Oystercard picked from pocket
 

Do be cautious out there. Was traveling home on the number 1. I was talking
with a friend I saw on the bus, and as we went to get off at the Elephant, a
guy was standing in the middle of the exit. I excused myself and he moved and
we got off.

Only later did I realise that my Oystercard wallet was missing.

Now, I suppose I'm lucky that I didn't keep anything else valuable (work ID
card, but that's easily replaced) in the wallet; occasionally people keep
money in it. However, when I called Oystercard to report the loss, it was
slightly after 8 pm and they close down at 8. So I need to wait until tomorrow
morning to report it (if they're open on Bank Holiday weekends...) and it
probably won't be cancelled until Sunday and replaced until a week from
Monday.

I'm pretty cheesed off. On the bright side, I've been living in cities now for
33 years and this is my first picked pocket. Another bright side: they didn't
get my wallet or keys. Dark side: Oyster shuts down too early and should have
some way to report the loss even after 8 pm, perhaps through the login on the
website.
--
Chris Hansen | chrishansenhome at btinternet dot com
The British philosopher J. L. Austin came to Columbia and
pointed out that although two negatives make a positive,
nowhere is it the case that two positives make a negative.
"Yeah, yeah," Dr. Morgenbesser said.

Oystercard picked from pocket
 

On Fri, 27 Aug 2004 20:50:07 +0000, Christian Hansen wrote:

Do be cautious out there. Was traveling home on the number 1. I was talking
with a friend I saw on the bus, and as we went to get off at the Elephant, a
guy was standing in the middle of the exit. I excused myself and he moved and
we got off.

Only later did I realise that my Oystercard wallet was missing.

Hmm, is that a valid excuse. On the bus, inspector comes on, claim you had
a pre-pay oyster but it's been lifted.

Same with the tube.

Oystercard picked from pocket
 

On Sat, 28 Aug 2004 02:58:08 +0100, Paul Weaver wrote:

On Fri, 27 Aug 2004 20:50:07 +0000, Christian Hansen wrote:

Do be cautious out there. Was traveling home on the number 1. I was talking
with a friend I saw on the bus, and as we went to get off at the Elephant, a
guy was standing in the middle of the exit. I excused myself and he moved and
we got off.

Only later did I realise that my Oystercard wallet was missing.

Hmm, is that a valid excuse. On the bus, inspector comes on, claim you had
a pre-pay oyster but it's been lifted.

Same with the tube.

It didn't apply in this case, as I was getting off the bus at the time.

I don't know whether it would be a valid excuse were an inspector to demand it
while I was on the bus or the Tube (BTW, I can't remember the last time I
encountered an inspector on the Tube). I'm sure it's not the first time and it
won't be the last time that such a thing has happened.

Since Oystercards are cancellable, I should think that the inspector might
take into account genuine distress and such but I would expect that, just as
replacement tix while you are waiting for your new Oystercard are refundable,
any fine you might have to pay upon discovering the loss would be refundable
too. Couldn't go to that particular well twice, of course.

In connection with this, this morning, while waiting for the Oystercard phone
line to become active I got to the Oystercard website, finally figured out how
to log in (you have to go to the "Buy a card" link and you can then log in)
and only THEN discovered that you could report your card lost or stolen
online. This is a major lapse of their site design.

What they need to have is a big "Report your card lost or stolen" link on the
front page, with instructions to log in if you are an online purchaser, which
will bring you to the page where you report the card lost, or with the phone
number and hours of operation for those who are not online purchasers.

It allows you to specify which card (if you have more than one, which I don't)
is lost, and whether they need to supply you with a new photocard. They say
that someone will get in touch.

Oh, and once you're reported it missing they cancel it and you can't
reactivate it. So make darn sure it is lost before reporting it.
--
Chris Hansen | chrishansenhome at btinternet dot com
The British philosopher J. L. Austin came to Columbia and
pointed out that although two negatives make a positive,
nowhere is it the case that two positives make a negative.
"Yeah, yeah," Dr. Morgenbesser said.

Oystercard picked from pocket
 

In message , at 07:52:15 on
Sat, 28 Aug 2004, Christian Hansen
remarked:
Hmm, is that a valid excuse. On the bus, inspector comes on, claim you had
a pre-pay oyster but it's been lifted.

