"tim...." wrote in message
...

If tfl don't tell the punters what the rule is (and it seems that they
haven't) what is there not to understand?

The problem is entirely one of (non) communication on Tfl's part. And as
they are the ones who are "profiting" by this non communication I would
suggest that's pretty close to criminal negligence.

If you go back a few years you definitely got the impression [rightly or
wrongly] from the Oyster booklet that the concept of a 'max cash fare' was
specific to certain National Rail journeys - indeed it was only in the NR
section of the booklet that it was given a monetary value.

IIRC there was a time when no max cash fare was taken on tube journeys - and
there must be huge numbers of people who've never re-read the rules since
then.

Maybe in hindsight the literature should have used the words 'deposit' and
'refund' in the normal way...

Paul S