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2 Jun
3:21pm, 2 Jun 2024
64 posts
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Yakima Canutt
On a cycling holiday in Hebrides. Left the EV van in Mallaig with 20% battery for 9 days whilst I muck about with a hired campervan... Hopefully should be good for the return .. and the single Mallaig charger is working because I don't have enough to get to Fort William.
Also realise a common value between cycling and EV use is self disappointment at any unnecessary breaking.
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3 Jun
1:13pm, 3 Jun 2024
1,950 posts
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Gromit
DeeGee we found ourselves eating a few meals at starbucks on the road in Northern France a few weeks ago so you should be able to get hold of a toastie quite easily if needed.
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3 Jun
1:50pm, 3 Jun 2024
22,905 posts
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DeeGee
One of the planned stops on the way down in the Aire de la Baie de Somme, where I've stopped before, it's a nice place to stop if the weather is nice. That's got a Pizza Hut Express and a bank of Ionitys, so we'll be fine there, assuming not everyone else has the same idea.
If not, I reckon a detour into Abbeville might do it.
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19 Jun
3:58pm, 19 Jun 2024
24,649 posts
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larkim
Probably not an EV specific post, but was notified today of a support "ticket" on my "Mer" account. Didn't think too much of it, I've used Mer chargers just once.
But then later in the day was notified that I'd been charged £20 by Mer, and logging onto the account I can see that a charge was attempted 2x this lunchtime and apparently was done using my card (which is in my wallet).
I can't remember how Mer charging works, tbh. Whether I had to log into the account, then ID a charger and then "start" the charge, or whether it was just a swipe on a contactless device on the charger (I suspect the former).
Worrying of course if they've logged into my Mer account; have changed the pwd as a precaution anyway.
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19 Jun
4:10pm, 19 Jun 2024
24,650 posts
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larkim
From looking further, it looks like the charge was initiated by their call centre, presumably responding to someone trying to get a charge started and it failing. If they happened to share my name, maybe the operator made a cockup and used my account, maybe?
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19 Jun
5:36pm, 19 Jun 2024
50,263 posts
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HappyG(rrr)
Assigning payment cards to apps is always a bit of a worry. Very much dependent on the security of the app and indeed the whole company and its support centres too.
For most apps I don't actually put the payment details in and save them. I am prepared to have the faff of entering them for each and every transaction. But I'm getting more and more lax with that. I have probably saved it into 4 or 5 charger apps now, in prep for the Germany travel. I may uninstall them again now!!  G
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20 Jun
10:06am, 20 Jun 2024
4,346 posts
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NordRunner
I would ask the Mer call centre how the verified it was actually you calling.
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20 Jun
10:10am, 20 Jun 2024
24,661 posts
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larkim
They've refunded the £20 charge already and I'm waiting to hear from them about the rest. I'm ok with junior staff making cockups from time to time, but as you say their systems need a sense check if they allow unauthorised use of my payment details for a different customer.
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20 Jun
5:02pm, 20 Jun 2024
24,674 posts
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larkim
Well, I won't be using Mer at any point in the future unless I absolutely have to. Can't fault their customer service in terms of resolving the issue, but I've lost faith in their systems!
Following the below, we have now spoken with our call centre providers who have confirmed that the incorrect customer account, which had similar details, had been selected while providing assistance to another customer.
Your account contains your payment card details along with your email address and name which is why the charge went through your account as opposed to the correct customer.
We have now implemented new guidance with the call centre on selecting customer accounts from the system and which search criteria to use when identifying accounts.
I hope this resolution is acceptable for you and do apologise again for any inconvenience this may have caused you.
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26 Jun
11:06am, 26 Jun 2024
50,296 posts
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HappyG(rrr)
Here's a fun story. You don't ask, you don't get. Or the benefits of being a cheeky chancer!
Two charges during the big weekend of supporting at the West Highland Way race. It's normally about 250 mile round trip but this year it was 350 with a big detour for a road closure due to a fatal road crash that closed the main (only) road up along the route. RIP the motorcyclist. Very sad.
So I thought to top up on the way up, even though I didn't the last time and didn't really need to. Crianlarich. 1 DC charger 50kW, broken handled with duct tape and exposed wires! Not indicating broken online or on the machine (green light). Phoned up, confirmed broken. Plugged into AC. Took about 3 hours of charge for less than half battery. Delighted to be filled up and time wasn't a problem as we were sleeping / waiting for our runner.
Then Fort William, again charging while at the prize giving so no hurry. But annoying that DC charger was only doing about 9-10kW. Again less than half battery 30kWh took about 1.5 hours.
Now both chargers have max stay limits of 50 mins and 45 mins respectively. I have seen this but never thought I'd been charged extra on these before (ChargePlace Scotland by the way, a sort of NGO with council locations and infrastructure provided by various eVolt, Swarco etc.) Got the bill and £76 and £49 respectively. What the?!
Looking at bills, it was £16 energy and £60 overstay charge and £19 energy and £30 overstay charge respectively. So £90 of penalties. Right, it's phone call / email time!
Long story short - both overstays will be refunded. £90 back! You don't ask, you don't get!
So, joking aside, this sort of thing has to get sorted. It's confusing, inconsistent, inefficient for the user and the administrator. I get that it's new and evolving, but it has to be possible to improve this. My wife just highlighted an Independent article that says 33% of EV drivers coming up for a change are changing *back* to Petrol/Diesel. I need to check this, but if that is the case, it's not a good sign at all. G
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