Barclays/TFL cycle hire scheme in London
- Thread starter se5
- Start date
skyscraper101
0891 50 50 50
Well other than sending a letter to whichever address you used to sign up with and continually chasing the name on the card which you provided (which could be any name if you signed up for a pre-paid credit card) - I don't know how they account for it.
I know with rental cars it comes under insurance paid for and guaranteed by photocopies of driving licenses etc - but this seems too easy to get away with, especially if you're a foreigner with no fixed UK address. How they gonna chase you up? Interpol?
London_Calling
Pleasant and unpatronising
. . . is where the plan goes wrong.
Kanda
Diving wanker
Not really. Aren't they registered to an address??
skyscraper101
0891 50 50 50
So the short answer is, they can't do anything but chase the details they hold on account 
Let's see how many bikes end up going missing before the system is forced to change and/or the cost is passed onto bus/tube passengers etc.
Let's see how many bikes end up going missing before the system is forced to change and/or the cost is passed onto bus/tube passengers etc.
skyscraper101
0891 50 50 50
Yes, but who's address? I could register a card to any address - doesn't need to be a credit check against it or anything linked to it. I could register to my mate's nan's brother-in-law's place and TFL would be sent on a merry-go-round of chasing up someone who could just cancel their card once they got the bike and disappear forever.
And then there's still the question of foreigners. I can hardly see them spending money on international revenue collection agencies for the sake of £300. It'd cost them more than that to try and retrieve the cash.
London_Calling
Pleasant and unpatronising
.
skyscraper101
0891 50 50 50
Well, quite. But all kinds of crap bikes get nicked all the time. If someone works out they could punt them on for £40/£50 outside of London or something - it could be worth doing.
skyscraper101
0891 50 50 50
yeah yeah... theory is TFL will write it off.
But it's just a flaw I'm highlighting. A possibility. Can't see who'd want to buy a nicked Boris-bike myself either - but stranger things have happened.
But it's just a flaw I'm highlighting. A possibility. Can't see who'd want to buy a nicked Boris-bike myself either - but stranger things have happened.
toblerone3
Grrrrr
I didn't use a credit card to register just a debit card.
London_Calling
Pleasant and unpatronising
It's not a "flaw". It's a balance between being responsible and accessibility, and it's a process as well. On the one hand there's you going on about nicking them, and just above there's someone else who thinks it's "middle class" . . .
If it doesn't work out well, they'll presumably exclude pre-paid and debit cards.
skyscraper101
0891 50 50 50
It's just a proposal and talks are only in 'early stages' apparently. Also this is subject to TFL approving the £81 Million required. No word at all on if it will roll out any further west than Kensington. Meanwhile in the east...
Evening Standard said:
skyscraper101
0891 50 50 50
Well, I agree - its a balance they've struck and a risk they've accepted. I'm just pointing out the possible pitfalls is all. I'm just concerned that if it does fail, they'll end up paying higher insurance premiums funded by a hike in the costs (or it will get passed on to bus/tube passengers).
Maybe there is no win win situation. It would totally suck for those on low incomes, or without £300 to spare having to freeze this amount on their card every time they want to hire a bike. I expect they've studied he Paris system and decided on the way forward.
maldwyn
What?
That was me.
Jenny Jones of the London Assembly has suggested the current charges could put some low-income Londoners off the scheme completely.
I stand corrected on the needing a credit card to register, I was misinformed.
I can understand not accepting these anonymous prepaid cards, for the reasons mentioned about difficulty in tracing the person if they steal the bike.
But why are debit cards less "good" than credit cards?
More people have a debit card than have a credit card.
A debit card takes money out of someone's main bank account. In the case of both debit and credit cards, if TFL tried to take £300 out if the bike disappears, it may or may not work, depending if the hirer has any money in their bank / an overdraft facility / is below their credit limit.
What is the difference?
Giles..
skyscraper101
0891 50 50 50
Aren't banks more likely to let you go over your limit, in order to charge you fees for doing so?
If they do this, they could do it with both debit AND credit cards, couldn't they?
Pretty much all card transactions nowadays are authorised online to your bank, so the bank can decline a transaction that goes over a set limit.
When people go over their overdraft limits, its usually because of direct debits, cheques, standing orders etc.
Sunray
Its sunny somewhere.
Quite a bit, once you authorise a Credit Card payment, I challenge you to take it back. You can cancel the card and in the future, someone charges you to that cancelled card, you'll still get sent letters asking for the money and it'll get move to a debt collector and they'll take you to court to get the money back. Not so for a debit card.
London_Calling
Pleasant and unpatronising
I watched it and she doesn't directly address your claim. She does compare costs with other cities but you could do that with anything from housing to tube travel as well and London would come out as more expensive.
I struggle to see how this disadvantages those on low-income when it's cheaper than public transport alternatives?
maldwyn
What?
After watching the video I sent her an email and in her reply she acknowledged the charges were a concern and for those without a credit card the scheme was in inaccessible. The green group our putting together a report for TFL from all the comments she gets and hopes to see improvements quite rapidly.
maldwyn
What?
One example, roughly calculated as I’m on my way out:
A significant number of people on benefits don’t have a bank account and have their benefits paid into a post office card account (lets assume borisbike’s now accept these) Unless you have the £48 to pay the annual membership up front you’ll either have to pay £5 per week or £1 a day to access the scheme - compare these cost with a subsidized weekly bus pass of £8.30.
Kanda
Diving wanker
So my guess is they'll get a bus. These bikes aren't exactly an essential part of daily life are they...
maldwyn
What?
Still, the option would be nice - don't ya think?
teuchter
je suis teuchter
She needs to get her facts straight before expressing her opinion.
