Cost of zone 2-3 on oyster

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fat_mike
Posts: 54
Joined: 4 Oct 2007 23:25
Location: North London

Cost of zone 2-3 on oyster

Post by fat_mike »

I was travelling from sydenham today at 8:30 to Shadwell (zone 2-3 peak). The cost on a oystercard was 1.80, but if you look on the tfl website on the ELL fares page it will be 1.30 a saving of 50p per journey or 40% less. Has anyone else noticed this or is this a typo
leenewham
Posts: 5886
Joined: 2 Sep 2007 11:58
Location: SYDENHAM
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Post by leenewham »

I just don't trust oyster. I was charged over £8 once for travelling on a Saturday in zone 1 (after paying the fare into central london), so was my wife and I know other people who have had the same experience (it's supposed to be capped!).
Rachael
Posts: 2455
Joined: 23 Jan 2010 13:42
Location: Sydenham / Forest Hill Intersection

Post by Rachael »

It can be very difficult to work out what you are being charged. If you check your journey history online, it will show the fare charged in one column, and the balance in the next. However, if the fare has been capped, the fare actually charged can be lower than the fare shown - the refund is reflected in your final balance. So you have to look at the overall difference in your balance in the beginning and the end of your journey.

To be fair to tfl, they have always given me a refund if I've told them the fare charged is wrong (occasionally the touch out at the end of my journey hasn't registered - probably me swiping too fast when the gates are open).
rbmartin
Posts: 62
Joined: 18 Feb 2010 21:18
Location: Dulwich

Post by rbmartin »

It seems TfL didn't change us over from NR to TfL until today. I was charged £2.70 to get back via Whitechapel earlier from Piccadilly Circus.

However Whitechapel and Canada Water have pink oyster validators which tell your card that you haven't travelled on a NR service or via Zone 1 if you're heading East.
coll
Posts: 192
Joined: 17 Oct 2007 15:55
Location: sydenham

Post by coll »

THis morning I tried to top up my oyster - for the first time at the station. None of the machines would read the card and the guy in the office said that he couldn't. I had £4 on it and needed to go to St. John's Wood. I asked if I could top it up on the other side and was told I'd be fined and that I needed to buy a travel card and could claim it back. When I got to SJW I was told he couldn't refund the difference because it was national rail - not TFL and -that it was cheaper for me to buy the peak travel card over the Oyster. He said at that time of morning I would pay more on the Oyster for the journey. It seems a bit of a shambles what you are charged and there seems no clear answer to finding the cheapest way to go.
fishcox
Posts: 628
Joined: 4 Mar 2005 13:55
Location: lawrie park road

Post by fishcox »

I would be interested to know if anyone else has had the same problem as me.

I have an Oyster card, and travel to Victoria, but via London Bridge.

For the past two mornings, I take the train from Sydenham to London Bridge - no problem.

I then take the tube from London Bridge to Victoria (via Green Park) and when I go through the barriers at Victoria, I get charged £2-20.

As I only have a £2-10 credit on my card, it takes me 10p 'overdrawn' so the next time I try to use my card, it refuses me.

I then have to go to the window at Victoria, and explain. They re-credit the £2-20, and off I go.

I am now just waiting for tomorrow morning, when it will undoubtedly happen again.

At Victoria, they told me that a few people have experienced the same problems, and it is down to the equipment on the new Overground line.

The same thing happens to a work colleague of mine, who also makes the same trip from Sydenham to Victoria.
rbmartin
Posts: 62
Joined: 18 Feb 2010 21:18
Location: Dulwich

Post by rbmartin »

fishcox wrote:I would be interested to know if anyone else has had the same problem as me.

I have an Oyster card, and travel to Victoria, but via London Bridge.

For the past two mornings, I take the train from Sydenham to London Bridge - no problem.

I then take the tube from London Bridge to Victoria (via Green Park) and when I go through the barriers at Victoria, I get charged £2-20.

As I only have a £2-10 credit on my card, it takes me 10p 'overdrawn' so the next time I try to use my card, it refuses me.

I then have to go to the window at Victoria, and explain. They re-credit the £2-20, and off I go.

I am now just waiting for tomorrow morning, when it will undoubtedly happen again.

At Victoria, they told me that a few people have experienced the same problems, and it is down to the equipment on the new Overground line.

The same thing happens to a work colleague of mine, who also makes the same trip from Sydenham to Victoria.
It has nothing to do with the Overground and more to do with the barriers at London Bridge which are charging you two seperate fares instead of what is called an OSI where you can touch out and touch in at the Underground/NR barriers and it counts as one journey. The price off-peak should be £3.10 or £3.70 during the peak.

If you decided to use the Overground and change at Canada Water or Whitechapel, the PAYG price is cheaper, although I'd recommend tapping on the pink validator which confirms that you travelled via the ELL instead of London Bridge. Cost of this trip is £2.40 off-peak/£2.70 peak.
fishcox
Posts: 628
Joined: 4 Mar 2005 13:55
Location: lawrie park road

Post by fishcox »

I was told by LUL staff that it was a problem with the equipment on the Overground system.

