OK, so my my shiny new oyster expires at 0400 so I've just logged on
to renew it...

....the site can help you with a lost password, but not with a lost
username it seems (please correct me if I'm wrong about this). i
would have thought a username lookup from oystercard number would be
useful

....the site doesn't have a prominent 'renew my ticket' link. when you
try and buy a ticket you still have to navigate through numerous choices
and questions rather than just offering a default of 'same again please'

....remember my credit card details? nah. why not make me type them again.

....the renewal starts in FOUR DAYS TIME. FFS! how long does it take
to clear the payment and update the station ticket barriers? four days?
i though data moved at the speed of light, obviously not on LUL's network.

....but most useless of all, you have to nominate the station, and in some
cases the line, where you propose to make your first journey on day of
renewal. i for one don't have totally fixed travel patterns, and that
includes where i might be starting off from (often an out-of-London
NR station or a bus, just to confuse things further).

....so i'm off to the station in the morning to join the bloody queue
i've been desperately hoping this new system would mean I'd never need
to join again.

poo

--
u n d e r a c h i e v e r

u n d e r a c h i e v e r wrote:
OK, so my my shiny new oyster expires at 0400 so I've just logged on
to renew it...

Well, there you go. I renewed mine 8 days in advance.

"u n d e r a c h i e v e r"
wrote in message
news:slrnbij40l.f7u.takeme2yourNOMORESPAMPLEASE@sc ratch.garylaw.net...
OK, so my my shiny new oyster expires at 0400 so I've just logged on
to renew it...

...the site can help you with a lost password, but not with a lost
username it seems (please correct me if I'm wrong about this). i
would have thought a username lookup from oystercard number would be
useful

...the site doesn't have a prominent 'renew my ticket' link. when you
try and buy a ticket you still have to navigate through numerous choices
and questions rather than just offering a default of 'same again please'

...remember my credit card details? nah. why not make me type them again.

...the renewal starts in FOUR DAYS TIME. FFS! how long does it take
to clear the payment and update the station ticket barriers? four days?
i though data moved at the speed of light, obviously not on LUL's network.

...but most useless of all, you have to nominate the station, and in some
cases the line, where you propose to make your first journey on day of
renewal.

NO. You can renewal in advance, while it is still valid. It will load your
renewed details whilst still holding an old one.
so, as long as you know you will be going to a particular station some time
before the start date, it will update then and there.

Lawrence Myers

i for one don't have totally fixed travel patterns, and that
includes where i might be starting off from (often an out-of-London
NR station or a bus, just to confuse things further).

...so i'm off to the station in the morning to join the bloody queue
i've been desperately hoping this new system would mean I'd never need
to join again.

poo

--
u n d e r a c h i e v e r

In article
slrnbij40l.f7u.takeme2yourNOMORESPAMPLEASE@scratc h.garylaw.net, u n d
e r a c h i e v e r writes
...the site can help you with a lost password, but not with a lost
username it seems (please correct me if I'm wrong about this). i
would have thought a username lookup from oystercard number would be
useful

Risk. Suppose you lose your card and someone finds it. How much
information do you want them to have? Particularly if they did allow:
...remember my credit card details? nah. why not make me type them again.

This should only ever be possible on explicit request - it reduces the
risk of details being stolen and/or misused.

In addition, the credit card companies are moving to an indirect system.
You do all your shopping on-line and reach the payment stage. The web
site then redirects you to the bank's site, which does the credit card
validation (in time this will involve a PIN). It then returns a token,
which your browser passes to the merchant's web server, saying "this
person has paid 123.45 pounds and we now guarantee payment". The
merchant never sees your credit card details.

...the renewal starts in FOUR DAYS TIME. FFS! how long does it take
to clear the payment

This could be the bank at fault.

and update the station ticket barriers? four days?
i though data moved at the speed of light,

Actually, it doesn't.

obviously not on LUL's network.

There may be all kinds of good reasons for doing batch updates, though
four days does seem a bit long.

...but most useless of all, you have to nominate the station, and in some
cases the line, where you propose to make your first journey on day of
renewal.

This makes it look like they are only going to inform the Oyster readers
at that station. No doubt there are technical reasons behind this.

--
Clive D.W. Feather, writing for himself | Home:
Tel: +44 20 8371 1138 (work) | Web: http://www.davros.org
Fax: +44 870 051 9937 | Work:
Written on my laptop; please observe the Reply-To address

"Clive D. W. Feather" wrote:


and update the station ticket barriers? four days?
i though data moved at the speed of light,

Actually, it doesn't.

obviously not on LUL's network.

There may be all kinds of good reasons for doing batch updates, though
four days does seem a bit long.

It appears not to take 4 days - they just seem to use this as a safety
net in case it takes longer than it should.

