Dart Charge taking the ****?

[fiju]

I have an account set up with Dart Charge so it automatically pays each time I make a crossing. For those not in the know, you add some money to the account, then you can set it to top up automatically when the funds get low.

Last week I get an email from Dart Charge telling me that my account has been inactive for 12 months and will be closed in 90 days if I don't make a crossing or top it up. Apparently this is within their terms and conditions. Is this right? Can I ask to have any money left on the account refunded back to me?

[Monkeylegend]

It is clearly stated in their terms and conditions.

You can google it if you so wish

[Pica-Pica]

Here it is.
....
9. Inactive Accounts
If you do not use your Account for a period of more than 12 consecutive months then we will write to you to inform you of your non-use (the Non-use Letter) and if you do not recommence using the Account within 90 days of the date of the Non-use Letter, we may close your Account and cancel any Tag linked to your Account.
....
I have the Dart Charge account. My trips have declined from monthly in 2017, to 8 crossings in 2018, and just 2 this year. I don’t see why they should close it, they have always got your basic minimum of £10. I would just say that a temporary change in circumstances has meant you have made no crossings for 12 months. It is no big deal, no great drama.

[Ian Geary]

I got this e-mail too. I only got the account because I kept forgetting to pay when I occasionally go that way round the m25.

I would agree it's "no great drama", but on the flip side: I would also rather have £10 than not have £10.

Dart charge should refund monies on any accounts they close, or at least keep the credit and transfer it to a new account.

But both of those would involve processing costs that exceed the value of the minimum balance.

I'm also wondering why dart feel they have to close accounts after 12 months...are their servers running out of space perhaps?

I might see if I can top my account up by 1p to keep it active.

[ceesvdelst]

That is quite an interesting approach to customers

I would have thought they would have been doing this far more back in the days when having a Dart account saved you a reasonable amount on each crossing, rather than rather sadly now making it the same price for everyone.

No doubt because so many people were doing the same as me and a few I know and just starting an account to save on the few crossings you did a year.

The elephant in the room has to be though, why are we still even paying? The Severn bridge is now free, Humber dropped their costs a lot, why are we paying for a bridge that was paid for 15 years ago or more? Is it because it is "maintained" by a group of very rich building companies I wonder?

there are less staff, no toll booths, nothing. So why has it not come down in price?

[BertBert]

ceesvdelst said:

there are less staff, no toll booths, nothing. So why has it not come down in price?

I presume the works to automate it all were possibly quite expensive.

[Dave Hedgehog]

BertBert said:

ceesvdelst said:

there are less staff, no toll booths, nothing. So why has it not come down in price?

I presume the works to automate it all were possibly quite expensive.

The Government are never going to miss an opportunity to fleece motorists, it was supposed to be free once the cost of building it was covered, the charge has recently been made permanent

https://www.kentonline.co.uk/dartford/news/crossin...

[mygoldfishbowl]

ceesvdelst said:

That is quite an interesting approach to customers

I would have thought they would have been doing this far more back in the days when having a Dart account saved you a reasonable amount on each crossing, rather than rather sadly now making it the same price for everyone.

No doubt because so many people were doing the same as me and a few I know and just starting an account to save on the few crossings you did a year.

The elephant in the room has to be though, why are we still even paying? The Severn bridge is now free, Humber dropped their costs a lot, why are we paying for a bridge that was paid for 15 years ago or more? Is it because it is "maintained" by a group of very rich building companies I wonder?

there are less staff, no toll booths, nothing. So why has it not come down in price?

Still is cheaper. https://www.gov.uk/pay-dartford-crossing-charge/ch...

[Stoofa]

I had the same email - I actually took over the account from my mother when she passed, a quick check and there is £14 in there.
We don't use the crossing that often, but it is nice to know that if we do, it is all paid for, nothing to worry about.

I dropped them an email after I received the message - it took them three weeks to reply.
All their email did was confirm the inactive status and that in 90 days from the date of the original email the account would be terminated.
If I want to close the account I need to give them a few details - refund will be via a posted cheque, no other option.
That if I wanted to keep the account open I'd need to call them and arrange a top-up of at least £1 to reactivate it.

So as long as I give them more money the account can stay active.
I cannot understand for the life of me why accounts, especially those with money in, need to be made inactive and then terminated - it's a line in a database, it is not taking up much space.
It can only be a money making exercise - terminate after 90 days and pocket the many thousands of small amounts of cash left in the accounts.

Personally - I'm just getting the refund and sod them. Of I must go that way I'll just "pay as I go".