Same with the tube.

It didn't apply in this case, as I was getting off the bus at the time.

I don't know whether it would be a valid excuse were an inspector to demand it
while I was on the bus or the Tube (BTW, I can't remember the last time I
encountered an inspector on the Tube). I'm sure it's not the first time and it
won't be the last time that such a thing has happened.

It's a non-issue surely, as the use of the Oyster to board the bus will
have been logged centrally. (Or captured locally, to be logged
centrally, later).
--
Roland Perry

Oystercard picked from pocket
 

"Roland Perry" wrote in message
.uk...
In message , at 07:52:15 on
Sat, 28 Aug 2004, Christian Hansen
remarked:
Hmm, is that a valid excuse. On the bus, inspector comes on, claim you
had
a pre-pay oyster but it's been lifted.

Same with the tube.

It didn't apply in this case, as I was getting off the bus at the time.

I don't know whether it would be a valid excuse were an inspector to
demand it
while I was on the bus or the Tube (BTW, I can't remember the last time I
encountered an inspector on the Tube). I'm sure it's not the first time
and it
won't be the last time that such a thing has happened.

It's a non-issue surely, as the use of the Oyster to board the bus will
have been logged centrally. (Or captured locally, to be logged
centrally, later).

If you have an anonymous oyster card? Or if its a season ticket?
--
Everything above is the personal opinion of the author, and nothing to do
with where he works and all that lovely disclaimery stuff.
Posted in his lunch hour too.

Oystercard picked from pocket
 

In message , at 15:30:41 on Sat, 28
Aug 2004, Paul Weaver remarked:
It's a non-issue surely, as the use of the Oyster to board the bus will
have been logged centrally. (Or captured locally, to be logged
centrally, later).

If you have an anonymous oyster card?

They must still have some kind of serial number, how else can the OP
phone up and get it cancelled?

Or if its a season ticket?

Why are they different, surely they are logged as a much as pre-pay (so
Ken can get his statistics on who commutes where).
--
Roland Perry

Oystercard picked from pocket
 

"Roland Perry" wrote in message
.uk...
In message , at 15:30:41 on Sat, 28
Aug 2004, Paul Weaver remarked:
It's a non-issue surely, as the use of the Oyster to board the bus will
have been logged centrally. (Or captured locally, to be logged
centrally, later).

If you have an anonymous oyster card?

They must still have some kind of serial number, how else can the OP
phone up and get it cancelled?

Or if its a season ticket?

Why are they different, surely they are logged as a much as pre-pay (so
Ken can get his statistics on who commutes where).
--
Roland Perry


They are logged as much. You can see what busses, tubes, trains you've been
on from those big touch screen machines no matter what type of ticket it is.
(You can alos request a print out from the ticket office [eg for expense
claims] but they are often awkward)

Oystercard picked from pocket
 

I can assure you if a tube inspector stops someone who says his Oyster card
has been stolen they will check it out. Yep it may involve some note taking
and a phone call or two but LUL don't prosecute fare paying customers. :-)

S

"Chris" wrote in message
...

"Roland Perry" wrote in message
.uk...
In message , at 15:30:41 on Sat, 28
Aug 2004, Paul Weaver remarked:
It's a non-issue surely, as the use of the Oyster to board the bus
will
have been logged centrally. (Or captured locally, to be logged
centrally, later).

If you have an anonymous oyster card?

They must still have some kind of serial number, how else can the OP
phone up and get it cancelled?

Or if its a season ticket?

Why are they different, surely they are logged as a much as pre-pay (so
Ken can get his statistics on who commutes where).
--
Roland Perry


They are logged as much. You can see what busses, tubes, trains you've
been
on from those big touch screen machines no matter what type of ticket it
is.
(You can alos request a print out from the ticket office [eg for expense
claims] but they are often awkward)

Oystercard picked from pocket
 

A thought has occured to me while reading this thread. People get on
buses and swipe their Oyster cards without removing them from the
wallet. Is there any indictation apart from the bleep to the driver
that the card is genuine? If you were to have a fake card you can just
pass it in front of the reader and get on free. If the driver is busy
or there is a lot of noise he's got going to hear the bleep. If an
inspector gets on, do you only have to flash you card at him? Have I
uncovered a major fraud possibility here?

