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Oyster travelcard recharge
I got my first oyster card - mainly because I can't be bothered to keep
getting my paper ticket out of my wallet on every bus and tube I use, although avoiding the weekly sloooow queue at the train station is a nice bonus. I travel from Zone 6 to Paddington then get a bus, so I chose Paddington as my recharge point - purely because there aren't any Oyster recharge points near me. But I was puzzled, because I get a bus from Paddington, and I'm not aware of any points in Paddington where I can recharge without opening the barriers. So it would appear that I'll have to open the ticket barrier then walk away, and out of the station and onto the bus, leaving the barriers open. I just phoned the helpline number given on the email I received when I ordered the second set of 7 days and the person I spoke to confirmed what I've just put as being the only way to recharge my card. The conversation was along the lines of: "But won't I get puzzled looks from, or be challenged by, the guys on the ticket barrier, who'll want to know why I'm leaving the gate open for people without tickets/drunks etc onto the tube system?" "Probably - just tell them you're recharging your Oyster card". "What, and go through that every week?" "Yes." I accept that many (most?) people will enter the tube system at their recharge point, but surely my situation can't be unique? |
Oyster travelcard recharge
Poldie wrote:
I travel from Zone 6 to Paddington then get a bus, so I chose Paddington as my recharge point - purely because there aren't any Oyster recharge points near me. But I was puzzled, because I get a bus from Paddington, and I'm not aware of any points in Paddington where I can recharge without opening the barriers. So it would appear that I'll have to open the ticket barrier then walk away, and out of the station and onto the bus, leaving the barriers open. I just phoned the helpline number given on the email I received when I ordered the second set of 7 days and the person I spoke to confirmed what I've just put as being the only way to recharge my card. The conversation was along the lines of: "But won't I get puzzled looks from, or be challenged by, the guys on the ticket barrier, who'll want to know why I'm leaving the gate open for people without tickets/drunks etc onto the tube system?" "Probably - just tell them you're recharging your Oyster card". "What, and go through that every week?" "Yes." I accept that many (most?) people will enter the tube system at their recharge point, but surely my situation can't be unique? The other option is to just renew your ticket in advance at an Oyster Ticket Stop (which you can search for on the TfL website [1]) or Underground Station. You don't *have* to renew on the day. HTH, Barry [1] http://www.tfl-ticketlocator.co.uk/postcode-search.asp |
Oyster travelcard recharge
Barry Salter wrote:
Poldie wrote: I accept that many (most?) people will enter the tube system at their recharge point, but surely my situation can't be unique? The other option is to just renew your ticket in advance at an Oyster Ticket Stop (which you can search for on the TfL website [1]) or Underground Station. You don't *have* to renew on the day. Thanks. But that would involve queing up once a week. If I was happy with that, I could just queue for a paper ticket! It looks like, if there's no recharge point at Paddington other than on a ticket gate, that I'll be leaving a gate open once a week. It's what I've been told to do on the phone and via email (when I ordered the recharge): ----- The products you ordered through Oyster online are now ready to be uploaded onto your Oyster card as you walk through and touch your Oyster card on any ticket gate at: Paddington station. To validate the cash balance or Travelcards you ordered through Oyster online to your Oyster card, simply touch your Oyster card on the yellow reader as you enter your nominated Tube station, and watch for the flashing green lights. This indicates that the validation has been successful. |
Oyster travelcard recharge
I accept that many (most?) people will enter the tube system at their
recharge point, but surely my situation can't be unique? Not at all. It remains one of the irritations of the Oyster system that unless you can nominate a tube, DLR or tram stop that you know you will be passing through then you can't pick up tickets ordered online. I don't really know the layout of Paddington station but you might find they have a manned barrier (for those with luggage etc) with a validator that you can reach and it might make you feel more comfortable to use that instead of the automatic gates. Just a thought. G. |
Oyster travelcard recharge
"Graham J" wrote in message
... I accept that many (most?) people will enter the tube system at their recharge point, but surely my situation can't be unique? Not at all. It remains one of the irritations of the Oyster system that unless you can nominate a tube, DLR or tram stop that you know you will be passing through then you can't pick up tickets ordered online. I don't really know the layout of Paddington station but you might find they have a manned barrier (for those with luggage etc) with a validator that you can reach and it might make you feel more comfortable to use that instead of the automatic gates. Just a thought. I think a few years ago when Oyster was being rolled out, there was a validator by suburban platforms 13/14, and possibly one along the northwestern end of P12 but I don't use Oyster (and hence don't go looking for such things) so I can't be certain. |
Oyster travelcard recharge
Neil Watson wrote: "Graham J" wrote in message ... I accept that many (most?) people will enter the tube system at their recharge point, but surely my situation can't be unique? Not at all. It remains one of the irritations of the Oyster system that unless you can nominate a tube, DLR or tram stop that you know you will be passing through then you can't pick up tickets ordered online. I don't really know the layout of Paddington station but you might find they have a manned barrier (for those with luggage etc) with a validator that you can reach and it might make you feel more comfortable to use that instead of the automatic gates. Just a thought. I think a few years ago when Oyster was being rolled out, there was a validator by suburban platforms 13/14, and possibly one along the northwestern end of P12 but I don't use Oyster (and hence don't go looking for such things) so I can't be certain. At no point - in the information provided with my card, on the website, nor during the phone call to the number provided in the email I received when I paid for my second weekly travelcard - did I see a reference to the word `validator`! I'll look out for them when I next have some time to kill there. (I got a little bit of a funny look this morning when I validated next week's travelcard but no-one said anything.) |
