I need to rant!

I have an Annual Bus Pass and use the Tube only occasionally. It seemed
clear that I should get an Oyster Pre-Pay card to save money on my Tube
fares.

I filled in an Oyster Registration Form and took it to Burnt Oak Station
some weeks ago. I was told to return the first time I wanted to use the
Tube after the fares went up.

Today I wanted to travel from Burnt Oak to Golders Green and back. I
thoght I could get an Oyster Pre-Pay from the ticket office at Burnt
Oak.

After queueing for about 15 minutes, a rather tired and stressed ticket
clerk told me I couldn't buy an Oyster Pre-Pay so he could only sell me
a Standard Return to Golders Green. This cost £3 whereas I would only
have paid £1 each way if I'd had a Pre-Pay Oyster.

The queues at Golders Green seemed interminable so I gave up the idea of
getting a card there. The Ticket Office was closed on my return to Burnt
Oak.

I then thought I'd buy my card online, only to find this message halfway
through the registration process

This site is being updated

We're sorry but we are currently updating our site. Normal service will
be resumed shortly.

I then phoned the Oyster Salesline. This is an 0870 number that will not
be discounted on my current BT scheme. No doubt Oyster will take a fair
cut for my patience (I reckon the phone call will cost me over £1) After
about 6 cycles of Pachelbel's Canon I have managed to buy the card I
wanted.

I am not a happy bunny. I have tried to keep ahead of the game, only to
get thwarted by LUL staff who really seem to know less about the tickets
they sell than I do by reading the leaflets left around the stations.
;-(((

--
Helen D. Vecht:
Edgware.