My wife recently had the experience at Streatham Hill station where
the new Oyster compatible ticket machine was out of order (as are many
on various Southern stations), she needed to do a topup and the ticket
office staff just laughed at her and pointed to their obviously
unofficial sign saying no topups done here. She was able to get this
done at a local newsagent, but aren't all local rail station in the
Travelcard zones supposed to be able to do topups for pay-as-you-go.
I have raised matter with Southern customer relations and received
response that machine is now back in business and office should have
been able to do a topup. Verified yesterday that machine is now back
in working order but sign at station is still in place. I didn't
bother to inquire as I didn't think it was worth talking to the monkey
rather than the organ grinder.

What's the general experience about Oyster pay-as-you-go on National
Rail with Travelcard zones?
Are we just getting a crap service from Southern?

Thanks,
Martin J.