Oystercard and penalty fares
 

Hi,

I was wondering if anybody has any experience/opinions on the following....

I'm quite new to this Oystercard stuff having only used mine for a couple of
weeks so far. I usually recharge it with a weekly travelcard a few days
before expiry but last week (as I didn't think I'd need it) I didn't bother.
I heard over the weekend that I'd be working in central London, but couldn't
renew it by phone due to the short notice. This morning I got to Clapham
Junction and found they didn't have the facilities to charge it, but one of
the staff let me through the gates to board my train assuring me I could
charge it when I got to Victoria. On arriving at Victoria, I (stupidly, in
hindsight) asked a steward where I could charge the card and was given a £10
penalty. I explained what had happened to him numerous times, but to no
avail. So I basically could have bought a paper ticket and avoided all this
but trying to support TFL's new technology I'm now £10 out of pocket. I've
written an appeal letter, do I have a case?

Thanks for bearing with me with the long story and I appreciate any
replies...

Jon

Oystercard and penalty fares
 

I heard over the weekend that I'd be working in central London, but
couldn't
renew it by phone due to the short notice.

I don't think they are doing their customers any favours by their heavy
promotion of phone and online renewal which requires two days notice and a
nominated tube or DLR station. They really ought be be emphasising more
that you can pop into your local 'Ticket Stop' and get it done on the spot.
There must be a heck of a lot of customers who need to use bus or national
rail in order to get to a tube or DLR station, if indeed they pass through
one at all, but who have never got into the habit of popping in to their
local newsagent for tickets.

Oystercard and penalty fares
 

On Mon, 19 Apr 2004 at 18:43:13, Graham J wrote:

I don't think they are doing their customers any favours by their heavy
promotion of phone and online renewal which requires two days notice and a
nominated tube or DLR station. They really ought be be emphasising more
that you can pop into your local 'Ticket Stop' and get it done on the spot.
There must be a heck of a lot of customers who need to use bus or national
rail in order to get to a tube or DLR station, if indeed they pass through
one at all, but who have never got into the habit of popping in to their
local newsagent for tickets.

Hmph - my local newsagent refused to sell me an Oyster card, and
insisted on issuing a paper ticket (one month Travelcard), just when I
told him that was not what I wanted. So the following month I bought my
Oyster card on-line, as much easier than having to argue with stroppy
newsagent!
--
Annabel Smyth
http://www.amsmyth.demon.co.uk/index.html
Website updated 8 March 2004

Oystercard and penalty fares
 

Jon E. wrote:
Hi,

I was wondering if anybody has any experience/opinions on the
following....

I'm quite new to this Oystercard stuff having only used mine for a
couple of weeks so far. I usually recharge it with a weekly
travelcard a few days before expiry but last week (as I didn't
think I'd need it) I didn't bother. I heard over the weekend that
I'd be working in central London, but couldn't renew it by phone
due to the short notice. This morning I got to Clapham Junction and
found they didn't have the facilities to charge it, but one of the
staff let me through the gates to board my train assuring me I
could charge it when I got to Victoria.

That sounds to me like a verbal permit to travel. You should certainly
contact SWT, who presumably employ the person who let you through the
gate, if possible giving his name or other ID, which perhaps you could
obtain if you see him again. This is on the assumption that SWT gave
you wrong advice which led to your £10 penalty fare, and should be made
to reimburse you.
--
Richard J.
(to e-mail me, swap uk and yon in address)

Oystercard and penalty fares
 

"Barry Salter" wrote in message
...
On Mon, 19 Apr 2004 16:54:44 +0100, "Jon E."
wrote:

Hi,

I was wondering if anybody has any experience/opinions on the
following....

I'm quite new to this Oystercard stuff having only used mine for a couple
of
weeks so far. I usually recharge it with a weekly travelcard a few days
before expiry but last week (as I didn't think I'd need it) I didn't
bother.
I heard over the weekend that I'd be working in central London, but
couldn't
renew it by phone due to the short notice. This morning I got to Clapham
Junction and found they didn't have the facilities to charge it, but one
of
the staff let me through the gates to board my train assuring me I could
charge it when I got to Victoria. On arriving at Victoria, I (stupidly,
in
hindsight) asked a steward where I could charge the card and was given a
£10
penalty. I explained what had happened to him numerous times, but to no
avail. So I basically could have bought a paper ticket and avoided all
this
but trying to support TFL's new technology I'm now £10 out of pocket.
I've
written an appeal letter, do I have a case?

Officially no you don't, and the member of staff at Clapham Junction
*should* have told you to buy a paper ticket rather than letting you
through the gate there (Clapham Junction being in a PF Area).

And as Victoria is gated (apart from the GatEx platforms), even if you
hadn't gone to see a member of staff, you'd still have been issued a PF
for not having a valid ticket as your Oystercard wouldn't have let you
out.

Would'nt the barrier have let him through, but then disabled the Oystercard
until sufficient funds were added to clear the excess journey ?




