On Jul 13, 1:10*pm, John B wrote:
On 13 Jul, 11:12, Railist wrote:

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.

...which, at the time, they thought it did.

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.

...which, by then, they'd realised was the case. I'm not sure what the
"code 30" issue is, but it does mean that an unspecified number of
unfortunate types like yourself need a new physical Oyster card.

I very much doubt that this information was clarified between me
touching in at Kings Cross at around 2230hrs, and getting off at
Clapham Common.

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.
Why didn't /you/ explain to the people that this was what you were
doing, if it bothered you so much?

Because angry people tend not to listen to the person they perceive is
the source of their anger.

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?

You've presumably got the Gold Card Record Card issued by SWT at the
same time as they issued your original Oyster season? If so, then
you're fine - it's the record card that's required to demonstrate Gold
Card eligibility, not the Oyster.

No, LUL, despite your claim of being vague about National Rail did say
that they had to keep the original record card, and that the new one
would be fine, despite my doubts.

I'm not sure what the legal rather than practical situation is, but
I'd be amazed if it were different - LUL staff aren't really trained
in the mysterious vagaries of National Rail, and don't tend to have a
clue about Gold Cards, Network Cards, etc.

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!

Well, clearly, as long as you can get out of the system - did you ask
the staff at Clapham to let you through last night and they
refused...?

Because I had another bus journey to make, so when she said I couldn't
use the card again, I, for some reason, believed her.
Then on the bus the driver told everyone not to bother swiping in as
Oyster wasn't working.

--
John Band
john at johnband dot orgwww.johnband.org