On 7 Mar, 12:16, (Paul Cummins) wrote:
Another day in London, another Oyster problem.

Strangely, I've never had a problem with using it on the way out, only in central
zones.

Anyway. On Friday, finding myself at Northolt tube with 7.35 on my Oyster, I used
the Central Line to get to Liverpool Street, where I bought a laptop.

35 minutes later, I caught the 16.02 to Stratford, then the Docklands to Woolwich
Arsenal.

Got to Woolwich, touch out, go to touch in at the Rail Station, and my card is
empty. Apparently my journey from Northolt to Liverpool Street ended at Stratford,
and my journey to Woolwich was not started!

So, having argued with the staff, they give me a pass to London Bridge to get it
sorted. And they d sort it there, so I now catch the tube to Waterloo. Touch out at
Waterloo, try to touch in at Platform 15, and the same problem - apparently my
London Bridge to Waterloo didn't end!

And, despite my having a railcard, my cap wasn't applied that day!!! So the whole
day cost me 5.30 instead of 3.25.

If they can't make this system work, how do they expect people to convert to it. I
for one, intend to stop using Oyster, and coming in on paper ODTCs from here on in,
studiously leaving my Oyster at home. I'm considering putting a pair of scissors
through it!

--
Paul Cummins - Always a NetHead
Wasting Bandwidth since 1981

What reader did you touch at Stratford?

The in-station and non-gate readers are all well and good but multiple
touches don't read an exit and an entry.

Presumably an interchange touch is not needed at Stratford on a
journey from Liverpool Street (National Rail) and Woolwich Arsenal
using the DLR - the Oyster fare finder doesn't mention one.

I think that one problem is needing to know whether an interchange
touch is needed at places without pink validators