for RET)-thats something different.
IF you return to here whithin 1 year after expiry and if you then intend to get a new card, it might be possible to have them set over the amount on the new card-but I am not 100% sure about that.

 

[Chris999999]

You do not seem to grasp what IBAN means-it means a pan-Europe common banking-account nr. system and in that way is thus (as being made expressively just to do that) accessible as any local/domestic account-another thing you Brits are likely to loose if brexit comes. .

Isn't it wonderful how much anti-Brexit misinformation is produced. IBAN is nothing to do with EU membership. It stands for International Bank Account Number.

 

[radamfi]

Isn't it wonderful how much anti-Brexit misinformation is produced. IBAN is nothing to do with EU membership. It stands for International Bank Account Number.

I think he was thinking of the "Single Euro Payments Area"

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Single_Euro_Payments_Area

The Single Euro Payments Area (SEPA) is a payment-integration initiative of the European Union for simplification of bank transfers denominated in euro. As of July 2015, SEPA consists of the 28 member states of the European Union, the four member states of the European Free Trade Association (Iceland, Liechtenstein, Norway and Switzerland), Monaco and San Marino.

Even though the UK does not use the euro, there is presumably still a benefit. For example, Metrobank don't charge foreign currency charges for using its debit card in the SEPA area, but it does outside. They used to offer worldwide free transactions but now only in the SEPA area. This must surely be because the costs of providing that service outside that area are higher.

 

[AlexNL]

Isn't it wonderful how much anti-Brexit misinformation is produced. IBAN is nothing to do with EU membership. It stands for International Bank Account Number.

Yes and no... the IBAN is a result of SEPA, the Single European Payments Area programme. This is a EU programme to come to a single market for payment handling in the European Union. Currently there are a couple of non-EU countries which are a member of SEPA, if Brexit proceeds it's possible that the UK joins those countries.

 

[30907]

I think he was thinking of the "Single Euro Payments Area"

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Single_Euro_Payments_Area



Even though the UK does not use the euro, there is presumably still a benefit. For example, Metrobank don't charge foreign currency charges for using its debit card in the SEPA area, but it does outside. They used to offer worldwide free transactions but now only in the SEPA area. This must surely be because the costs of providing that service outside that area are higher.

My bank (one of the big ones) charges £10 for a transfer to the Eurozone and IIRC £30 to the Czech Republic, making it not economic for smaller payments.

 

[Chris999999]

Yes and no... the IBAN is a result of SEPA, the Single European Payments Area programme.

No it was the other way round. SEPA adopted the IBAN designation as its basis. There are currently more than 60 countries which use IBAN, including Brazil, Saudi Arabia and Palestine -not yet members of the EU.

 

[paddington]

No it was the other way round. SEPA adopted the IBAN designation as its basis. There are currently more than 60 countries which use IBAN, including Brazil, Saudi Arabia and Palestine -not yet members of the EU.

Well, the IBAN was originally developed by the European Committee for Banking Standards, and was subsequently adopted by many countries outside Europe.

€=EUR, the common money we have here on the continent

There are 20 currencies in use on the continent of Europe, but you can believe whatever you want.

In fact, most of the world uses the US dollar, it is only in Europe where US dollars wouldn't be readily accepted by most people.

 

[33Hz]

You can ask for a refund up to one year after the card expires. After that year, the only way to get your money back is via the online form and sending the card to Amersfoort.
I think there shouldn't be a problem with an non-Dutch IBAN, but I'm not sure about that.

My card just expired and I was told by NS in Rotterdam Centraal that I had to post it off now to get the refund. Had I requested a refund or transfer to another one prior to the expiry date they could have done it.

I asked about non-Dutch bank accounts and was told that any IBAN is ok.

 

[MisterT]

My card just expired and I was told by NS in Rotterdam Centraal that I had to post it off now to get the refund. Had I requested a refund or transfer to another one prior to the expiry date they could have done it.

I asked about non-Dutch bank accounts and was told that any IBAN is ok.

My bad
I thought it was possible, but I think I've misinterpreted the Dutch page.

 

[Gerald Fiennes]

OK, thanks for info. I'll try and get a refund shortly and will report back.

 

[chubs]

I've just had 2 expired OV Chipkaart's refunded.

I sent them both in the post in the same envelope with the form filled out as best as I could for each one. Note that a UK IBAN number is 4 digits longer than a Dutch one so it doesn't fit in the box! The rep from OV Chipkaart called me up to query it, and I researched it online and figure that out as my bank were not being helpful. Once confirmed the rep said that should be fine and she could enter the full number on the computer.

It took about a week for the money to arrive after that (I was worried it had gone missing for a while!). I also got a confirmation letter for each card in the post.

Much smoother than when I returned my original expired OV Chipkaart about 4 years ago and had to use a Dutch family members account and address.

Hope this helps anybody else in the same situation.

 

[Gerald Fiennes]

Just to report that my OV Chipkaart was refunded very easily: just a simple webform, quote the number on the card and my UK IBAN number and the funds were received within four days! Much better than last time.

 

[radamfi]

It might be worth mentioning that there is no longer a 0.50 fee for using credit cards at Dutch ticket machines. Previously, the only way to top-up the card without a fee for most visitors was to use non-NS ticket machines (such as GVB or RET), coins at the machine or banknotes at the ticket office.

 

[33Hz]

I used one this morning and it charged me €0.50...

 

[radamfi]

I used one this morning and it charged me €0.50...

Maybe they haven't got around to removing the charge yet. It is mentioned here, in a forum post discussing the new fares from 1 January:

https://forum.ns.nl/off-topic-32/zo...sverhoging-ook-voor-1-2-meer-zitplaaten-41078

Allerlei toeslagen

• De toeslag voor creditcards vervalt;
• Er komt per 1 juli 2018 een balietoeslag van 50 cent voor het laden van saldo. Deze toeslag hoeft niet betaald te worden door rolstoelgebruikers, mensen met een visuele of mentale beperking en reizigers met een hoge leeftijd (75+);

It seems I wrongly assumed that it applied from 1 January, as it gives a date for the introduction of a 0.50 charge for topping up at the ticket office, but not for the removal of the credit card charge.

 

[33Hz]

Having looked at the printed receipt I got this time, I wasn't charged but the machine said I would be. Strange.

 

[radamfi]

Having looked at the printed receipt I got this time, I wasn't charged but the machine said I would be. Strange.

The website still says

De kaartautomaat geeft stap voor stap aan wat u moet doen. U betaalt bij de NS-kaartautomaat met uw pinpas of creditcard (V PAY, Maestro, Mastercard, Visa en American Express). Voor betalingen met creditcard is een pincode vereist en voor betalingen met Visa, Mastercard en American Express geldt een toeslag van € 0,50. Bij sommige automaten kunt u ook met muntgeld betalen.

https://www.ns.nl/reisinformatie/voorzieningen/verkoop-en-reisinformatie-op-het-station.html

The ticket machines provide you with step-by-step instructions. You can pay with a debit or credit card (V PAY, Maestro, Mastercard, Visa and American Express) at all NS Ticket Machines. Credit card payments require the entry of a pin code, and a € 0.50 supplement is charged for Visa, Mastercard and American Express transactions. Some machines also allow you to pay using coins.

https://www.ns.nl/en/travel-information/facilities/sales-and-travel-information-at-the-station.html

They have been accepting American Express since last summer.

 

[33Hz]

This machine seemed to be charging roughly the same thing this week.

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