If anyone other than a MOD had posted this, it would have instantly been moved to Misc. This is not a deal, its merely a tip for getting a refund on something you have already purchased. It is a good tip for those that were unaware, but it's definitely not a deal in any sense of the word.

Just tourists leaving cards with a few quid on them each? There was me assuming it was one card with an un-used £220m on it.

How do you claim? well, here's how.

***Ticket machine***

Click on the ‘Oyster refund’ option and then follow the onscreen prompts.
You will then receive the cash via the machine (YAY) BUT once you've claimed the money back your Oyster card becomes void and cannot be used again.

You won’t able to use ticket machines for a refund if you have a season ticket.

***Online***

Your card will need to be registered first (see get deal link) and then you need to select ‘apply for a product refund’ once you have logged in.

Your remaining season ticket, credit and deposit will be refunded.
The Oyster card would be again be void.

***Phone***

Phone TFL customer services on 0343 222 1234 and give them your Oyster card number and security question answer, they'll then go through the steps and you'll get your refund.

Again your card will become void.

***Snail Mail***

If you want to do it the snail mail way

Send your Oyster card to the address below and ask for a refund:
TfL Customer Services
4th Floor
14 Pier Walk
London
SE10 0ES

Maybe just me being picky, but this surely belongs in Misc as it's not really a "deal" as such, as it's not a purchasable thing.

On topic, this figure seems low. Must have been a lot of claims as some paper reported about double this figure a couple of years back! Most the money they reckon was tourists just leaving cards with a few quid on them each

Is there anywhere outside of London to check a card balance?

Excellent. See if this works

Could you expand a bit on your post I can't quite work that out?

Why even bother with an Oyster, just use a wave credit/debit card unless you are a weekly/monthly/yearly ticket holder?

Thanks goonertillidie :smile:

Got £2.10 back from a 2014 trip.....

Registering your card is optional. You don't have to register a contactless credit/debit card to use it on London Transport.

You don't need to use an Oyster card in London, simply register your Debit or Credit card on the TFL site https://contactless.tfl.gov.uk/ and you can use them instead, no need to queue to top up your card.

I just tried my card from 2012...

Can't create an account on a card that hasn't been used in over 8 weeks, I'd say thats where the majority of credit is sitting! I can't reclaim it unless I go back to London. Solid £15 on that card.

British transport network has been down for maintenance since "The Beeching Axe" swung into action.

down for maintenance!

Staff at a tube station? Really?

Not sure I'd agree. I have an annual gold card which when loaded onto my oyster gets me 33% off during off peak hours for the year

That's my Mrs in front can you upload another pic

£4.50 refunded

Implying you didn't waste your time?

But, you did.

If you really must insist on using a gif then maybe make it a relevant one?

If you registered the card, then phone them up or go online and ask for the balance to be transferred to a new card, the deposit will be refunded and you can get the cash refunded from the new card. If you didn't register it, sorry its lost.

OOo...like Cpt Kirk's air miles account?

The thread that just won't die. This is like posting a deal that tells people to check their bank accounts to see if there is money in them.

I have two in my house with minus money on it :man:

Attention National Railcard holders!

If you have a 16-25, Senior, Disabled or HM Forces Railcard do NOT switch from Oyster to contactless!

Railcard discounts can be set to apply on an Oyster card, but *cannot* be applied to a contactless bank card.

Further details are here:
https://tfl.gov.uk/fares-and-payments/adult-discounts-and-concessions/railcards

Note that you need to have the discount "set" on the Oyster by staff at TfL operated stations. It expires when the railcard does, after which you need to have it "set" again with a new railcard.

What has the current misery and mayhem on public transport got to do with this thread and urmum's post alongside my reply.
Whether I am an expat or not is of no concern to the truth, and as for the trolling remark that is always someone's last line of defence when they have no further sensible thing to say. Some of my TROLLING has produced favourable responses from people I have helped and also a fair share of likes.
Nowhere in the T&C's of HUKD does it state that expats are barred from it's site or is unable to benefit from any of it's posted deals, which I have done on quite a few occasions, so I respectfully request you belt up.

What?

It doesn't hurt to let people know who didn't realise this was possible or had forgotten they had unused money on tjeir cards, so please get off your high horse. By the way I don't have an Oyster card but I am pleased that it has been posted and I could not care less if it was posted here or there.

This isnt a deal. Its money on your card that you can use to travel or get refunded at anytime, just as it always has been.

How could you forget £322!

£220 million

This isn't a deal...

