Opal Card Fare Issues

[boronia]

I thought SL buses were programmed as "trains" for fare purposes?

[mandonov]

They are.

[Fleet Lists]

I've been hearing a number of complaints lately about discounts not taking effect for transfers from trains to StationLink buses. People are paying two separate train fares even though the transfers are well within the time window. Anyone heard of this and know how / why this could happen ?

Which means there should not be any transfer discounts but only a full point to point fare charged unless there is a transfer to/from another bus route. But there is a problem if two separate train fares are charged - nothing to do with transfer discounts.

[moa999]

I've been hearing a number of complaints lately about discounts not taking effect ?

Where?

[andy_centralcoast]

Quick google found this: https://old.reddit.com/r/sydney/comment ... opal_card/

[Newcastle Flyer]

Yesterday, it claimed I went from Queens Wharf to Queens Wharf - by bus!
The tap ons & offs were at Queens Wharf & Stockton Wharf.

Today, I got 19 errors today (yes nineteen) - within 4 hours & 3 mins.

3 of those errors were tap-on reversals (TORs) - Two of these TOR's were on the same bus (I didn't know it was going to be the same bus).

Their was one correct tap on reversal at Wickham. The Opal person told me that TORs interrupt your hour. Wrong. I've had TORs before within the hour, where it still correctly stated "Transfer".

I was also told maybe the GPS wasn't working on the bus - that's odd, a tracker showed where the bus was. So the GPS was working on the bus. Even when the tracker didn't show the bus, the card did show the correct fare, which was a transfer.

[mandonov]

I'll say it again, I have never come across someone with as many issues as you have. Me and people I know may have an issue once a year if that, so there's got to be something wrong with your card or the way you're using it.

The cards are free, I recommend acquiring a new one.

[matthewg]

I'll say it again, I have never come across someone with as many issues as you have.

In my time as an IT support person, I have come across people who have some sort of technology curse. They must radiate a low-level magnetic field or something that scrambles computers. It doesn't matter what you do, their computers fail. In one case, after fielding many complaints that 'this computer is a lemon' after a multitude of problems we give them a brand new out of the box machine that had been earmarked for someone else. It lasted less than a day before for the first failure that resulted in the loss of work...

I have had one Opal mistake that required correction since I got my card - and that may have been self-inflicted (holding a card against a bus reader before the stop and waiting for the reader to wake up, it did a silent tap off. So I tapped again and got a tap on as I was exiting the bus)

I don't own a car, so I used PT a lot.

[Newcastle Flyer]

I'll say it again, I have never come across someone with as many issues as you have.

It's definitely not my card, and have proof that it does work as it should when everything is okay, but often for some reason, the Opal machines have the wrong stop when stopped at a bus stop. I only found out when I was standing up that the Opal machine shows the stop to the driver. In which case, can't the drivers adjust the machine so that it reads the correct stop.

Edit for my previous post: It seems that the Stockton Ferry has been designated as a "bus" instead of a "ferry" for some reason.

[mandonov]

Edit for my previous post: It seems that the Stockton Ferry has been designated as a "bus" instead of a "ferry" for some reason.

Yes, that's a unique case as the Stockton Ferry is treated as a bus in the system so that there's no transfer penalty when transferring to or from a bus.

In the initial rollout when light rail was first brought on board they would show up as ferry trips in your activity statement because they were using the exact same equipment that ferry wharves used. The difference between ferry/light rail poles and train poles is that the train ones are connected to the network via ethernet whereas the other two are via a mobile connection.

[Newcastle Flyer]

Yet again, I have been charged for a fare of "Station XYZ to No tap off"

The issue is that that fare should NOT exist at all, as I tapped off at Station XYZ, and that should be the last entry. I didn't use the Opal after that, yet Opal is refusing to refund this fare that should not exist.

[moa999]

So presumably then you didn't have a tap-on at Station ABC.
In which case you could have been fined a whole lot more.

[Newcastle Flyer]

Moa99 & now CityRail, where did I say this was a fine? It's a fare that shouldn't exist.

Here is what the activity statement shows versus what I did.

• It incorrectly shows "Central to No Tap Off" then it
  incorrectly shows "Broadmeadow to No Tap Off"

(I also have a screenshot of this incorrect activity statement)

What I did was this

• "Central tapped on to Broadmeadow tapped off"
  That was the last use of a tap off machine that day.

(I have video proof of tapping off, not only that but I have proof that Broadmeadow was the last tap off machine I used.)

The issue is that Opal are refusing to refund the fake "Broadmeadow to No Tap Off" fare, and yes I've contacted Opal about this.

[moa999]

Well maybe you should have said that in the first place rather than drip feed information.

I also simply said based on the information provided you could have been fined.

What time was the Central tap-on. What time was the Newcastle tap-off.
Had you conducted any other trips as part of the journey before tapping on at Central - there is an inbuilt journey time-out limit (6 hours as disclosed here, including a comment that it could cause default fares - https://transportnsw.info/tickets-opal/ ... calculated


Does the video of the Broadmeadow tap show a fare being deducted? If no -$x.xx and balance is being shown, then it's clear that the card (remember card is king) is treating it as a tap-on and not a tap-off.

[Newcastle Flyer]

What time was the Central tap-on. What time was the Newcastle tap-off.