[mygoldfishbowl]

Pica-Pica said:

....
I have the Dart Charge account. My trips have declined from monthly in 2017, to 8 crossings in 2018, and just 2 this year. I don’t see why they should close it, they have always got your basic minimum of £10. I would just say that a temporary change in circumstances has meant you have made no crossings for 12 months. It is no big deal, no great drama.

Not disagreeing in general but the basic minimum is only £10 if payment is automated. If you top up manually they notify you at 10- but there is no requirement to top up, you could conceivably have 0 in the account.

[Pica-Pica]

Dave Hedgehog said:

BertBert said:

ceesvdelst said:

there are less staff, no toll booths, nothing. So why has it not come down in price?

I presume the works to automate it all were possibly quite expensive.

The Government are never going to miss an opportunity to fleece motorists, it was supposed to be free once the cost of building it was covered, the charge has recently been made permanent

https://www.kentonline.co.uk/dartford/news/crossin...

The future Third Thames Crossing has to be funded.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lower_Thames_Crossin...

[Dave Hedgehog]

Pica-Pica said:

The future Third Thames Crossing has to be funded.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lower_Thames_Crossin...

and that wont be fully funded from the tolls like the dartford bridge was lol

[Chrisgr31]

I would write to them and request a refund. Once you have done that you can set up a new account on pay as you go. You don't need to have a deposit for the pay as you go option now, but you get no saving in crossing price. Just remember to cancel it when you change cars!

[barian]

There is a separate set of terms and conditions for the pay-as-you-go option, which do not mention closing inactive accounts. This payment method does not involve maintaining a credit balance (although it does require a continuous card authorisation) and I wonder if it provides a suitable alternative. The terms and conditions from which the inactive account provisions are quoted do not acknowledge the PAYG option. I suspect this is just sloppy drafting, but you never know.

[bullitinhead]

I had one of these emails last week, though nothing of it until this thread,
Anyway just logged in to check. It says my account is closed, but can be activated by using the crossing or make min £10 payment

I currently have 6.60 in there

Two questions,
If my account is closed but can still be used ,why close it?

In the ts and cs, it mentions closing the account after 12 months of non use but no mention of termination. Is the closed account the final position? So I can leave it until I next need it and carry on as normal?

Bullit

[poo at Paul's]

Yes, that's what they do. I got fine, even though I had paid, and paid on time, so appealed it. They said that the fine stood, although could not explain why as the receipt I had was for the car and paid in the allotted time, so they said as it was "first offence" they would waive the fine, IF I paid for the crossing …..again. When I said I already paid, they said it have not tied the two events togther, ie the crossing the payment, so I needed to pay it again. So I did, to avoid the fine, then asked for the original payment to be refunded...…..oh not, sorry, but you can have it as a prepayment for your next trip across...!!
WTF, I live over 250 miles away, and have only crossed it twice in over 30 years driving! Plus I have sold the car that the reg relates to!

It's only a couple of quid, but they are proper jokers and the online payment system is run by the Chuckle Brothers!

[fiju]

bullitinhead said:

I had one of these emails last week, though nothing of it until this thread,

In the ts and cs, it mentions closing the account after 12 months of non use but no mention of termination. Is the closed account the final position? So I can leave it until I next need it and carry on as normal?

Bullit

Interesting. I have no idea. It's a pisstake whatever it is. I see no reason to close an account for being inactive.

[ceesvdelst]

Rumour has it that the vast majority of foreign plates that pass through the Dart cameras are not chased aswell.

Weird when it seems offences abroad seem to catch up with our drivers, but perhaps only speeding offences?

[Far Cough]

Just ask about and if one of your mates is going to use the crossing swap their plate number onto the account temporarily. Keeps the bean counters happy

[Red Devil]

Dave Hedgehog said:

BertBert said:

ceesvdelst said:

there are less staff, no toll booths, nothing. So why has it not come down in price?

I presume the works to automate it all were possibly quite expensive.

The Government are never going to miss an opportunity to fleece motorists, it was supposed to be free once the cost of building it was covered, the charge has recently been made permanent

https://www.kentonline.co.uk/dartford/news/crossin...

The predictable soundbite from a government organisation.

Article said:

A Highways England spokesperson said all the money raised by the Dart Charge is passed onto Government and ringfenced for investment in transport.

He added: “Dart Charge has removed a significant source of congestion at the Dartford Crossing and has given drivers more flexibility about how and when they pay the crossing charge."

Only southbound on the QE2 bridge. It's still as bad as ever on the northbound approaches to the tunnels. Queues between J3 and J2 as well as over the flyover from the A2.