Cashed mine in last year when I found out I could use contactless on trains and buses etc. Note it's not all ticket machines that can refund, just the larger type if you get my drift. Oyster cards are sooooo 2005 :laughing:

thanks just got back £12 from an old card

That's still a lot cheaper than out of London, they want £1.50 just to get through the bus door.

If the Oyster is unregistered and hasn't been used recently, you're going to have a hard time claiming it back...

To get a refund from the TfL ticket machines you must have had the card for at least two days, not have a valid season ticket on it and the balance (not including the £3/£5 deposit) must not be above £10. Anything above must be done online or at a TfL Visitor Centre. You can only get the refund from the larger TfL ticket machines.

i've never ever seen a oyster card :laughing:

Do you still get £5 back for returning an Oyster card ?

I think it has no expiry date, but if you don't use it for 1,000 days or longer, it will be deactivate.
When you wanna reuse it, just go to any Customer Service Centre at MTR stations to have it reactivated for free and the balance of the card will still be there.

Also Octopus can be used in shops to make purchases unlike Oyster.

I still got over HK$100 on my Octopus.:smiley:

Really should go HK agen to use it.:smiley:

Agree.
I stopped using my Oyster card now (think still got about £10 on it).
I will keep my Oyster card tho,as is useful if you have friends/relatives coming from abroad,then they can use.

Contactless means doesn't need topping up when run out of credit and I can check my Nationwide a/c online to see how much tfl have deducted.

Remember before when was oyster only,they had the ring donut fare ie.£1 Inner London,70p Outer London (I think).
Now fare rise to £1.50!! :disappointed:

£40 back many thanks!!!!!

Didn't think anything of it - just logged in and boom, £25.60 + £5.00...a nice £30 just in time for Christmas. Great call OP!

Same lol, I use my apple pay or contactless now.

Must remember to cash card in for £5 when im in London next month, I'm sure I have £5odd on it, Ill just use my contactless 6S and get TSB cashback on TFL this year

Oyster is still useful if you have a 16-25 railcard. 1/3 off the daily fare caps - that's a lot of money! I must have saved at least £150 in 3 months.

Agreed.

Voting cold for that reason.

I'll get my coat..

I have the opposite problem. 4 cards, all of them in negative balance.

I have done that myself a few times. Normally I get the Oystercard from my colleague doing visit to London. At the end of their visit they do not need it anymore, they handed it to me and I get £5 from the ticket machine.

Sorry I live in Scotland so oh well

I managed to claim mine back twice. I went into an Oyster shop initially and they refund me in cash. A few months later I noticed they still appeared on my TFL online account and requested a refund there too. Bingo - it worked! Their admin error is my gain :smiley:

trying to register but got this message. anyone?

We have not been able to confirm that you are the card holder. This may be because you haven't yet provided us with a security question and answer, and you have not used the Oyster card to travel in the last 8 weeks. Please make a journey using the Oyster card and try again the next day.

For further assistance, please contact TfL Customer Services on 0343 222 1234 (8am - 8pm).

Ive got £27 on my account balance, but lost the card a few years back. Tried speaking to someone in person, and was told all I could do was buy a new one and sort it online..well refused to buy a new one, as already had another BUT with no card/serial number as was a limited edition one I was given once.
Tried applying for a refund and I just get
Error
Unexpected error
Sorry, an unexpected error means we were unable to process your request at this time.

Please call TfL Customer Services on 0343 222 1234 or go back and try again.

10 quid ....better in my pocket than the mayors....applied for mine......thanx HUKD

Thanks for this very useful post. I now have an Oyster 60+ card so I didn't need my old blue oyster card.
It had a balance of £5.80, plus there was a failed refund from April 2016 for £2.80 plus the original £3 deposit. £11.60 refunded to my bank account and card is now cancelled. Excellent :smiley:

Even if the refund was in £50 notes, it would still take 4,400,000 of them! I think that would still take a while to count out!

Although I have a contactless card, I still keep my Oyster as a back up in case something goes wrong with one of the cards, or in case a friend/family member wants to borrow it.

I got in early so only get £3 deposit back but that's better than nothing!

Are you joking me!? I was convinced I only put a fiver on!

Not recognising my card numbers.... is there a time limit as my cards are 2 years old and I have 5 of them?

Is there any way to get around this:

"We have not been able to confirm that you are the card holder. This may be because you haven't yet provided us with a security question and answer, and you have not used the Oyster card to travel in the last 8 weeks. Please make a journey using the Oyster card and try again the next day.

For further assistance, please contact TfL Customer Services on 0343 222 1234 (8am - 8pm)."

??? Aside from travelling using it.