Central 12:17, Broadmeadow 15:48. (I wasn't really after the 12:18, but the 13:18 turned out better for Broadmeadow anyway)

Had you conducted any other trips as part of the journey before tapping on at Central - there is an inbuilt journey time-out limit

It was for last Sunday, and was tapping on and off regularly.

Does the video of the Broadmeadow tap show a fare being deducted?

After tapping off, it just showed the balance, but was still a tap off.

[moa999]

It was for last Sunday, and was tapping on and off regularly.

Was the first tap-on as part of a continuous journey (maximum 8 individual trips) before 9.48 (ie. You had hit the 6 hour outside Sydney limit)

After tapping off, it just showed the balance, but was still a tap off.

That would suggest to me that the card was treating it as a tap-on.

[Newcastle Flyer]

Okay fixed.

I'm NOT going to get charged for a fare I did NOT do.

IF that happens several times, it can add up and add up.

Edit: Add "I'm NOT going to get charged for a fare I did NOT do NO MATTER what their rules for Opal are, and demand a refund whenever this happens.

[moa999]

So was it due to the 6-hour maximum?
Granted I'm not sure what they expect one tondo in this situation - wait an hour?

Glad you got it sorted.
What was the default fare charged? As I thought it was meant to be subject to the Daily Travel Cap, albeit maybe not the Sunday cap, based on the wording here
https://transportnsw.info/tickets-opal/ ... -with-opal

[Newcastle Flyer]

So was it due to the 6-hour maximum?

Possibly, but she (the supervisor) said 5 hours.

Granted I'm not sure what they expect one tondo in this situation - wait an hour?

We've already had a train trip that was almost 6 hours, it was meant to be only about 2½ hours.

Glad you got it sorted.

She did it reluctantly, but I don't care how reluctantly.

I did more than 8 separate journeys, so I got 8 after discount. That's not the point though.

[Newcastle Flyer]

Had you conducted any other trips as part of the journey before tapping on at Central - there is an inbuilt journey time-out limit (6 hours as disclosed here, including a comment that it could cause default fares - https://transportnsw.info/tickets-opal/ ... calculated

First, thankfully it didn't affect the fares this time, as I reached the default fare beforehand. However that's not the point, this time, she claims the maximum time is only 5 hours, not 6 hours.

It was Wondabyne to Wickham I/C.

This time it shows Wondabyne to No tap off, then it shows No tap on to our destination.
We got off at Gosford and stayed on the platform without tapping on or off. You don't need to if you stay on the platform.

Because it shows no tap on, wouldn't that mean you can be fined, even though you never used the card mid-trip?

Another issue is those with a retired employees pass. To summarise it states they will overlook just one "no tap off", yet many "no tap offs" and the pass could be confiscated. They wouldn't know how to check.

[stupid_girl]

So was it due to the 6-hour maximum?
Granted I'm not sure what they expect one tondo in this situation - wait an hour?

Glad you got it sorted.
What was the default fare charged? As I thought it was meant to be subject to the Daily Travel Cap, albeit maybe not the Sunday cap, based on the wording here
https://transportnsw.info/tickets-opal/ ... -with-opal

From past experience, default fare on Sunday is charged at Sunday Cap.

[stupid_girl]

Had you conducted any other trips as part of the journey before tapping on at Central - there is an inbuilt journey time-out limit (6 hours as disclosed here, including a comment that it could cause default fares - https://transportnsw.info/tickets-opal/ ... calculated

First, thankfully it didn't affect the fares this time, as I reached the default fare beforehand. However that's not the point, this time, she claims the maximum time is only 5 hours, not 6 hours.

It was Wondabyne to Wickham I/C.

This time it shows Wondabyne to No tap off, then it shows No tap on to our destination.
We got off at Gosford and stayed on the platform without tapping on or off. You don't need to if you stay on the platform.

Because it shows no tap on, wouldn't that mean you can be fined, even though you never used the card mid-trip?

Another issue is those with a retired employees pass. To summarise it states they will overlook just one "no tap off", yet many "no tap offs" and the pass could be confiscated. They wouldn't know how to check.

For Wondabyne to Wickham I/C, maximum journey time is 5 hours.
For Central to Broadmeadow, maximum journey time is 6 hours.

[Newcastle Flyer]

Opal customer care is NOT customer care. They think they are always correct.

It said I did a tap on reversal - almost 15 km away. I tapped on my starting point and went to my DESTINATION stop.
But the Opal guy said "No you didn't, you tapped on and off at the same time." And he kept saying that. He thought he was correct.

You can't tap on & off at the same time, at two different stops.

[grimlock81]

Last week I used my Credit Card for my commute instead of my Opal Card. My journey via train in the 10-20km band, and I travelled off-peak the whole week.

For Monday to Thursday I was charged the correct fare - off-peak $3.13 one way (but it shows up in my CC statement as one transaction in the day of $6.26). However for Friday, where I was expecting to be charged $3.13 for the day, having hit the 8 journeys for the week, I was instead charged $2.82. The only sense I can make of this figure is it is the rounded figure of 45% of $6.26 but not sure why I would be receiving 55% discount instead of the 50%.

[boronia]

Both Ch 7 and Ch 9 ran news stories last night about some customers being double charged when the readers have picked up both Opal and credit cards in the same wallet. Previously. this came up as a faulty reading.