Oyster travelcard recharge
At no point - in the information provided with my card, on the website,
nor during the phone call to the number provided in the email I received when I paid for my second weekly travelcard - did I see a reference to the word `validator`! I'll look out for them when I next have some time to kill there. (I got a little bit of a funny look this morning when I validated next week's travelcard but no-one said anything.) On the plus side, if you change your mind and don't wanna renew that particular week, you can just not validate, and in 7 days the transaction is void. The advice I usually give to customers is to visit any ticket office at any convenient time that it is open, and top up then. If you avoid peak times, even popping in on a weekend if its convenient at all, you can just renew it then. Or use the ticket machines, again out of the peak hours. |
Oyster travelcard recharge
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Oyster travelcard recharge
Sometimes that might be handy. But i'm online now, and I might receive
a reminder to top up my travelcard (4 days before it expires), so it's more convenient to quickly log onto the Oyster site and transfer some funds than it is to remember to queue up some time before I actually need to. I'm going to check and see if these rumours of "validators" are true and that I can simply swipe my card without opening a gate - that would seem to be the best solution. The validators you mention exist, they are remote and often placed by manual gates (the big glass gates for luggage etc). They're usually inside the gate, so you'd have to ask a member of staff to let you in to touch on it. It won't be a problem for you with a season ticket, but for people using pre-pay on Oyster and no season ticket, they'd start a journey by doing this, and end up paying at least a minimum fare, with an incomplete journey to sort out at the ticket office (thus they might as well have just queued up in the first place). Its one of the restrictions of Oyster unfortunately. |
Oyster travelcard recharge
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Oyster travelcard recharge
On 11 Oct 2006 09:21:53 -0700, "
wrote: I added on £10 credit to my pay-as-you go card earlier this week at Fulham BRoadway (the station I had nominated) but made no journey from that station - and have now discovered that £1 has bee deducted from my card! This is outrageous. If you knew you were going to the station, but also there was a chance you might not be making a journey from it (a stated requirement of online manual topup) why did you not just take your £10 note or use your credit card at one of the ticket machines in the station, and forget about the online topup? When I asked how else I could have credited my card the station assistant at Bow Road today said that I'd best queue at the station ticket office when I want to credit pay as you go! Just the very thing I am trying to avoid (as others have stated)! Why not use the machines? What a bloody ridiculous system. Why, if the system shows that I have not "touched out" at any station, does it not refund the £1 initially debited automatically, say after 2 hours? Because that would be a fare-dodgers paradise, as you well know if you would think about it for a second. |
Oyster travelcard recharge
Peter Frimberley wrote: On 11 Oct 2006 09:21:53 -0700, " wrote: I added on £10 credit to my pay-as-you go card earlier this week at Fulham BRoadway (the station I had nominated) but made no journey from that station - and have now discovered that £1 has bee deducted from my card! This is outrageous. If you knew you were going to the station, but also there was a chance you might not be making a journey from it (a stated requirement of online manual topup) why did you not just take your £10 note or use your credit card at one of the ticket machines in the station, and forget about the online topup? I don't often have cash on me on Monday mornings, and certainly don't have time to queue up at ATM and then the ticket machine. Paying online in advance gives me the security of knowing that a bare minimum is left to be done on a rushed Monday morning when (as was indeed the case) a long bus wait means I am in even more of a rush. Moreover, online top-up allows you to have a record of jouneys online, which other forms of top-up do not. When I asked how else I could have credited my card the station assistant at Bow Road today said that I'd best queue at the station ticket office when I want to credit pay as you go! Just the very thing I am trying to avoid (as others have stated)! Why not use the machines? See above. Also, I hardly want to be feeding notes into a machine which may reject them and cause a whole load of hassle. What a bloody ridiculous system. Why, if the system shows that I have not "touched out" at any station, does it not refund the £1 initially debited automatically, say after 2 hours? Because that would be a fare-dodgers paradise, as you well know if you would think about it for a second. Well, the system is hardly failsafe is it?! With that £1 debit, I could have spent the whole day riding around the Underground with impunity - just as much of a fare dodgers' paradise. As for fare-dodging, when I topped up, the gates were open for about 5 or 6 seconds, during which time anyone else could have walked in or out with impunity. As an interesting aside, what would have happened if I'd topped up, then gone through the barrier and immediately left by an adjacent gate, by touching out? Would my £1 have been debited and refunded as being an "obvious" non-journey? Marc. |
Oyster travelcard recharge
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Oyster travelcard recharge