Why? do they give you it back in penny's?

You get something in return!

Great "deal". Heat hunters, lingerie pervs and nerds trying to "out-expert" each other....reminding me why I don't bother with hukd much nowadays.

15.05 GBP back in my account! Thanks for the reminder.

Another card then you will have an octopus.

i have 7 oyster cards with 0 balance, what can i get for them?

Next 'deal' will be a PPI refund calculator website
Can't believe how absent minded the lot of you are that you're forgetting about the £5 deposit you pay on each new oyster card.....money smart, you are not.

True, its not hurting anyone to post it on this site and I'm glad that it has been posted as it will help a number of people that were not aware you could get Oyster refunds - however that does not change the fact that by HUKD's very own definition, its not a deal. See below.

https://www.hotukdeals.com/help
What are the different types of deals?

Deals can be any product or service people can buy for a bargain, including two-for-one sales, reduced prices, and clear out sales.

Vouchers are additional discounts on products. Sometimes a voucher is a code you can provide at the time of purchase, or a discount earned by doing a survey. Vouchers usually involve a promotional code, so be sure to provide that when you post the deal.

Freebies are things you can get for free! Whether it's a free download or a free pair of socks, you can post it here. Free items included with a purchase are considered deals, since a purchase is still required.

Competitions can be anything you can enter for free online or in a store to win a prize. The cooler the prize, the hotter the competition will be. We do not allow raffles or soliciting votes for a competition which you've entered. (Eg, you cannot post asking for people to vote for your child in a Cute Kid contest!)

Ask is an area to post in if you are looking for a deal on something specific, or if you are wondering about a previously posted deal you are unable to locate.

For Sale/Trade is an area of the site where you can post items you would like to sell or trade. In addition, HUKD member accounts will work on fo.lk , a for sale/for trade community with additional features to help you sell and trade safely.

Miscellaneous is a place to list anything that doesn't fit into the other categories, including questions, general chat and links to deals or opportunities that do not involve products or services.

Feedback is a good place to discuss any problems, concerns or ideas you have for the website or the community. The feedback forum is monitored by moderators and we use your insights to help improve the site.

It's pretty obvious therefore this should be in Misc, as this is not a thread about a product or service people are able to buy, but actually a method of getting a refund on a product they already own.

Thanks for the reminder. Just claimed £14 back, sure I've got a couple more,lying around the house too. Might not be a deal in the true sense of the word but who cares!

Yes and all the 'deals' on here are TAKING YOUR MONEY OFF YOU. I know which I prefer

Yes, but you have to create a deal here first !.

Thanks

one year from Penge

I've still 80 HK$ left on my Octopus card from 2009. Can I get a refund on that too? :wink:

I agree with other posts - this is not a deal. They are giving back YOUR money !

Sorry, I agree with op. This in 'not' a deal. It's money left on a card, ffs! As for why I clicked on it, it's supposedly 'the' hot deal of the day... it f. well is not!
Great for those who have a few quid left on their oyster cards, but as said, it's a misc that only means something for a maj in London etc.
Plus, to go on commuter trains you'd have to pay 'me'! :stuck_out_tongue:

Niche? Only 8 million commuters in London, one eight of the UK population. This has been a lot more helpful than one cheap Playstation game in branch of Poundland in Leeds.

Voted HOT.

For the sole purpose of annoying the haters :stuck_out_tongue:

"Mary, have you seen this? Someone has posted a tip under the deal section of HUKD. It's an absolute abomination. I am outraged. No, I am furious. I must immediately pen a letter to Downing Street to have this addressed at once." :confused:

Thank you OP.

It's not hurting anyone by posting it as a deal so why don't you moaners go and do something constructive. I don't have an Oyster card but it is good to let those that do, have the easiest way of being notified of this. Well done the mods.

the website keeps crashing for me

I have 4 cards but couldn't seem to get the £5 deposit back when I tried a while back.
Use contactless now so only want to keep a couple for visitors

So basically you bought these cards, paid to load a balance of £x onto them....forgot about them...and now you have been reminded about it, you are getting your £x back?

How is that a deal??

I shall have to look I know I have a old new deal one but I didn't pay for it so I'm not sure if I'd get anything for it.

I shall keep the one I had before contactless tho, never know when it might be needed

That deal pic is pure quality! I'm sure I own a Lacoste polo resembling those colours in stripes

Or keep them because they only cost you £3. Now if you want a new one it will cost you £10 pounds from the ticket machine or minimum £6.50 from a oyster shop.

