In message , Steve Naïve
writes
I bought a travelcard to be loaded onto an Oyster for a future date (it was
going to start on a Monday). On Friday, travelling on my old paper
travelcard, I tried waving the Oyster over the card reader - since it
wasn't valid, it didn't work (to be expected). However, neither did it
load the correct ticket to start on the Monday.

I boarded a bus on Monday morning only to be told that the card wasn't
accepted (tried a number of times). When I got to my 'designated station'
it worked fine and has done ever since.

Does the Oyster have to be valid for the new ticket to be loaded onto it?
I don't think the bus Oyster-reader was defective.

I'm not sure if I understand you correctly; did you first try to load
your Oyster at your designated station or at another?
--
Kat Women and cats will do as they please, and men and dogs should relax
and get used to the idea - Robert A. Heinlein