What I forgot to mention, is that my Oyster is a monthly season ticket, so it shouldnt be charged at all!

I came in all the way by Overground/Underground this morning, and there was no charge or problem.

When I got into work, there was an apologetic email from Oyster, telling me that my problems were due to 'an operational issue'.

Anyway, hopefull that's the last of it.

The journey in this morning was excellent, by the way, but unfortunately I got into work a lot earlier than usual.
rbmartin
Posts: 62
Joined: 18 Feb 2010 21:18
Location: Dulwich

Post by rbmartin »

fishcox wrote:I was told by LUL staff that it was a problem with the equipment on the Overground system.

What I forgot to mention, is that my Oyster is a monthly season ticket, so it shouldnt be charged at all!

I came in all the way by Overground/Underground this morning, and there was no charge or problem.

When I got into work, there was an apologetic email from Oyster, telling me that my problems were due to 'an operational issue'.

Anyway, hopefull that's the last of it.

The journey in this morning was excellent, by the way, but unfortunately I got into work a lot earlier than usual.
Glad they sorted it out. Another thing to do also is if your travelcard is 1-3 and you add a OEP - Oyster Extension Permit to it. Don't do it until you know you're travelling out of zone on National Rail as it can disable the travelcard for that journey.
fishcox
Posts: 628
Joined: 4 Mar 2005 13:55
Location: lawrie park road

Post by fishcox »

I thought I would ressurrect this thread, as I am still having problems with the Oyster card, although its getting pretty funny now.

Having been debited for £2-20 (for some reason for the trip from London Bridge to Victoria, via the Underground) I have to and fro from the ticket office at Victoria (where they were very helpful) and also spending time on the phone to Oyster.

Now, every time I pass through the ticekt barriers at London Bridge Underground, I get a credit of between £2-20 and £4-80 added to my Oyster - as does a work colleague of mine.

From the original £3-10 credit on my card, I now have £23-00, and my mate has over £40-00.

If it carries on, I will be retiring on the proceeds.
Sydenham
Posts: 320
Joined: 2 Sep 2007 09:08
Location: Wells Park

Post by Sydenham »

This sounds hilarious - I can't believe it will last and at some stage there must be a reckoning and they will try to take it back.

Have you spoken to Oyster about it i.e. made some effort to let them know they are crediting this to you.

Without sounding too much like a 'poe faced holier than thou' citizen I'd hope that in the same way that we report Oyster's errors to them and expect a response / refund, then we would do the same when Osyter's errors benefit us.

Or have I completely misunderstood what is happening.
fishcox
Posts: 628
Joined: 4 Mar 2005 13:55
Location: lawrie park road

Post by fishcox »

I've reported it to Oyster a number of times, to a number of people.

They can run a check on all the routes you've covered, and all the modes of transport covered.

They then checked the amount of times I had been debited at London Bridge, then the amounts of times I had been credited, and were paying me the difference.

They continue to debti me for my journeys, and then recredit me one day later, but they recredit me sometimes once or twice.

The problem is, I cant use the money on the Oyster for anything other than making journeys outside of Zones 1-3, which I rarely do anyway - so its little use to me, unfortunately.
giler
Posts: 1
Joined: 15 Jul 2010 07:49
Location: london

Re: Cost of zone 2-3 on oyster

Post by giler »

Fishcox:

The TfL fare finder
http://www.tfl.gov.uk/tfl/tickets/fares ... r/current/
sydenham to victoria [london underground]
returns £2.70 / £2.40 - the correct TfL Z1-3 fare
(http://www.tfl.gov.uk/tickets/14416.aspx)

So, if you go to Canada Water and change to the Jubilee line to continue into London, you will not be charged anything from your pay as you go balance. You don't need to touch the pink validator. This is the "default route".

However, if you click on "Alternative fares", the fare finder shows:
Alternative oyster single fares:
Route 1: Via Zone 1 changing between London Underground and National Rail at Blackfriars, Cannon St, Charing Cross, Embankment, London Bridge, Victoria or Waterloo
£6 / £4.30
These are Zone 1-6 fares for "through" journeys (TfL + National Rail)
http://www.tfl.gov.uk/tickets/14414.aspx

The journey has been programmed incorrectly. So if you have a Z1-3 on your card, touch in at Sydenham, out at London Bridge NR, in at London Bridge Tube and out at Victoria Tube, you will be charged the through 4-6 fare: £2.20 / £1.70.

The fact that you are receiving the refunds means that TfL acknowledge the error, and that it will be corrected during the next reprogramming run (happens every few months because TfL does not run the system itself)

The Oyster helpline should have been able to advise you to take the default Overground / Underground route or switch to paper Travelcards until the system is reprogrammed.
fishcox
Posts: 628
Joined: 4 Mar 2005 13:55
Location: lawrie park road

Re: Cost of zone 2-3 on oyster

Post by fishcox »

Thanks Giler

That makes sense now - although I cant believe that there arent hundreds of commuters all experiencing the same problems.
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