I was affected by the Oyster problem on Saturday, 12 July.

An error message "30" appeared on the display at the gate, at Kings
Cross Station. I was told that I could go through the barriers as the
staff member on duty said that the error message referred to the the
system wide error that affected Oyster.

At Clapham Common Station, I was told by a lady there that I *had* to
renew my card there and then, as the card would never work anywhere
else. The transaction took over 30 minutes while a queue of angry
people behind me stood, accusing me of being a difficult customer and
that I must have been training the man behind the counter in how to
deal with problem passengers. At no point did any staff defend me or
explain to the people that I was only following LU staff
instructions.

To add insult to injury, my replacement card now *apparently* offers
fewer benefits than the original. My original card was an Annual Gold
Card issued by South West Trains at Wimbledon Station. I was able to
join their Gold Service and obtain Network Card discounts as well as
additional benefits from South West Trains. Today I was told that I am
no longer a member of their Gold Service, my ticket is NOT valid as a
Network Card, I am no longer entitled to Network Card discounts and
that if I want my original ticket restored, I have to get it replaced
AGAIN, by South West Trains - at a charge! Is this really correct?

More insult, more injury - I discovered that I did not have to have my
card replaced in the first place, and that I could have waited till
today to do it in my own time, rather than standing at Clapham Common
Station at 1115PM!