"Bob Wood" wrote in news:AEG9g.9414$fS1.5263
@newsfe6-win.ntli.net:

Paul Corfield wrote:

On 14 May 2006 03:53:48 -0700, "
wrote:

I asked the oystercard people if it was possible to set the top up
threshold higher than £5. I mainly use buses, live a mile from a
tube station and the local newsagent charges 80p for an Oyster top
up. Their response was:

"
Please be advised that unfortunately it is not possible to change
this to £10, however if you know that your card is below £5 and want
to
top it up you can go to an underground station and swipe your card
on
the yellow readers and it will top up, you do not have to make a
journey.

If you are not making a journey you will be charged a small fee
however this can be refunded from the ticket desk.
"

How much is the "small fee" for topping up? What advantages does
this have over just going to the ticket desk? Anyways I don't live
near enough to a tube station for this to be an option.



a) Since when did newsagents have the right to charge passengers
for topping up?


They don't. They don't charge. Nobody said they did.



The OP said that his local newsagent charges.

QUOTE
tube station and the local newsagent charges 80p for an Oyster top
up. Their response was:
/QUOTE

Which I think is outrageous. Unless the OP was paying by cheque or
something, I am sure that this is not right. Can anyone check the
legality of this?

I top mine up (for free) at a newsagent, but I wouldn't want to see
charging become commonplace. This needs to be nipped in the bud asap.

I hate these extra charges. My local offlicence near my house sells beer
and wine 24 hours a day, which is dead handy if I want a bottle of wine
at three in the morning during a party or something. But they charge
about £3 extra a bottle of wine. I ask why, since they're legally
allowed to sell alcohol all night as they were given one of the 24 hour
licences in my borough. They say they need to recoup the prices of the
license, and also pay for all the staff who work at night. But the shop
was always a 24 hour shop (and actually a 24 hour off licence, although
back then it was under-the-counter and people expected to pay the
surcharge because it was illegal).

So I don't buy that at all. After all, their fags don't go up 30p after
11, so why should their beer and wine.