I think it's worth acknowledging the difference between being punished
for not touching in/out and being punished for renewing a travelcard
in south london on the day when the Oyster machine is broken

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Out of interest, what is there not to work? Aren't they basically sealed
units?

Do they get completely trashed in sarf lundin, or does the power go off,
or
..... something else?

Most often won't read the credit/debit cards. *But also non-specific
"out of order" bits of paper stuck on the screen, which may be the
same, but why try ...

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Oh you mean the 'ticket' machine. *I though you were talking about the
validator.

Out of interest, I think I've only ever come across one or possibly
two Oyster validators (aka Oyster readers) that weren't working. There
was one at Addiscombe on Tramlink that I saw covered in silver spray
on paint, though I think it was still working underneath that.

Also, at most ungated stations where one needs to use a standalone
Oyster validator there is more than just the one validator.

Of course basically one cannot use Oyster PAYG for rail travel in
south London.

Funly enough, I've seen a not-working Oyster validator today.

It's at West Ham, and it's got "OUT OF ORDER" written on it in black
marker. It looks like it's been that way for some time, so I wonder
if it's not so much out of order as switched off due to lack of
purpose.