"Dave Arquati" wrote in message ...
It's a perplexing scenario at London Bridge mainline station for Prepay users. Prepay is valid on
Thameslink services to and from London Bridge. Some friends were travelling with me to London
Bridge from Farringdon using Prepay (I was using a season Travelcard).

We touched in at Farringdon and walked to the platform 8 exit to get off. They tried to touch out,
but the barriers threw up an error; the assistant at the barrier then told them that their Prepay
wasn't valid and that they needed to pay a fare. I then had a bit of an argument with him about
the validity of Prepay (something like this: "Prepay is valid on Thameslink from Farringdon to
London Bridge" "No it isn't" "Yes it is").

Luckily he called over another guy who knew what I was talking about, who said that the barriers
from that exit wouldn't understand Prepay and that my friends had to touch out using the platform
validators.

So we trooped back to the platforms and tried to touch out - but it wouldn't work. We then went to
a different exit (the main exit from platforms 1-6) where the gates still wouldn't open; in the
end another barrier assistant just let us all out, but my friends then had unresolved journeys and
it screwed up their daily cap.

The problem is - how do you ever get out at London Bridge? Prepay doesn't seem to work the exit
gates, so are you supposed to touch out using the platform validators first, and then the ticket
gates will let you out? It seems unlikely to me that the exit gates will be any more capable of
understanding a completed prepay journey than an uncompleted one.

--
Dave Arquati
Imperial College, SW7
www.alwaystouchout.com - Transport projects in London

I travelled from Kings Cross Thameslink to London Bridge with a friend
and we both encountered a similar problem.

We touched in ok at Kings Cros TL but at London Bridge we touched the
validators on the platform (like the sign said) and they flashed up
"seek assistance" and so did the main barriers when we passed through them.
The member of the staff just waved us through the side gate. I asked if that
would be ok but he didn't reply and started talking to someone else.

It was not ok - upon checking next day I had an unresolved journey and
I paid too much in total that day. I went to the ticket office to get it resolved.
Checking later that day I realised the bloke at the ticket office had cleared the
unresolved journey but charged me for it again. The next ticket office person
I spoke to didn't understand me when I tried to explain this and suggested
I call the Oyster helpline.

From experience I would not advise anyone to do this. The people
who answer the phone are useless and I doubt have ever travelled on
London Underground or been to London or seen an Oyster Card.
Worse still they give refunds for 80p in the form of a cheque.

That said, if you email via "ask oyster" the response is quick and they
even refund the amount directly to you Oyster Card when you pass
through a nominated station.

As for Thameslink - I don't think I would use it again with prepay
because in the 3 times I've used it, it hasn't worked once.