"Paul Corfield" wrote in message
...
On Wed, 5 Aug 2015 17:28:03 +0100, "James" wrote:

My new Freedom Pass was issued in March. It has never been bent or damaged in any way.
Its presented to the card reader in its own wallet.
I do also carry a contactless card although this is transferred to my left hand pocket
before going through the barrier.

Despite all this, starting around two weeks ago it can take two or three attempts
with the card oriented both vertical or horizontal or swiped, often in two readers for
the card to be read.
Sometimes its not read at all. At other times at various stations I sail through first
time. This seems to vary, week by week.

Having previously not experienced any problems on buses I now wait until I'm last to
board so that I can show the driver my pass as it usually fails to register.

I'm aware that I can report this as a faulty card, but as its only an intermittent
fault - the worst type of all, I could end up being charged £10 if the Card people fail
to replicate the fault.
And presumably the idea of citing station staff as witnesses by way of pre-prepared
signed statements to the effect that my card clearly isn't working in their particular
readers
(on the next occasion when it doesn't) is out as they rightly disclaim all knowledge
of the machines and refer all problems to the card issuer.

I wouldn't worry too much as I see cards of all types failing to read
first time. I think that the modifications to the readers to read
multiple card types / devices [1] are causing a perceptible slowdown
in card reading times / increased card rejects. I sometimes get to
sit near the front downstairs on my local route and at busy stops
watch how quickly people board.

There is quite a variation in speeds and that's a combination of how
the card is presented, how the reader is adjusted, whether the ticket
machine has "woken up" etc. Only rarely do cards completely fail to
read but sometimes it takes multiple attempts. It's also worth bearing
in mind that the ETMs are very old although I understand various
components have been upgraded over time to try to keep pace with the
changing demands of new card technologies.

I would say that the best way to get a card to read is always to place
it flat on to the reader regardless of the orientation of the reader.
There is no point in waving it around, moving it in circles on the
reader, putting it vertical or at an angle [2]. Ideally the wallet it
is in should not have too much else stuffed in it so there is minimal
distance between card and the reader. When we first trialled
smartcards on the tube we called the trial "Touch and Pass". This
simply explains that touching the card flat on the reader is the best
way to get it to be read.

[1] Oyster, ITSO cards, contactless payment cards, mobile phones,
other devices with compatible chips.
[2] I've seen all sorts of ways of people trying to "tap" their card
on the reader.


Thanks for a very full explanation. I'll just press on and try
to make sure I'm always the last to go through. It's not as if
I'm normally in any mad rush, in any case. But it can be
embarrassing holding other people up.

J