On Thu, 26 Oct 2006 01:58:28 -0500, wrote:

Right... bear with me on this one. I am on the verge of losing it with the Oyster helpdesk.

My commute to work uses zones 2 to 5. My journey starts at a National Rail station. I then subsequently use the underground.
I dont normally know until the last minute (due to partner's unpredictable shift pattern) whether I will drive or get public transport to work that week so unable to buy travelcard in advance.

So, on a Monday morning I arrive at the station and need to buy a 7 day travelcard.
They cannot sell me a ticket on Oyster so insist I purchase a paper ticket.
The only downside to this is I often (2 or 3 times a week) start my commute home from zone 1.
This is where the problems start. I can't enter the station at zone 1 using my paper ticket as it's not valid.
And I cant touch in with my prepay Oyster as when I touch out I will charged for the whole journey although I have zones 2 to 5 on a travelcard.

For the first few weeks this was a problem (using prepay to enter/exit) I contacted the helpdesk and they credited the cash back to my Oyster card.
However, they now refuse to do this, say I will have to buy a (high priced) paper ticket to cover the zone 1 leg of my journey.
I've even begged the National Rail station to issue me with a permit to travel so I can get my ticket on Oyster at the first available point (when I interchange to the tube) - but they wont let me.
On the one week where I knew in advance I would be commuting the following week I went to the tube station to get a travelcard on my Oyster in advance.
And guess what (which didnt come to light until 4 days later)? The moron started it from that day, therefore making me have 2 travelcards running simultaneously on the same Oyster card for 3 days.
When I contacted the helpdesk they offered me a £10 refund, which would credit the next time I went through the barriers. 2 weeks and FOUR phone calls later they finally added the credit to my card.

Meant to make you life easier? What a f*cking joke.

As someone has suggested the nearest Oyster ticket stop is going to be
the best option - assuming you have one nearby. I think any system
might struggle to provide you with the flexibility you demand given how
unpredictable your mode of transport is for any given week. That's not
to blame you - it's just it is difficult to cope with every possible set
of circumstances.

I can assure you that huge efforts were made to try to get National Rail
stations to join in with Oyster (in terms of being able to sell tickets
on the cards or add value) but the train companies were not interested.
They cannot be forced by TfL to adopt the technology so for now there is
a split level of service between LU / DLR locations and almost all TOC
stations. It is in the process of being resolved but will take a number
of years to implement - sorry.
--
Paul C


Admits to working for London Underground!