Dartford Crossing charge

[Papyrus]

Do you have a Dart-charge account but haven't used it for a while?

There was an item on BBC South-east recently about how Dart-charge are closing accounts that haven't been used for over a year without telling the customer and hanging on to the money.

I haven't ventured north of the Thames for 18 months, for obvious reasons, so I decided to check my account. Sure enough, not there. They were supposed to email you after 12 months inactivity and warn you that the account would be closed in 90 days if you didn't use it, but I never got one, and neither did a lot of other people it seems. This morning, I phoned up, expecting an argument and a long phone call, but it was surprisingly civilised and my outstanding balance of £18-something is on its way back to me.

If you are in this situation, I strongly suggest you check whether your account is still active. If it isn't, the number to ring is 0300 300 0120.

Cheers,

Chris

[martyn]

Thanks for the heads up, Chris.

My account is 'Pay as you go' but I'm pretty certain that my son had problems when he used the crossing for a return trip after a period of it not being used; it would not take payment out, and he ended up getting  charged twice. I had to re-activate the account then, I think.

I'll keep an eye on mine........but I don't know when its likely to be used next!

Of course, when it was built the toll was supposed to pay the builder for the cost, plus a bit of profit; and then be free.

Or was that another flying pig outside the window? (or my bad memory?)

Martyn

[ntpntpntp]

They *do* notify you.   I had the "inactive - action required" warning email from them way back in March 2019 before all this covid lark.  I still have the email. 

I just wasn't using that route any more.   

I responded to the customer services email and asked them to close the account and refund, which they did.  It took a couple of weeks for the cheque IIRC. 

All went smoothly.  Sorry but I do feel if people are ending up with inactive accounts and money retain then they're not paying attention!!

[Papyrus]

They *do* notify you.   I had the "inactive - action required" warning email from them way back in March 2019 before all this covid lark.  I still have the email. 

Not me, they didn't. I last used the crossing in August 2019, so would have expected an email 12 months later. I checked my emails all the way back to July 2020 and there was nothing. The TV programme estimated that Dart-charge had retained over £1 million - we can't all have been that forgetful!

Cheers,

Chris

[guest311]

bonus for them though !

originally I believe the idea was the tolls paid for the tunnels, then they built the bridge, and extended the tolls, now it seems we'll pay for ever, nice little earner for the crossing company.

used to use it on the AA, but they paid  , but I preferred to use the Blackwall tunnel on private journeys, though the sharp bend was a shock the first time I used it.

take it the surveyors got it wrong 

[Papyrus]

I preferred to use the Blackwall tunnel on private journeys, though the sharp bend was a shock the first time I used it.

take it the surveyors got it wrong 

Don't think so...

Don't forget the first tunnel was built in the 1890s, when nothing much travelled at much more than 10 mph on the roads. The bend wouldn't have been a problem.

Cheers,

Chris