Oyster Card Refunds, As Another Union Talks Strike

By · July 7, 2009 at 17:00 pm · No comments · Latest News · Report an error ·

0707_tube.jpg
Image by kayodeok

TfL has announced that they are offering refunds to anybody affected in last month’s 48-hour tube strike, reversing their earlier decision to point the finger at the RMT. There’s a caveat, though: thelondonpaper reckons that applicants for the ‘goodwill payment’ must prove they suffered a travel nightmare in order to qualify. Photographic evidence of your weeping bride stood up at the altar as you waited for a bus on Battersea bridge might suffice, but if the strike just made you late for beers with Barry down the boozer, your case might be harder to prove.

Transport chiefs might need to get into the habit of offering refunds, as the prospect of another strike has hoved into view. Hundreds of LU engineers and electrical workers have been balloted by the Unite union, who say that London Underground offered a “derisory” final offer before walking away from the table. That offer was a pay rise of 2% over two years, which ordinarily would be a jab in the kidney, if we were not living in exceptional times where firms are begging staff to work for free in order to stay afloat. Many Londoners in countless other industries have had to get used to wage freezes and reduced working hours; most of them don’t have their heel pressed on the jugular of the capital’s transport network.

The other three unions, RMT, Aslef and TSSA, are said to be considering the offer.

Tagged: , , , , ,

Report an error

  • Dave

    “TfL has announced that they are offering refunds to anybody affected in last month’s 48-hour tube strike”

    Anybody with a weekly or longer season ticket on Oyster, that is. Unlucky for those of us on prepay.

  • http://undefined DeanN

    Surely anybody on prepay wouldn’t have been foolish enough to have wasted credit on tube-strike day?

  • http://undefined Dave

    Good point. But then again, I perceived TfL’s refund announcement to mean that they would implement this as a ‘special case’ along the lines of their existing Customer Charter refunds, which generally require one to actually *try* to make the journey before claiming a refund for an irksome delay (i.e. touch in at the ticket barrier).

    I guess the devil is in the detail.

  • http://undefined Epicurienne

    I use Oyster pre-pay and I walked. 1 hr 10 each way, each day. But for my friends and colleagues who couldn’t walk to their destinations, and where they couldn’t get on a bus that was jam-packed and then got stuck in traffic because everyone with a car decided to drive, they either had to stay at home (long-distance commuters) or take cabs (expensive). Those with cars had to fork out for extra petrol/ parking. One colleague, who decided to cycle everywhere that day, had his bike stolen, along with that of a friend, locks left intact. All in all these strikes cost us in other ways. That’s why I feel strongly that ALL London commuters who’d usually take the tube should be given some sort of compensation for strike days, not just travelcard holders.

  • http://undefined DeanN

    But you could extend that to every time you’ve been inconvenienced by public transport. I’ve been late for work, job interviews, and mainline train connections countless time because of the shoddy system, doesn’t mean I’m expecting a refund.

  • RachelH

    Really? I doggedly apply for a refund every time the bloody tube delays me for 15 minutes or more. But then, I’m pretty fucking anally retentive.

←
→