I got an email saying I could go and update my Oyster around 12 to 24
hours after submitting the details on the web site. (So my card now
shows two monthly passes if I scan it at a machine, the one that
finishes tomorrow and the one that starts the day after.)

On 31 Jul 2003 21:54:30 GMT, u n d e r a c h i e v e r
wrote:


...but most useless of all, you have to nominate the station, and in some
cases the line, where you propose to make your first journey on day of
renewal.

What happens if that station is closed "due to staff shortage", or
something? Or the line is closed?

in article , K at wrote
on 1/8/03 12:01 PM:

On 31 Jul 2003 21:54:30 GMT, u n d e r a c h i e v e r
wrote:


...but most useless of all, you have to nominate the station, and in some
cases the line, where you propose to make your first journey on day of
renewal.

What happens if that station is closed "due to staff shortage", or
something? Or the line is closed?

Bloody hell. In Hong Kong, you just stick your card in a special machine,
insert money, and your card gets credited and off you go. I was under the
impression the Oyster would be like that.

Renew 4 days in advance???? WTF???

Badabing writes
Bloody hell. In Hong Kong, you just stick your card in a special
machine, insert money, and your card gets credited and off you go. I
was under the impression the Oyster would be like that.

It is. You can reload your Oyster at 'special machines' at tube
stations - (otherwise known as the bog-stanhdard touchscreen ticket
machines).

Renew 4 days in advance???? WTF???

Over the web, or by phone.

A quick glance at www.oystercard.com would have made it all clear.

--
Dave

On Fri, 1 Aug 2003 09:08:32 +0100, Clive D. W. Feather
wrote: In article
slrnbij40l.f7u.takeme2yourNOMORESPAMPLEASE@scrat ch.garylaw.net, u n d
e r a c h i e v e r writes
...the site can help you with a lost password, but not with a lost
username it seems (please correct me if I'm wrong about this). i
would have thought a username lookup from oystercard number would be
useful

Risk. Suppose you lose your card and someone finds it. How much
information do you want them to have? Particularly if they did allow:

just email them to me on request. no risk of my details being exposed;
many sites have a similar system.

...remember my credit card details? nah. why not make me type them again.

This should only ever be possible on explicit request - it reduces the
risk of details being stolen and/or misused.

true, but again many sites implement a 'remind us of the last four digits'
system for ppl who want to reuse cards. i avoid e-commerce as a rule,
but I trust lul.

...the renewal starts in FOUR DAYS TIME. FFS! how long does it take
to clear the payment

This could be the bank at fault.

for goodess sake; any card not present transaction can be cancelled months
after the sale; there is a risk and if the cc company bounces the payment
then the oyster can be cancelled. four days grace isn't going to break lul's
bank.

obviously not on LUL's network.

There may be all kinds of good reasons for doing batch updates, though
four days does seem a bit long.

it's ludricrous. i hope the cancellation details go out in more like four
minutes!

...but most useless of all, you have to nominate the station, and in some
cases the line, where you propose to make your first journey on day of
renewal.

This makes it look like they are only going to inform the Oyster readers
at that station. No doubt there are technical reasons behind this.

another technical weirdness is that after renewing the ticket at the
ofice all the gates I passed through today told me the ticket was about
to expire.

--
u n d e r a c h i e v e r

In article slrnbij40l.f7u.takeme2yourNOMORESPAMPLEASE@scratc h.garylaw.net,
u n d e r a c h i e v e r wrote:

OK, so my my shiny new oyster expires at 0400 so I've just logged on
to renew it...

...the site can help you with a lost password, but not with a lost
username...
...the site doesn't have a prominent 'renew my ticket' link...
...remember my credit card details?...

These are both useful suggestions. Did you write to the oystercard
people to suggest them?

...the renewal starts in FOUR DAYS TIME. FFS!

Well, you can get it to send you a reminder notice, you know.

I asked to be reminded at seven days, and was, but I had a very hard
time with the web site because I wanted to use (what turned out to be)
a different card to pay for my renewal, and it kept rejecting it. I
thought this was because it was missing part of my address, but
attempts to update my address information would be accepted but have
no effect (i.e., it would say that it had updated my address but still
show the old one). After spending nearly 30 minutes without success
at oystercard.com, I went to the touch-screen ticket machine at my
local station and renewed my ticket in less than 30 seconds.

I've written to the Oystercard people to complain about the problems I
had when I attempted to update my address. We'll see what they say.


All in all, things seem to be working reasonably well. I've only had
two buses in the last month refuse to read my ticket, and one RM
conductor did get a bit fussed over the "Not Valid for Travel" mark on
my Record of Travel, but was satisfied when I showed I had the
Oystercard with me too.


Christopher

--
Christopher Allen . + . -===""===- c==== .
email: * . . \ \____}}
WWW: http://ruah.dyndns.org/~cpcallen/ . * @====-' .
snail: Studio 10, 319 Archway Rd. London N6 5AA U.K. . *