I am in the process of setting up 'Auto top-up' on my Oyster card.

From the web site I selected the most convenient underground station to
validate my card against, but on receipt of the confirmation email that I
should proceed to validate the card I am told that I need to use the card
reader in the barriers, not the ones in the ticket hall that I usually use
to top my card up.

Unfortunately, I very rarely use the tube to travel and I have no
particular inclination to pay a tube journey surcharge just to use the
Auto top-up feature.

Is there any way to get around this?