More problems with Oyster PAYG

[Weeble]

I've just been clobbered for a £20 penalty fare this morning as apparantly my Oyster PAYG hadn't touched-in properly at Sydenham.

I was just checking my PAYG records and notice another journey which has registered as uncompleted where I've been charged £6 - I've not yet been able to track down when that happened and whether it was a genuine oversight on my part or another case of the gate not working properly.


Anyone else had similar problems? Apparantly I can appeal the penalty fare but I don't know if I have much chance of succeeding - they basically said it was my fault that I hadn't checked the oyster card had been read properly before I went through the gates.

[mummycat]

I don't know if I've had a problem with "touching in and out", as I can't access my account online...

I have a PAYG and only use it occasionally, as I rarely get out of Sydenham! I went online https://oyster.tfl.gov.uk/oyster/link/0002.do to register for the auto top-up facility so I don't get stranded in town, but my card's already registered by another user! I can't change the security setting and it looks like the only alternative is to pay another £3 deposit for another card.

I don't like the idea of someone else controlling my card online - I'm quite nervous to use it now...

[Chazza]

Anyone else had similar problems?

Yes... a few weeks ago, I touched in at Sydenham and the gates opened. As I walked through the gates, I noticed that the light on the Oyster reader was orange rather than green. I queried it with a member of staff and was told to touch out and back in. I thought this was bad advice, as touching out would likely cost me £6, as the system hadn't registered my touch in. After discussing this with the member of staff, he convinced me it would be fine, so I touched out. Of course it charged me the maximum £6 fare. I was miffed to say the least, but the bloke seemed to think it was hilarious.

After a quarter of an hour on the phone to the Oyster helpline, they managed to arrange a refund, which I had to pick up by using my Oyster card at a nominated station within 8 days, which isn't particularly great if, like me, you rarely take the train.

I am now very careful to ensure that the light turns green when the barriers open. Oyster PAYG is great when it works, but the station staff seem to know bugger all about it and sorting anything out using the helpline takes an age.

[Cathy]

Don't use Oyster/PAYG, don't trust them - good ol' fashioned Travelcard where I AM IN CONTROL...

[Weeble]

So Chazza - are you saying in your case your oyster card actually opened the gates, but didn't register that you'd touched in? I think this is what happened to me this morning, although with the rush of people going through the gates (a train was literally just pulling into the station) the gate didn't have time to close between each person, so it just remained open after the previous person as I went through.

I've just remembered now the previous occasion which would have resulted in being charged £6 - I was at the station late evening, no staff around but gates closed, and I could not for the life of me get my card to open the gate - despite having plenty of funds on the card. In the end a man came along who was also exiting the station and suggested I followed him through the barriers so I could get out. I'm probably not even going to try to dispute that as strictly speaking I should have waited on the platform and tried to contact the staff through the help point or something, but it was late, I was on my own and I just wanted to get home.

[nomie44]

We've had people staying from Australia, and one of them ended up paying about £17 for a trip to Charing Cross. He topped up his card at Sydenham, went through the barrier - this was mid morning so not busy - and when he got to the other end couldn't get through because there wasn't enough money on his card. I see people arguing with the ticket inspectors every morning having come off our line and having the same problem - there's obviously an issue - so I buy a paper ticket and only use oyster on the tube.

[fishcox]

I buy an Oyster, but use it as a monthly Zones 1-3 ticket, and it works pretty well.

What I find ridiculous, is that it ran out one day before I was taking a holiday, so I thought it would be the easiest thing to add one extra day of travel on to it.

Do you think you can do that?

Of course you can't!

I had to put something like a tenners credit on it, and use it as PAYG. It seemed to debit each time I used it, until it reached a maximum amount, and then it stopped deducting.

Why is it called an 'Oyster' by the way? Any ideas? Is it because of the saying 'the worlds your.....'?

[bensonby]

I don't use oyster, but I have irritated on several occasions that there sometimes isn't anyone at the gateline to let me out!!! Most inconvenient...I'm yet to miss a train over it though (coming in) but it's been a close call sometimes!

[Juwlz]

Why is it called an 'Oyster' by the way? Any ideas? Is it because of the saying 'the worlds your.....'?

Dunno, but I call it the 'Lobster' card because it pinches money off you.

[bigbadwolf]

I call it the 'fobster-card'.

[Pumpkin]

Umm..i've been clobbered for a different reason.

Bought an annual rail/travelcard. Great savings plus goldcard savings. Still paper-ticket so bit slow at the barrier. Fustrating at times, but not the complete end of the world.

Had to go to zone 4 on underground and told cannot buy cheaper oyster extension ticket as on paper ticket. The 'cheapest' alternative was to buy a one day travelcard!!

Madnesss!!

logic suggests the best way forward is to get a monthly oystercard...at lesast until this mess is sorted out

[Pstaveley]

I buy an Oyster, but use it as a monthly Zones 1-3 ticket, and it works pretty well.

What I find ridiculous, is that it ran out one day before I was taking a holiday, so I thought it would be the easiest thing to add one extra day of travel on to it.

Do you think you can do that?

Of course you can't!

I had to put something like a tenners credit on it, and use it as PAYG. It seemed to debit each time I used it, until it reached a maximum amount, and then it stopped deducting.

That is correct, there is a maximum cap which is the cost of the appropriate Peak/Off Peak Travelcard for the zones that you have travelled in.

You can put an additional day on a Monthly (Oyster) Travelcard, if fact you can have any period between one month and one year. However, like the paper version you have to specify those days at the time of purchase.