"Roland Perry" wrote:
You are helped by the fact that auto-topup isn't compulsory.

Now you've spoiled it!
That was supposed to be kept from all conspiracy theorists!
--

Andrew

"She plays the tuba.
It is the only instrument capable
of imitating a distress call."

wrote:
You are helped by the fact that auto-topup isn't compulsory.
We were discussing how you top up without using the tube.

Use the bus.
That's about 75 futile posts back ...

.... Why, oh why, am I trying to help people who choose not to read?
--

Andrew

Andrew Heenan wrote:


That being the case, what on Earth are you doing even considering auto
top-up.
That's insane.

He's not considering it. Auto top-up was suggested further up thread as
the perfect solution who don't live near any Oyster sales points. And
we responded with various different reasons why it isn't the perfect
solution at all.

MIG wrote:


As ever, this is the key thing. There is a problem, however minor,
which affects some people, and it could be solved.

Instead there are long arguments about how clued-up people can get
round the problem, and a total refusal to just solve the problem.


Exactly, there are lots of tiny little problems with Oyster. It's
possible to find a way round each one, if you make the effort, but it
soon becomes more annoying than one big problem.

"Andrew Heenan" wrote in message
...
"Stephen Osborn" wrote:
Also it is rather daft that an Oyster can only have auto top-up enabled
when
it used for a journey and not at a Tube ticket office.

Auto means auto. I don't see the problem.

Assuming you are referring to the bit that you left, he is saying that it is
only possible to "initiate" your top up by visiting a tube station and
actually making a TUBE journey, something which not everybody will want to
do.

tim

"Andrew Heenan" wrote in message
...
"Stephen Osborn" wrote:
Also it is rather daft that an Oyster can only have auto top-up enabled
when
it used for a journey and not at a Tube ticket office.

Auto means auto. I don't see the problem.
--

The key word is 'enabled'. I have an Oyster that used to have a Travelcard
on it but now has PAYG. I would like to have auto top-up but to *enable*
auto top-up I have to use it for a journey at a Tube station, indeed at a
specified Tube station.

But to get to a Tube station, as I live in SE London, I would have to take
an Overground train and so I would normally buy a one day Travelcard at the
train station. To use my Oyster at the Tube station I would either need to
buy a train return ticket instead or use my Oyster PAYG when I had a valid
Travelcard. Either of those would mean I was paying extra for the privilege
of switching on auto top-up.

It does not seem unreasonable to want to go up to a Tube ticket office and
ask for auto top-up to be switched on. In a well designed system that would
be possible at *any* Tube ticket office - so I would be able to just pick
one that does not have a queue when I am passing through.

Alternatively why cannot auto top-up be switched on at an Oyster retailer?
For that I would accept having to specify the retailer as there are loads of
these - there is one c. five minutes walk from my home.

regards

Stephen


Andrew

"Andrew Heenan" wrote in message
...
wrote:
Auto top-up triggers whenever the balance falls below £5. Thus your
balance is always in the £5-£25 range, never below. The loophole I'm
suggesting is to add cash before each journey to keep it in the £5-£10
range, but what you can't ever do with a card with auto top-up enabled
is spend the last £5. You can still have the card refunded of course,
but then you have no Oyster Card.
None of this helps us provincials who use perhaps a tenner a year on
PAYG.

That being the case, what on Earth are you doing even considering auto
top-up.
That's insane.

No it's not. It's just as much a PITA having to feed three quid cash onto
my card each time I want to make a return tube journey than it is to feed
thirty quid for a week's travel.

tim

MIG wrote:

It just occurred to me that a more important issue affected by the
same pointless limitation is refunds. I think that the same applies,
that when a refund is owed to you, you have to make a LU journey.
Auto top-up is a choice, but having to make a journey to get your own
money back is rather cheeky. (And having to register, but that's
another story.)

An unregistered card can't be issued a refund? Then how are non-UK
residents expected to obtain refunds? (When I tried to register my
Oyster card to a USA address in 2005, I was told that only UK addresses
were valid.)
--
David of Broadway

On 23 Nov, 20:03, David of Broadway
wrote:
An unregistered card can't be issued a refund? *Then how are non-UK
residents expected to obtain refunds? *(When I tried to register my
Oyster card to a USA address in 2005, I was told that only UK addresses
were valid.)

No, MIG is complaining that auto top-up needs registration, and that
refunds require you to make a tube journey to pick them up (as does
enabling auto top-up). I don't think refunds require registration.

U

In article , (Andrew
Heenan) wrote:

wrote:
You are helped by the fact that auto-topup isn't compulsory.
We were discussing how you top up without using the tube.

Use the bus.
That's about 75 futile posts back ...

... Why, oh why, am I trying to help people who choose not to read?

You can't /initiate/ auto-top-up on Oyster without touching in at a /tube/
barrier, at least that's what TfL say. After you've done it once you can
stick to buses as you say.

--
Colin Rosenstiel