Item Amount
Pay as you go credit
£1.15
Card deposit
£3.00
Total refund estimate:
£4.15

Better than nowt!

Your Oyster card will be voided after you claim for a refund. Alternatively, consider using your contactless card (if you have one) as it caps at £6.20 if you stay in zone 1 & 2.

Well ****, I didnt realise HotUKDeals was a bloody English class and FYI I'm getting pretty good grades so far, so stop trying to impress the Internet with smart ass comments and just be useful.

Thanks, heat added. I have previously done one this but to those who haven't, it is very helpful.

just more of the usual double-standards of this site

Depends if he applied the rule of "turn around and touch the ground..." first

is this a deal? :/

You'll get actual cash back if you do the refund using the ticket machine in a train station. No questions asked about who owns them.

Depends on their ages as that determines whether they can travel for free or not. If it's free then you don't need an Oyster card for them.

Great news, I have about 12 of these in my Man Draw!

As far as I know anycard will have £5 deposit for the card itself.
Does not it mean that you should get £5 + Credit Left = £35 ??

Also there's no requirement to to get an oyster card if you have contact less debit/credit card. This can be used for payment at the same daily rate as oyster, just make sure that you use the same card for beginning and end of journey.

You'll be needing to learn how to spell and use a keyboard properly too. Much more than you need the alcohol.

And this is why Blair's idea of 50% of the country going to University has utterly ruined our higher education system. You might as well suggest 50% of the country should be master carpenters or plasterers or concert pianists. They can't; they don't have the skills.

:laughing:

If anyone other than a MOD had posted this, it would have instantly been moved to Misc. This is not a deal, its merely a tip for getting a refund on something you have already purchased. It is a good tip for those that were unaware, but it's definitely not a deal in any sense of the word.

Thanks for the guidelines.
Also saw yesterday at Liverpool St that LU is trying to up their own charity contributions by also offering boxes where you can leave Oyster card, so the value on card plus £5 deposit becomes a charity donation for them !

Posting this 'deal'

#Awks

But we agree it is not a 'deal'. It's been posted under deals (not miscellaneous). Embarrassing for HUKD that a post such as this could end up 'deal of the day' or week or month, all time etc.
Where are the Mods? :man:

£5 now.


Do you get your money back for the oyster card itself?

thanks op that's £9.80 for me.

unless I'm mistaken you can register as many as you want. If I remember correctly All you do is add the the card number and thats it. then surely you could just claim a refund online.

as OP states you can get a refund via ticket machines.

Thanks for reply ..
I already have annual travelcard under my name and have my own oyster card.
Could you please elaborate this ??

register for four cards will be painful ...Is it not possible to get refund without registering it ????

I got £41 back so I along with others don't care if it isn't a deal as such lol. This is a great reminder and guide for most of us. Needs more heat if you ask me :sunglasses:

How is this a deal and hows it got so much heat?

can't you just register the cards online on your own account and then cancel the cards and automatically get the deposit back?

had to pay a good £20 odd quid for my student oyster card.. tsssk tfl. I get money off only on week/month passes which my 1 day a week timetable doesn't really suit (of course I go in more than this but there's no consistency to buy a pass). If you add on the £30 or so I paid for a student rail card which gives 30% off off-peak single fares... seems students aren't really being allowed to save much on the extortionate prices

Thanks for this, just requested £41.40 .... from two cards.

Can't be arsed to claim back money? - tsk tsk - got it to burn have you?

Great! I don't really use an Oyster card in London anymore (I use my contactless card) and I forgot I had one! I had £10 on it! Thanks, OP! Heat added :smile:

Been meaning to get around to this for ages - thanks for the prompt. Didn't realise that I could get the deposit back by requesting refund by email. Thanks op

I think i've got two laying around, I don't even bother with them now you can use contactless.

I have four Oyster left by my friends when the visited London. They have been told that there is £5 deposit on the card and will get the refund once the card is returned. My friends left London about a month ago and they have given it to me. All of the the Oyster card do not have any credit left as it is a weekly season ticket and the season pass has expire.

Given that :
- The card is not registered
- The card is not on my name ....

£20 is nice one to get given that it does not take a lot of time to claim it.
Could I get the refund of 4X£5 ?
What is the best way of getting the refund for all the cards

Does anyone know if the cards become invalid or go out of date, for the purposes of reclaiming money? I have one thats about 7 or 8 years old, haven't a clue whats on it. I tried reclaiming online but wouldn't work.