Neill



"SJCWHUK" wrote in message ...
I can assure you if a tube inspector stops someone who says his Oyster card
has been stolen they will check it out. Yep it may involve some note taking
and a phone call or two but LUL don't prosecute fare paying customers. :-)

S

"Chris" wrote in message
...

"Roland Perry" wrote in message
.uk...
In message , at 15:30:41 on Sat, 28
Aug 2004, Paul Weaver remarked:
It's a non-issue surely, as the use of the Oyster to board the bus
will
have been logged centrally. (Or captured locally, to be logged
centrally, later).

If you have an anonymous oyster card?

They must still have some kind of serial number, how else can the OP
phone up and get it cancelled?

Or if its a season ticket?

Why are they different, surely they are logged as a much as pre-pay (so
Ken can get his statistics on who commutes where).
--
Roland Perry


They are logged as much. You can see what busses, tubes, trains you've
been
on from those big touch screen machines no matter what type of ticket it
is.
(You can alos request a print out from the ticket office [eg for expense
claims] but they are often awkward)

Oystercard picked from pocket
 

In message , at
01:49:42 on Wed, 1 Sep 2004, Neill Wood
remarked:
A thought has occured to me while reading this thread. People get on
buses and swipe their Oyster cards without removing them from the
wallet. Is there any indictation apart from the bleep to the driver
that the card is genuine? If you were to have a fake card you can just
pass it in front of the reader and get on free. If the driver is busy
or there is a lot of noise he's got going to hear the bleep. If an
inspector gets on, do you only have to flash you card at him? Have I
uncovered a major fraud possibility here?

The Nottingham City busses have an Oyster-like card, and readers by the
driver. They only sell 7-day, 30-day and annual "travelcards" though,
not prepay. You could get past some drivers with a card and a separate
"beeper", but there's a big green light on the side of the reader that
flashes too.

The conductors on the Trams, however, never read the cards[1], and just
showing them a card (which could easily have expired) is good enough.

[1] They have a gadget that prints tickets, not sure if it has the
capability to read the cards.
--
Roland Perry

Oystercard picked from pocket
 

Neill Wood wrote to uk.transport.london on Wed, 1 Sep 2004:

A thought has occured to me while reading this thread. People get on
buses and swipe their Oyster cards without removing them from the
wallet. Is there any indictation apart from the bleep to the driver
that the card is genuine? If you were to have a fake card you can just
pass it in front of the reader and get on free. If the driver is busy
or there is a lot of noise he's got going to hear the bleep. If an
inspector gets on, do you only have to flash you card at him? Have I
uncovered a major fraud possibility here?

Normally the inspectors have hand-held readers that read your card for
you, and tell them what you last swiped and when.

What I want to know is, do you have to take the card out of your
handbag/wallet to use it? I know it can/should be used in its own
wallet, but on the Continent, where similar systems are in use, you see
people just brushing their bags against the reader, not bothering to
take the card out at all. I don't know how many layers will inhibit
reading!
--
"Mrs Redboots"
http://www.amsmyth.demon.co.uk/

Oystercard picked from pocket
 

In message , at 11:47:15 on Wed, 1
Sep 2004, Annabel Smyth remarked:
What I want to know is, do you have to take the card out of your
handbag/wallet to use it?

My Oyster works when inside a small wallet.
--
Roland Perry

Oystercard picked from pocket
 

Inspectors have oyster card readers that can check photocard numbers
associated with the card. If you use someone else's Oyster card that
requires a photocard they will catch you and prosecute you. As for the
'beep', when you put the card on the reader it tells the driver the ticket
type used, it also sounds different if the card is not valid.

S

"Neill Wood" wrote in message
om...
A thought has occured to me while reading this thread. People get on
buses and swipe their Oyster cards without removing them from the
wallet. Is there any indictation apart from the bleep to the driver
that the card is genuine? If you were to have a fake card you can just
pass it in front of the reader and get on free. If the driver is busy
or there is a lot of noise he's got going to hear the bleep. If an
inspector gets on, do you only have to flash you card at him? Have I
uncovered a major fraud possibility here?

