Rfid Wallet

[Stephen_G]

Forgivre me for being a bit thick, but I charged up my pre-pay (Quantum) Gas Card up with £40 earlier today, but when I've put it in the Meter it has come up with an error message

CARD FAIL 35[i
[i]Remove card]

Looking on the British Gas website it says I can go to a PayPoint shop and get a replacement, but how do I get the £40 on the new card? I can go back to the same shop with the printed receipt, but I've got no proof that there is anything wrong with the card.

Any advice would be greatly appreciated.

[AlwaysConfused]

Call them.They should be able to top up your card over the phone uding the detsils fton your receipt.

[Stephen_G]

Submitted the question too early...

Would my new RFID wallet have any effect on the chip? Bearing in mind that I've got a new contactless Bank card and that works just fine (That sounds like I've just answered my own question.

Should I take the card back to the shop I got it topped up in and ask them to make sure the card is working correctly, or am I looking at getting a new card and writing off the £40 on the old card?

[AlwaysConfused]

In English that should read using the details from your receipt!

[B00]

Your only choice is to contact your gas provider, the shop you bought the credit from won't be able to help you re the £40.00.

[EDDIE51]

If you take the card back to the shop that topped it up, they can put it in the 'top up' machine and see if it still has the £40 credit on it. Happened to last month, put £50 on the card but the meter did not accept it. The shop looked at the machine and saw the £50 was still on it, told me to go back and try it in the meter again, the second time it worked fine don't know why. But the shop keeper said that as long as the credit was still on the original card he could cancel it and transfer it to a new card if necessary.

[B00]

Not sure that's true of all shops Eddie, i know the ones where i work (Co-op) don't. As far as we're concerned as long as your receipt states the payments on there it's on there.

[EDDIE51]

^^ Should add if this happens first thing is to just take the card out, clean it gently and put it back in the meter again, often works ( just a bit damp or finger grease on the card is enough to give an error message)

[Stephen_G]

Thanks EDDIE. Reading further into it, it appears like I will have to put the new card in the Meter for a minute, so it can read the chip, then I can top up the new one (Assuming that the old one is cream crackered). Tried giving the carda gentle wipe but to no avail.

Thanks too B00. I have worked in Retail for five years and the things I have heard more than enough about "Receipts" to take anything for granted. They are a good bunch in the Shop, so I can only hope for a good result. £40 is a lot to throw away.

[EDDIE51]

Boo, definitely true of most shops , when they put the card in the 'top up' machine it shows what credit is already on the card ( usually zero) . I can't see the co-op being any different, when they put the card in the machine it should show what is on the card. Did it today, my daughter wanted £70 on her card, they can only put £50 on at once so the shopkeeper just put it in a second time, it showed £50 credit and he added another £20 giving £70 total. I even looked at the display on the screen so I know it was correct.

[B00]

"I can't see the co-op being any different"

Well i've only been working there 8 years, what do I know? :-)

[EDDIE51]

^^ Yes, if you need a new card , you must put the new card in meter for 1 min so that it 'locks' to your meter. Once you have done that the card can only ever be used for your meter. Also the shop can not top up a card that has not been 'locked' to a specific meter.

[Sycamore3House]

I had the same problem with my electric key. Put money on then error message at meter. Phone your energy provider they will give you a code then go back to the shop and they should give them the code and they will give you a new card with your credit on. Co-op do & Bargain Booze near us.

[EDDIE51]

Boo do you mean that the coop would refuse to put a card back in the topup machine to check if the credit was still there? I can see them refusing to put more credit on if the card shows zero, would not expect anything else, but if a customer says that the credit is not being accepted by the meter surely they would at least check to see if credit was still on the card? That is what I was talking about, not 'trying it on' to get free electricity.

[B00]

Our PayPoint machines look like this....

https://www.theimagefile.com/v/tp/301/164/6078937602_4_20101130-mcg013.jpg

It doesn't have a screen.

[Stephen_G]

So much good information, it was hard to award only one Best Answer.

I rang Gritsh Bas this morning, but I hadn't altered the account to my name - oops! So, I've had that changed into my name and they're going to send me a new card through the post, and they've left a note on my account with the details of my problem, so when I ring them up again, I should receive a refund of the £40 from the old card. In the meantime, I can go to any shop and pick up a blank card and top up the Meter that way.

A massive thanks to AlwaysConfused, EDDIE51, B00 and Sycamore3House for your help and guidance. May I never have to ask for it again.....

[EDDIE51]

Boo that is a different type of machine. The ones I have seen have a small 'information window' where you can see the amount of credit loaded on the card , rather like the old mobile phones where the display just showed the number calling you or the dialled number.