I've been using my oyster card quite merrily this week until today. This
morning, I swiped the card on a bus and it didn't register. The driver waved
me through and I thought it was a faulty machine. Going home from work this
evening, I swiped it again on the bus and it still wouldn't register. I
thought another faulty machine until the driver called me back. This time I
looked at the LCD display and it showed 'Communication Failure'. Try as I
might, I couldn't get the card to register. I knew there was credit on my
pre-pay card so I couldn't work out what was wrong.

I managed to test my oyster card at a ticket stop and they confirmed that my
card had died. They told me I had to take it to the Oval to get it swapped.

My questions is:

Why did the second bus driver talk to my as if I was scum ? I'm not
intentionally out to defraud the system. I tried to explain to him that the
card was working as far as I know.

Why do oyster cards die ? I've looked after it, not sat on it, the card
itself still looks pristine. I've had it for about 5 months.

How am I going to get to work tomorrow ? I've read on the oyster site that
you can take the card to any tube station for a replacement. But living in
South London, there aren't any. I can by pay cash to get to work and then
get it swapped at a tube station in the City but will the card be functional
straight away so I can use it for the trip home ? Will they be able to
transfer the credit I had onto it ?

Thanks