Neill



"SJCWHUK" wrote in message
...
I can assure you if a tube inspector stops someone who says his Oyster
card
has been stolen they will check it out. Yep it may involve some note
taking
and a phone call or two but LUL don't prosecute fare paying customers.
:-)

S

"Chris" wrote in message
...

"Roland Perry" wrote in message
.uk...
In message , at 15:30:41 on Sat,
28
Aug 2004, Paul Weaver remarked:
It's a non-issue surely, as the use of the Oyster to board the bus
will
have been logged centrally. (Or captured locally, to be logged
centrally, later).

If you have an anonymous oyster card?

They must still have some kind of serial number, how else can the OP
phone up and get it cancelled?

Or if its a season ticket?

Why are they different, surely they are logged as a much as pre-pay
(so
Ken can get his statistics on who commutes where).
--
Roland Perry


They are logged as much. You can see what busses, tubes, trains you've
been
on from those big touch screen machines no matter what type of ticket
it
is.
(You can alos request a print out from the ticket office [eg for
expense
claims] but they are often awkward)

Oystercard picked from pocket
 

I would like to recount the final steps in this drama.

You may remember that I cancelled the Oystercard from the website on Saturday
morning two weeks ago. When I hadn't been contacted by Thursday, I decided to
call their number to enquire.

The person on the phone looked up my number and said that, no, it hadn't been
cancelled but no, it hadn't been used since Friday. I had a little shiver of
1984-style Big Brotherism, in that someone in an office somewhere could tell
where I'd been on the Underground or on the buses...but anyway. She then
cancelled the card and I got my new one a week ago.

The moral of the story is: if you lose your Oystercard, don't cancel it on the
website--call the number (it's on the website) and report it in person. This
will guarantee that you'll get the old one cancelled and a new card soon.

Oddly enough, the people who do all the new card processing are in Ireland. No
suitable organisation could be found in London?
--
Chris Hansen | chrishansenhome at btinternet dot com
The British philosopher J. L. Austin came to Columbia and
pointed out that although two negatives make a positive,
nowhere is it the case that two positives make a negative.
"Yeah, yeah," Dr. Morgenbesser said.

Oystercard picked from pocket
 

Christian Hansen ty ped

Oddly enough, the people who do all the new card processing are in
Ireland. No
suitable organisation could be found in London?

I think 'outsourcing' is cheaper.. :-(

--
Helen D. Vecht:
Edgware.

Oystercard picked from pocket
 

Christian Hansen wrote:
The person on the phone looked up my number and said that, no, it hadn't been
cancelled but no, it hadn't been used since Friday. I had a little shiver of
1984-style Big Brotherism, in that someone in an office somewhere could tell
where I'd been on the Underground or on the buses...but anyway. She then
cancelled the card and I got my new one a week ago.

If you ever find yourself forgetful as to where you've been with your
oystercard, go to one of the touchscreen ticket machines, and you can
display recent usage history. If you use it on a bus, it will only give
the route number and time, not direction; for tube journeys, it will
give where you entered, and left the system.

Why you would need to recall your oystercard's movements when you have
it in your posession is another matter. (And I don't think anyone's used
an oystercard log as an alibi before)

--
Simon Hewison

Oystercard picked from pocket
 

On Sat, 18 Sep 2004 14:41:51 +0100, Simon Hewison
wrote:

Christian Hansen wrote:
The person on the phone looked up my number and said that, no, it hadn't been
cancelled but no, it hadn't been used since Friday. I had a little shiver of
1984-style Big Brotherism, in that someone in an office somewhere could tell
where I'd been on the Underground or on the buses...but anyway. She then
cancelled the card and I got my new one a week ago.

If you ever find yourself forgetful as to where you've been with your
oystercard, go to one of the touchscreen ticket machines, and you can
display recent usage history. If you use it on a bus, it will only give
the route number and time, not direction; for tube journeys, it will
give where you entered, and left the system.

Why you would need to recall your oystercard's movements when you have
it in your posession is another matter. (And I don't think anyone's used
an oystercard log as an alibi before)

Well, if the record is held on my card, and I'm just reading it, I'm not
concerned as much. If the record is held by Big Brother, and I'm just reading
what he wants to show me, I'm a bit more worried.

I believe that the record is on the card itself. How long is the material
retained on the Oyster "database", then?
--
Chris Hansen | chrishansenhome at btinternet dot com