Certain payment cards not charged by Irish Rail ticket machines in recent weeks

[Colm Moore]

http://www.irishrail.ie/cat_news.jsp?i=4839&p=116&n=237

UPDATE Certain payment cards not charged from Iarnród Éireann ticket vending machines in recent weeks
07 June 2013

Arrangements for charging outlined (UPDATE 10th June)

Iarnród Éireann Irish Rail advises customers that in recent weeks, purchases made by certain payment cards at Ticket Vending Machines (TVMs) in Iarnród Éireann stations have not been charged against customers’ accounts. This fault has now been rectified and the company has outlined for customers how it will now charge customers for tickets purchased.


Information for customers

Ticket vending machine issue

During the course of a recent software upgrade at TVMs by our contractor Scheidt & Bachmann, a fault developed which saw tickets issued and payments authorised against certain payment cards. However, the payment was not subsequently deducted from customer accounts.

Q. What cards did this affect?

A. This affected certain payment cards, but primarily affected AIB Maestro Debit cards. Over 9,000 individual cards were not charged as a result.

Q. When did this affect purchases?

A. Purchases made with these cards at TVMs from 28th March to 31st May inclusive were affected.

Q. Has this fault been rectified?

A. This fault has now been rectified. TVMs are now charging correctly against all cards.

Q. Could I have been overcharged?

A. No. The technical issue caused payments not to be processed on certain payment cards only. No overcharging occurred.

Q. Arrangements for charging of customers UPDATED

A. Iarnród Éireann is now making arrangements to process the authorised payments which were not charged during the period of this fault. Recognising that processing cumulative payments at one time may cause difficulties for some customers, these payments will be processed as follows (UPDATED MON 10th JUNE):

• All affected cards with, prior to 24th May, one single transaction with value less than or equal to €50 or multiple transactions with a cumulative value less than or equal to €50 over this period will be processed on Tuesday (11th June)

• All transactions conducted on affected cards from 24th-31st May inclusive will be processed on Tuesday (11th June)

• All affected cards with, prior to 24th May, a single transaction greater than €50 over this period will be processed on Thursday (13th June)

• Affected cards with multiple transactions prior to 24th May, the cumulative value of which exceeds €50 over this period, will be charged on a phased basis. This will be in line with the intervals between the original transactions, or one week intervals, whichever is shortest. This will commence from Thursday 13th June beginning with the earliest charge.

These changes follow customer feedback, and discussion of the matter with the National Consumer Agency.

These changes will allow customers, particularly those with higher value transactions, more time to plan for the delayed charges which will now be processed against their accounts.

Iarnród Éireann has established a dedicated Customer Helpline for any customer queries relating to this issue at 1850 885 865 (Mon-Sat 09.00hrs-17.00hrs).

We apologies for any inconvenience this fault causes customers.



Example of processing:

1. I made one payment of €60 on an affected card at any time during the period of this fault.

- Your card will be charged on Monday for €60.

2. I purchased four different tickets on an affected card, the total value of which was €40, during the period of this fault.

- Your card will be charged on Monday for €40.

3. I purchased four different tickets on an affected card, the total value of which was €170, during the period of this fault. I made these purchases as follows: Purchase 1: €70, Purchase 2 (3 days later): €20, Purchase 3 (9 days later) €60, Purchase 4 (2 days later) €20.

- Your card will be charged €70 on Monday, followed by €20 (3 days later), €60 (7 days later) and €20 (2 days later)

[Destructix]

Most of those AIB Maestro/Laser cards have been replaced with Visa debit cards.

[Mark Gleeson]

This story has gone well viral worldwide

After years of trying to get published by the IEEE, looks like I finally made it http://spectrum.ieee.org/riskfactor/...tware-screw-up

[Thomas J Stamp]

they didnt link to my herald or mail stuff lol marko is too nice.