I have an oyster card from 2012 it says limited edition. I got when I visited a friend and used the bus twice could I get anything back from it an if so how

20.10 back thanks for this

I did this a while back with some of my old random cards, I got a small fortune back! Thanks for posting- definitely a good to know tip :smiley:

I got £30 odd on my card plus an all zone annual travel card. They won't refund the £30 without cancelling the card which I can't do. Need to wait 11 months then sign up for new card to put travel card renewal on. Then refund the £30 and cancel card. Rubbish! You'd think they could do some manual transfer or something.

Got a card from 2007 lying around somewhere, might have to check it out.

Sweet. £29.10 back.

Nice job OP... thanks for posting in deals... just got £9.90 from a card I apparently registered in 2008 and have basically never used since! :smiley: Now trying to find log-in info for my wife's card which is proving more difficult.

Voted hot. No point to oyster anymore since contactless.

It's worth noting it's only the TfL only stations that will give you the money back at the machine. *I think* TfL only stations are the ones that don't have network rail or overground (inc dlr etc) running through them - those that do.

I did it other month and was very confused by the guy said I couldn't do it there at Wimbledon (because of Network Rail) but could do it at Wimbledon Park because it's TfL only.

Thanks for that, much appreciated!

If I travel with our kids will I have to get oyster cards for them?

Brilliant!

Signed in and was refunded £13 on a card, since lost, I had registered previously. Many many years ago it would seem as I have no recollection of ever signing up in the first place.

So the card I am holding and was going to claim back on cannot be refunded, or added as mine, as I have not used it in 8 weeks nor prove I am its holder.

I always seem to find Oyster cards on buses can I claim the refunds but I don't want to give security details of its registered because it's not mine just need the money

I live in Dublin, haven't been to England in a few months and not planning on going back any time soon either. £25odd on there, delighted!

Cheers OP.

What a ridiculous comment, who would have £220m lying about on one card, that's almost two years' travel from Edgware to Euston.

Hate this whenit happens :laughing:

If you return your card, you get your £5 deposit back. Found 4 cards of my brother after he moved out.
Finders keeper, losers weeper applies. :laughing:

Thanks OP. £20 I didn't know about

[/quote]
Love the gif of Corbyn trying to get a train seat!

How do you get the deposit back?

HOLY MOLY £322
a woot for op

Great tip! Until today I thought you had to go to a LT travel centre to cancel & refund an Oyster, so I was waiting on my next London trip to do it. Just refunded £28 (damn you, £20 minimum auto-topup!) + £5 deposit.

Contactless card is the way to go, if you have one. No auto-topup, so it's truly pay-as-you-go, with no cash languishing in LT's account. Plus there's a better weekly value cap for contactless users than Oyster users.

Ta!

just got nearly £30 back from a card i lost over a year ago. excellent!

£11.60 back. Thanks OP!

just reported mine as lost on the TFL site. refunded to bank account. tried with my 2nd card, says i've exceeded the number of cards i can report as lost/failed etc. brilliant. have to call up and do it manually. (which I can't be arsed to do)
grrr

* as opposed to people like us that *may* use them again, or "forgot". Most tourists simply cba with the hassle!

Not a deal.

Shame the card becomes void as they cost £3 to buy unloaded when i bought mine years ago.

I just got a tenner back thanks to this! :smile::smile::smile:

Deal?

Maybe just me being picky, but this surely belongs in Misc as it's not really a "deal" as such, as it's not a purchasable thing.

On topic, this figure seems low. Must have been a lot of claims as some paper reported about double this figure a couple of years back! Most the money they reckon was tourists just leaving cards with a few quid on them each

God imagine being behind that person in the queue when they claim their money back. You'd be there all day.

what if you cant find that oyster card you know you have money on :stuck_out_tongue:

Thanks, that's £7 I forgot about.

How do you claim? well, here's how.

***Ticket machine***

Click on the ‘Oyster refund’ option and then follow the onscreen prompts.
You will then receive the cash via the machine (YAY) BUT once you've claimed the money back your Oyster card becomes void and cannot be used again.

You won’t able to use ticket machines for a refund if you have a season ticket.

***Online***

Your card will need to be registered first (see get deal link) and then you need to select ‘apply for a product refund’ once you have logged in.

Your remaining season ticket, credit and deposit will be refunded.
The Oyster card would be again be void.

***Phone***

Phone TFL customer services on 0343 222 1234 and give them your Oyster card number and security question answer, they'll then go through the steps and you'll get your refund.

Again your card will become void.

***Snail Mail***

If you want to do it the snail mail way

Send your Oyster card to the address below and ask for a refund:
TfL Customer Services
4th Floor
14 Pier Walk
London
SE10 0ES