Transport for London seem to be experiencing a few problems in totting up their customers’ bike hire bills after one man discovered he’d been wrongly charged £900 for repeat late return of his hired bike.

After signing up to scheme in August, Dave Ward from South London had been utilising the new bike hire scheme to travel part of the way into his work in central London. However on several occasions, Mr Ward experienced difficulties when it came to returning the bike, as the green light which should appear when the cycle is returned to its docking point to signal it had been returned successfully, hadn’t appeared.

Mr Ward called TFL to advise them of the problem, however despite this, he was charged a late fee on several occasion, and his fob which is used to release the bike, was cancelled.

14 other bike customers also experienced similar issues with the system, however TFL have confirmed that all of those affected, and mischarged for bike hire services, will receive a full refund. In the case of Mr Ward, he also received £220 in compensation.

When asked if he had been put off using the new bike hire system, Mr Ward said intends to continue using the scheme, and puts the recent difficulties he’s experienced down to “teething problems”.

TFL now say they have a new system in place to ensure customer’s bills are not miscalculated in the future.

Anita is our Trainee Reporter and Researcher who is starting her journalistic career here at Cars for Stars News after completing a degree in Journalism at Cardiff University. As well as reporting on her own stories, Anita also works as a researcher on the news site to assist the other reporters.

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