In message , Steve
writes
Kat wrote in
:

In message , Steve
writes
Kat wrote in
:
Look at the error code which shows with the Seek Assistance message;
70, 71, 94 all mean there's some sort of communication error. 21 and
22 (double exit/entrance attempted) often come up for no apparent
reason too.
If you are concerned about touching the reader again (Pre pay) then
ask someone to read the card on a MMF or with a hand-held device.

I think they are 7? and 9? so it does look like there are problems
with many of the readers. A shame every SA I have asked repeats the
mantra about not tapping in or out rather than reporting these readers
as faulty.

7/9 means ticket upside down and ticket unreadable. These are common
error codes for magnetic tickets. If they are appearing when using
your Oyster on the same gates then the fault does need reporting. If
your Oyster appears to generate them whatever gate you use then your
Oyster may need replacing or you may like to check that you don't have
any other cards in the same wallet as your Oyster; the gates may be
trying to read those too. Many people seem to keep their bankcards and
building passes in their Oyster wallet. IMO this is not a good idea.

As I have stated, it will fail on one gate, work on another. This is in the
same station at the same time, points to faulty readers to me. Do they
check the stats and check those with high failure rates?

If it's always the same gate it fails on, note the number of the gate
and the error code and ask to speak to the station supervisor. Explain
what's been happening and ask that it be reported and a job generated on
that gate.

I have no idea if failures are being logged anywhere unless the fault is
reported.


I don't have pre-pay so I don't need to tap in and out according to
the posters on all the stations.

You DO have Pre Pay. It's enabled on all Oyster cards; consequently
you can incur a Pre Pay debit if you go out of Zone.
Some publicity regarding Oyster is misleading but you certainly need
to touch in and out too.

Given the general unreliability this is not practical.

I don't see why. If you are having trouble with one particular gate then
report it and use another gate until that one has been looked at. Have
you noticed other users having the same problem?
--
Kat Me, Ambivalent? Well, yes and no.