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none too plussed
Exact coinage only: Dublin Bus will no longer give a refund if you overpay your fare
Cash in those refund slips while you can.
YOU’RE PAYING THE €2.85 into Dublin city centre but only have a €2 and €1 coin.
From 9 September, you’ll no longer get issued with a receipt for the 15c extra as Dublin Bus is scrapping refunds.
New signs on the service say: “Nobody likes changes. Are we right?”
With the refunds set to be scrapped, Dublin Bus advises passengers to use the cheaper and easier option of a Leap Card, redeem refund slips they already have at the head office on O’Connell Street, or just have the exact fare for your journey.
For those people who still get caught out and overpay for their journey, the extra change will go towards “making our buses even better for you”, Dublin Bus said.
It also said it would fund its Community Spirit Awards.
In a statement, Dublin Bus said these steps were consistent with the National Transport Authority’s “welcome intention to move to cashless operations”.
A spokesperson said: “From 9 September, Dublin Bus customers will no longer be issued a ‘refund due’ receipt if they overpay for their journey with cash. Instead, they will be issued with a non-redeemable ‘extra payment’ receipt.
“We encourage our customers to purchase a Leap Card which is at least 20% cheaper than paying for their journey using cash and is more convenient to use. 70% of our customers already use Leap Card to pay for their journey.
“If a customer overpays for their journey with cash after 9 September, the extra change will go towards continuing to improve our services and to local communities across the Greater Dublin Area through the Community Spirit Awards
“Customers who have a “refund due” receipt can still reclaim their change at any time.”
According to figures released to TheJournal.ie earlier this year, Dublin Bus earned €5.7 million from unclaimed change receipts in the past six years.
However, the transport company is now pulling in less than 50% of what it was in 2012, most likely as a result of the bedding-down of the cross-platform Leap Card.
All told, before refunds, the company has reeled in €7.28 million in fare overpayments since 2012.
Just a fifth of that money (€1.54 million) has been reclaimed from Dublin Bus’s head office on O’Connell Street.
