Korean Job Discussion Forums

[L&MaC's]

I have been using a T-money card exactly the same as the one to the LEFT in this pic - http://tiny.cc/c4zis for a whole year with no problems.

It had 27,300 won on it this morning when I caught the bus from Seoul to Namyangju (a 2,000 won journey).

When I went to take the bus back to Seoul in the afternoon, the card which has been working well for the last 12-months just wouldn't work.

It wouldn't even get a single beep out of the machine on the bus.

I paid for the fare in cash and went to Jamsil station where I proceeded to try the card out on the machines inside Jamsil station.

still nothing - not even a beep or anything.

The card has obviously just stopped working for some reason, although there appears to be no scratches or damage on it at all and it worked fine this morning.

What can I do with it? and is there any chance of getting my 25,300 won back of it?

[Jake_Kim]

Those contactless RFID chips do break down for no apparent reason every once in a while. Happened to me once before, although mine took longer than a year.

If Jamsil is the closest metro station to you, then find the Travel Info/T-Money Booth inside the station. Find an employee and ask for refund.
There's a very good chance he will not understand English, therefore write down '티머니 환불' on a piece of paper and show it to him.

Strange thing is that his service terminal might 'recognize' your dead T-money while it still doesn't work on turnstiles. If that's the case you'll get a cash refund on the spot, net of refund fee of 500 or something.

If your T-money is really 'DEAD' and the employee's service terminal can't even read it, he is mandated to send it to T-money Corporate HQ instead of giving you cash refund. You should be able to provide your bank account number on a 'refund envelope' in order to receive the refund within 5 business days.

[L&MaC's]

Thank you very much Jake_Kim for your information!

You explained everything I needed to know in a very easy to understand answer.

Thanks

[chrisjbrooks]

Let us know what happens and if you get a refund!

[L&MaC's]

Ok - everything worked out fine!

It was Feb 15th when my T-money thingy stopped working (with 25,300won still un-used on it).

I followed Jake_Kim's instructions and took it to the Travel Info/T-Money Booth inside Jamsil Station on Feb 17th.

It was so easy, once I explained to them that the t-money was not working, they placed it on one of their portable devices and confirmed that it really was "dead".

They gave me an envelope and asked me to write my name and bank account number on it, placed my t-money thingy inside it and told me to wait a week or two.

and that was all.

On Feb 23rd (just 6 days after that) the 25,300 was deposited into my bank account from the t-money company.

so, it only took a week really, to get my money back, simply by following the instructions that Jake_Kim provided.

Once again, thanks Jake - got the money back in just one week.