On Sat, 27 Feb 2010 19:00:32 +0000, Paul Corfield wrote:

It would appear
from the OP that there was a faulty gate and therefore that does need to
be put right although I understand the frustration with a long wait at a
ticket office.

Well yes, I fully agree that you (and Mr Terry and Mr Perry) are correct,
and that I was exposing one of my worse traits, being that if something
takes effort, impacts nobody else directly (and the rewards are
insufficient), then I probably won't do it.

hangs head

In reality, I've never actually NOTICED that the technology has been the
source of the problem, most of the time it's been my mistake, usually
when I get off an overground train at Stratford, completely forget to
touch in before getting on the Central Line as you don't go through a
barrier and then get charged full-whack for a one stop journey to Leyton.
In those situations, I'm quite prepared to take the hit for my own
stupidity, as I feel it's the only way I'll learn. After being
overcharged for DLR journeys because I kept forgetting to touch in at
Canary Wharf (again, because there's no gateline), I have at least
learned my lesson, and these days never fail to touch in, whether I have
a monthly on my Oystercard or not.