In message p.homeip.ne
t of Sun, 7 Mar 2010 12:16:00 in uk.transport.london, Paul Cummins
writes
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!
I presume you touched at Stratford before boarding the DLR.
I assume you started your journey before 19.00
Your journey started at Northolt in Zone 5.
Your journey ended at Woolwich Arsenal in Zone 4.
My understanding is that the system views you as having travelled in 8
zones (5, 4, 3, 2, 1, 2, 3, and 4.)
http://www.tfl.gov.uk/tickets/oyster...imum_journey_t
imes gives a budget of 140 minutes for journeys starting in Mon-Fri
04:30-19:00.
Your journey to Liverpool Street probably took about 50 minutes. Your
journey from Liverpool Street probably took about 45 minutes. Together
with the 35 minutes at Liverpool Street, you could fairly easily have
burst the budget. The reason that your 2 journeys counted as 1 is that
there is an Out of Station Interchange (OSI) at Liverpool Street:
Liverpool Street LU London Liverpool Street NR 40
OSIs are not documented by TfL. The good news is that they will try to
sort things out. If your card is registered and you have an Oyster
Internet account, you should automatically get an email to correct
things within a week. If not, you have several alternatives. I would not
advise using a London Underground Ticket Office as, IMHO and experience,
the staff have inadequate power to resolve problems. I would not use the
Oyster helpline in 0800 - 2000 at 0845 330 9876 unless I had 30 minutes
for the call. I would not use
https://custserv.tfl.gov.uk/icss_csip/ZCr
eateRequestChangeRelatesTo.do?newTab=CA_13619
other than to find out what information Oyster wants to process a
complaint - the form does not email you a copy. You can navigate there
from http://www.tfl.gov.uk/, "Help & contact", "Oyster",
"Fares/Refunds.
I have hope in . I am unable to put
my hand on Tfl's budget for a reply. I think it is 10 working days.
I expect your journey cost 3.80/2.40 Northolt - Stratford and 11.80/8.40
Stratford - Woolwich Arsenal. 11.80 sums 6.00 peak entry and 5.80 peak
exit; 8.40 sums 4.30 and 4.10.
You may find it useful to get a last 8 journeys statement from an LU
ticket office. POMs (Passenger Operated Machines) are only programmed to
deliver such statements on screen.
You are the victim of a system which, IMHO, is only about 95% fit for
purpose.
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!
I am puzzled by that. You may be the victim of a touch out system
failure - I have rarely experienced that.
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.
How 5.30? Why 3.25? Z1-5 caps are 12.50/7.50. Even a 30% discount does
not reach your figure.
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!
I agree that Oyster payg is NOW unfit for purpose. Until 02/01/10, there
was a 0.50 discount compared with ODTC and the risk of 8.00 penal
charges was acceptable. No discount and 11.80 charges are much less so.
--
Walter Briscoe