Stephen Osborn wrote:

When I bought the Oyster card (Waterloo LU) I was told that if I did
not use
the validator at Hither Green then I would quickly have an unresolved
journey and my Oyster card would stop working.

I have *never* used a validator at Hither Green and eight months down
the
line I am still waiting for an unresolved journey.

I think that must be correct, because NR stations with validators are
very much in the minority. (I can't think of a reason why Hither Green
would have one.) My daily journey is from Tulse Hill/Herne Hill to
Farringdon - LUL barriers at one end and nothing at all at the other -
and I've never had any unresolved journeys. I once looked at the usage
record on one of the big screen Tube ticket machines, and it recorded
those journeys as "Farringdon -"

Nowhere is this satisfactorily explained, for the simple reason that
the TOC's don't have the slightest interest in Oyster, and indeed view
it as a hindrance (there's a handwritten notice in the Herne Hill
ticket office saying something like "WE DO _NOT_ SELL OYSTERCARDS.
PLEASE GO TO A TUBE STATION." which strikes me as incredibly
unhelpful.) Until TfL provides some incentive for the TOCs to support
Oyster, the system is just going to have to cope with "one-ended"
journeys (even if that means lost revenue).