"Steve" wrote in message
...
Kat wrote in
:

In message , Steve
writes
Barry Salter wrote in
m:

On Fri, 6 Feb 2004 09:17:08 -0000, "Edward Cowling"
wrote:

Judging by the cursing and moaning I think there are
more than a few teething problems with Oyster.

Or teething problems with Oyster users who aren't touching their
card to the reader at both ends of their journey, regardless of
whether or not the gates are open, and ending up with unresolved
journeys?

Thie excuse was tried on with me; the problem being is that when a get
tells me to seek assistance I can go to another gate and it will open;
so if your excuse is true then the system should not let me out; oh
and there are all the posted telling us to touch in and out - for
prepay.

Look at the error code which shows with the Seek Assistance message;
70, 71, 94 all mean there's some sort of communication error. 21 and
22 (double exit/entrance attempted) often come up for no apparent
reason too.
If you are concerned about touching the reader again (Pre pay) then
ask someone to read the card on a MMF or with a hand-held device.

I think they are 7? and 9? so it does look like there are problems with
many of the readers. A shame every SA I have asked repeats the mantra
about
not tapping in or out rather than reporting these readers as faulty.

I don't have pre-pay so I don't need to tap in and out according to the
posters on all the stations.


I am slowly being convinced that some of the gate sensors are not working
properly. The stand alone validators seem to work much better but of course
they are not used as much so still have time to break down.
The publicity is shockingly bad as it is all focussed on Pre-pay users. I
have been trying to get hold of the persons who are running the campaign but
have been getting the run around. After two e.mails and several phone calls
without luck I think it is easier for staff just to remove anything which is
counter productive and wait for these people to come out of the wood work
and complain. At which point they can be asked to justify themselves.

It is very difficult to investigate gate faults as customers do not want to
be inconvenienced by hanging around having their oyster checked at the
ticket office. I have tried on several occasions and just got abuse for it

Yes you do have to tap in and tap out as you will get unresolved journeys
otherwise and maybe worse might even have a spurious charge to pay.