On 15 Feb, 20:30, "Lew 1" wrote:
The logic is simple - the system needs to know where you began and
ended your journey so it can charge you accordingly. If it doesn't
know this, it cannot charge you accordingly, so you get hit with the
maximum fare. As TfL say (on posters, in leaflets and during regular
PA announcements) "always remember to touch-in and touch-out" (though
note that when using buses and trams you only need to touch in)

Unless you are using a tram at Wimbledon, where it all goes out the window..

I've had no problems at Wimbledon. What problems have you had?

Here is a page of official advice regarding Oyster PAYG at Wimbledon
from TfL's "oyster help" website:
htt
or via


Here's my rundown of what's what...

-Using Tramlink from Wimbledon-
(1) If you've entered Wimbledon station through the gates and are
going to use Tramlink, you must touch-in *again* on a standalone
Oyster reader on the Tramlink platform (platform 10) before you get on
the tram.

(2) If you are leaving Wimbledon via the gates after alighting
Tramlink you will be fine so long as you have touched-in your Oyster
card at the tram stop *before* you started your tram journey to
Wimbledon - *note* that even if you have a Bus Pass or Travelcard on
your Oyster card you still need to touch-in at the tramstop *before*
you commence your journey to Wimbledon.


-Using the LU District line from Wimbledon-
(3) If you've entered Wimbledon station through the gates and are
going to use LU, you need do nothing - however touching in on a
standalone Oyster reader next to the LU District line platforms
shouldn't do any harm.

(4) Likewise, when alighting the LU District line and leaving
Wimbledon station all one needs to do is exit via the gates (and hence
touch-out there) - though again if one also touches out on a
standalone Oyster readers by the LU District line platforms before
going through the gates it shouldn't do any harm.


-Changing from Tramlink to LU District line-
(5) When changing from Tramlink to LU District line, *don't* touch-out
on the Tramlink platform (it may not do any harm, but only if you
haven't already made a free transfer from one tram to another -
otherwise you'll get charged another tram fare), however you *must*
touch-in on a standalone Oyster reader next to the LU District line
platforms.

(6) Changing from LU District line to Tramlink - touch-out on a
standalone Oyster reader next to the LU District line platforms, then
touch-in on a standalone Oyster reader on the Tramlink platform
(platform 10) before you get on the tram.


When changing from National Rail to Tramlink, simply touch-in on a
standalone Oyster reader on the Tramlink platform (platform 10) before
you start your tram journey.

However I am not totally sure of what one should do if they are
changing from National Rail to the LU District line at Wimbledon and
paying for the LU journey with Oyster PAYG. The arrangement certainly
used to be that one could simply touch-in on a standalone Oyster
reader next to the LU District line platforms - however one phrase
from that 'oyster help' page stuck out at me, because it says "Do not
start a pay as you go journey without touching in at the gates at the
entrance to Wimbledon station."

This could indicate that the way things have configured has somehow
changed, however I think it is merely somewhat unclear advice because
otherwise it doesn't make a lot of sense - I strongly suspect that one
can still merely touch-in on one of the standalone Oyster readers next
to the LU District line platforms before one gets on the Underground.
As it happens I will probably be down that way soon and will endeavour
to make a small detour to confirm that this is still the case.

Also, in the above examples I say that when Underground journey
touching in or out twice (once via the gates, and again via a
standalone reader next to the District line platforms) shouldn't cause
problems. I don't think it should, but it's possible I have overlooked
something here. Again I will endeavour to look into that to confirm my
understanding of it.


Everytime I have crossed from LU to Overground with Oyster, I have ended up
being stung - what is the advice here? Touch at the interchange station so
it knows you have been there, even though you are not exiting? I just get
onto an LO train and touch out at the eventual destination - and always end
up with "Seek Assistance" and all sorts of peculiar fares and journeys in my
history. I have tried both ways, and can't work out what I am doing wrong.
Neither, evidently, can LO staff.


You should just touch-in at the beginning and touch-out at the end of
the journey, don't worry about touching in at interchange points
(though if you are doing an out-of-station interchange, e.g. between
Hackney Central and Hackney Downs, of course you'll need to touch-out,
walk up the street and then touch-in).

If you could share the details of the specific problems you've had
then we could try and work out what's going on, i.e. what were your
start and end points, what route did you take, did you have a
Travelcard on your Oyster, what time of day was this and what makes
you think you were overcharged - did you get the £4 max cash fare
'penalty' and if so was this applied once or twice?
(If you don't want to make your journey details public then please
feel free to email me, my address is as given).


Actually, while I am here, can someone please explain to me why my Oyster
card regularly opens gates, but then flashes up "Seek Assistance" while I am
crossing through? If there is a problem, why does it open the gates? What
does it all mean?!

Best WIshes,
LEWIS

From observation this seems to happen quite a lot, and has been
commented on here before. It's nothing to worry about - if the gates
have opened then you're fine. One likely explanation is that the
Oyster reader on the gate is reading your Oyster card for a second
time and then obviously rejecting it, because it has already just read
it, validated it and opened the gate for you - however this all takes
a split second. Perhaps this is caused by the fact that people tend to
move the Oyster card in a sweeping motion across the reader - though
when walking towards/through the gate this is something that's hard to
avoid doing. So, as I said don't worry about it - if the gate has
opened you're good to go - unless it's very busy and you've walked
through on somebody else's ticket, but you will notice this if you do.