The only thing you could really do would be to write to South Central or
South West Trains Customer Services [1] (depending on which of the two
the member of staff in question works for) and explain the situation and
see what they say.

HTH,

Barry

[1] Addresses and phone numbers for which can be found on
http://www.nationalrail.co.uk/

--
Barry Salter, barry at southie dot me dot uk
Read uk.* newsgroups? Read uk.net.news.announce!

DISCLAIMER: The above comments do not necessarily represent the
views of my employers.

Oystercard and penalty fares
 

On Mon, 19 Apr 2004 17:38:15 +0100, Barry Salter
wrote:



Officially no you don't, and the member of staff at Clapham Junction
*should* have told you to buy a paper ticket rather than letting you
through the gate there (Clapham Junction being in a PF Area).

I thought you had to have a valid ticket or other "authority to
travel". The staff member at Clapham Junction gave him "authority to
travel"

Oystercard and penalty fares
 

You should have got on a train to Waterloo. Sorry, it's just silly
travelling without a ticket to a barriered station when you have a
choice. What's the worst case then - a trip up the escalators at
Embankment?


Hi,

I was wondering if anybody has any experience/opinions on the following....

I'm quite new to this Oystercard stuff having only used mine for a couple of
weeks so far. I usually recharge it with a weekly travelcard a few days
before expiry but last week (as I didn't think I'd need it) I didn't bother.
I heard over the weekend that I'd be working in central London, but couldn't
renew it by phone due to the short notice. This morning I got to Clapham
Junction and found they didn't have the facilities to charge it, but one of
the staff let me through the gates to board my train assuring me I could
charge it when I got to Victoria. On arriving at Victoria, I (stupidly, in
hindsight) asked a steward where I could charge the card and was given a £10
penalty. I explained what had happened to him numerous times, but to no
avail. So I basically could have bought a paper ticket and avoided all this
but trying to support TFL's new technology I'm now £10 out of pocket. I've
written an appeal letter, do I have a case?

Thanks for bearing with me with the long story and I appreciate any
replies...

Jon

Oystercard and penalty fares
 

On Mon, 19 Apr 2004 16:54:44 +0100, Jon E. wrote:

I'm quite new to this Oystercard stuff having only used mine for a couple of
weeks so far. I usually recharge it with a weekly travelcard a few days
before expiry but last week (as I didn't think I'd need it) I didn't bother.
I heard over the weekend that I'd be working in central London, but couldn't
renew it by phone due to the short notice. This morning I got to Clapham
Junction and found they didn't have the facilities to charge it, but one of
the staff let me through the gates to board my train assuring me I could


On my reading of the regs. you are not liable. The staff at the station had
no right to levy a penalty:-

Circumstances in which a penalty fare is not to be charged where a
person is in a compulsory ticket area

7.--(1) No person present in or leaving a compulsory ticket area, but who is
not leaving a train, shall be charged a penalty fare in the
circumstances to which this regulation applies.

(2) The circumstances to which this regulation applies are that--

[snip]

(d) a person acting or purporting to act on behalf of (i) the operator
of any train departing from that compulsory ticket area, or (ii) the
operator of the relevant station indicated that the person in question was,
or persons in general were, permitted to be present in that compulsory
ticket area without having a ticket or other authority.

You should demand a refund and appology.

--
u n d e r a c h i e v e r

Oystercard and penalty fares
 

Thanks to everyone who's replied to me about this, looks like I've got some
good material to quote at Southwest Trains when I apply for my refund!

Cheers,

Jon


"u n d e r a c h i e v e r"
wrote in message
news:slrnc8an2i.ofd.takeme2yourNOMORESPAMPLEASE@sc ratch.garylaw.net...
On Mon, 19 Apr 2004 16:54:44 +0100, Jon E.
wrote:

I'm quite new to this Oystercard stuff having only used mine for a
couple of
weeks so far. I usually recharge it with a weekly travelcard a few days
before expiry but last week (as I didn't think I'd need it) I didn't
bother.
I heard over the weekend that I'd be working in central London, but
couldn't
renew it by phone due to the short notice. This morning I got to Clapham
Junction and found they didn't have the facilities to charge it, but one
of
the staff let me through the gates to board my train assuring me I could


On my reading of the regs. you are not liable. The staff at the station
had
no right to levy a penalty:-

Circumstances in which a penalty fare is not to be charged where a
person is in a compulsory ticket area

7.--(1) No person present in or leaving a compulsory ticket area, but who
is
not leaving a train, shall be charged a penalty fare in the
circumstances to which this regulation applies.

(2) The circumstances to which this regulation applies are that--

[snip]

(d) a person acting or purporting to act on behalf of (i) the
operator
of any train departing from that compulsory ticket area, or (ii) the
operator of the relevant station indicated that the person in question
was,
or persons in general were, permitted to be present in that compulsory
ticket area without having a ticket or other authority.

You should demand a refund and appology.

--
u n d e r a c h i e v e r