I had an Oyster once. I bought it because everyone said "Oh they're so
great!" But I ever only needed to use it two or three times in the two
years I had it. Then next time I tried to use it, it just plain didn't
work at all. The card had just died, and wouldn't respond to the
readers. And I still had nearly five quid on it!

I suppose I should have tried to register it, and sent off to get a
replacement. But why bother for something I never use and probably
won't work anyway...? Far simpler just to write my five pounds off as
lost to the system.

And in the the year since it's broken down, I've only _once_ been in a
situation where I could have saved any money by using Oyster. I'd
probably lose more money on faulty cards in the long run...

So I _will_ be telling my friends and family to do the same, and stay
well clear of Oyster. It's the most useless and over-rated piece of
technology ever inflicted on the travelling public. And the sooner
we're rid of it the better.

Since I moved from the South East, I only go to London about once a
month now, and since I got my Oyster in Feburary, every trip, bar 1 I
have had a problem on.

First time, the gates weren't working at Tott Ct Rd and I got an
unresolved jrny (charged 50p too much), another time I had an odd
journey: -
"Canary Wharf - Unfinished
Unstarted - Cockfosters" - ended up being overcharged by 50p
One time, I was interchanging between NR and LU at Elephant & Castle,
and didn't realise they were 2 separate stations, so didn't touch out
when leaving NR station - paid another 50p.
My last trip. Due to Overcrowding at Bond St (IIRC), they were exiting
everyone by the Fire exit - couldn't touch out, and ended up with a 70p
charge. Later on the same day, I did a journey Westminster - Canary
Wharf, Heron Quays - Cockfosters. It got put down as Westminster -
Heron Quays, and Unstarted - Cockfosters, paid another 50p.

And the ripoff about it - trying to call their phoneline would almost
certaintly end up costing more than the 50p you've lost, so most people
(Including me) don't bother.

On the last occasion, I went to the Ticketoffice to see if he could fix
it, he seemed bemused about all of my problems, and said "That's Oyster
for you" - which sums it up nicely for me.