asdf wrote: On 11 Oct 2006 13:21:37 -0700, wrote: When I asked how else I could have credited my card the station assistant at Bow Road today said that I'd best queue at the station ticket office when I want to credit pay as you go! Just the very thing I am trying to avoid (as others have stated)! Why not use the machines? See above. Also, I hardly want to be feeding notes into a machine which may reject them and cause a whole load of hassle. The machines also accept cards. Many stations also have an Oyster-only credit-card-only machine with a much shorter queue. Yes, okay even if the queue was small etc., there MUST be a valid method of me topping up by paying online. Otherwise, how am I supposed to avail myself of the online advantage of having a record of journeys made which, if I understand it correctly, is ONLY available if I top-up online. What a bloody ridiculous system. Why, if the system shows that I have not "touched out" at any station, does it not refund the £1 initially debited automatically, say after 2 hours? Because that would be a fare-dodgers paradise, as you well know if you would think about it for a second. Well, the system is hardly failsafe is it?! With that £1 debit, I could have spent the whole day riding around the Underground with impunity - just as much of a fare dodgers' paradise. Erm, only if by fare dodger you mean someone who rides around on the Tube all day without paying just for the thrill of it... Yes, and there are quite a few (beggars etc.) who do just that. As for fare-dodging, when I topped up, the gates were open for about 5 or 6 seconds, during which time anyone else could have walked in or out with impunity. This is hardly a huge hole in the system (and you're not even "supposed" to top up in the manner described). Why do you say this? As an interesting aside, what would have happened if I'd topped up, then gone through the barrier and immediately left by an adjacent gate, by touching out? The gate would have refused to let you out, displaying a "seek assistance" message. Well they would HAVE to let me out, or else it would be false imprisonment. Why would the system not be able to cope with a touch-in, touch-out situation completed say within a minute or 30 seconds of each other resulting in a no-charge? If I were really devious, and used that as a ruse to then go on and make a journey, the system would surely pick this up when I tried to touch out somewhere else and make the appropriate charge at that stage. Marc. |
Oyster travelcard recharge
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Oyster travelcard recharge
wrote:
asdf wrote: On 11 Oct 2006 13:21:37 -0700, wrote: When I asked how else I could have credited my card the station assistant at Bow Road today said that I'd best queue at the station ticket office when I want to credit pay as you go! Just the very thing I am trying to avoid (as others have stated)! Why not use the machines? See above. Also, I hardly want to be feeding notes into a machine which may reject them and cause a whole load of hassle. The machines also accept cards. Many stations also have an Oyster-only credit-card-only machine with a much shorter queue. Yes, okay even if the queue was small etc., there MUST be a valid method of me topping up by paying online. Otherwise, how am I supposed to avail myself of the online advantage of having a record of journeys made which, if I understand it correctly, is ONLY available if I top-up online. It works on my auto top-up card. I suspect it works on any card that you have registered on your online account. -- Richard J. (to e-mail me, swap uk and yon in address) |
Oyster travelcard recharge
asdf wrote: On 12 Oct 2006 16:33:41 -0700, wrote: Yes, okay even if the queue was small etc., there MUST be a valid method of me topping up by paying online. Otherwise, how am I supposed to avail myself of the online advantage of having a record of journeys made which, if I understand it correctly, is ONLY available if I top-up online. I believe you just need to top-up online once, and then you're able to check your journey history online indefinitely. Well, the system is hardly failsafe is it?! With that £1 debit, I could have spent the whole day riding around the Underground with impunity - just as much of a fare dodgers' paradise. Erm, only if by fare dodger you mean someone who rides around on the Tube all day without paying just for the thrill of it... Yes, and there are quite a few (beggars etc.) who do just that. OK, well they've always been able to do that just by buying a single ticket. But I'm sure the vast, vast majority of fare evasion is by people who are making a journey as a means of getting from A to B rather than just for the fun of it. As for fare-dodging, when I topped up, the gates were open for about 5 or 6 seconds, during which time anyone else could have walked in or out with impunity. This is hardly a huge hole in the system (and you're not even "supposed" to top up in the manner described). Why do you say this? Which bit? It's not a huge hole because people hardly ever do what you did, and even when you did, only one person (who was quick-thinking and in the right place at the right time) would have had a brief opportunity to get through the barriers without paying (and they would still have had the problem of getting out at the other end). The way you're "supposed" to top-up at the barriers, is by going through and making an actual journey. But that assumes (wrongly, in my case) that I will only top-up when making a Tube journey. The ONLY time I need Pay as you Go is for travelling on a bus. One can't top up on a bus, so how other than at a Tube station am I supposed to top up? The beginning of this thread had comments about the Oyster helpline condoning the exact practice of topping up and then not making a journey. So, it can't be that one is 'not even "supposed" to top up in the manner described'. As an interesting aside, what would have happened if I'd topped up, then gone through the barrier and immediately left by an adjacent gate, by touching out? The gate would have refused to let you out, displaying a "seek assistance" message. Well they would HAVE to let me out, or else it would be false imprisonment. I'm not sure what you're trying to say - are you opposing the whole concept of automatic gates? There's no point in having them if they can't reject your ticket and stay closed. The staff at the side gate would certainly have let you out. No, I'm merely making the point that, with an Oyster card there is NOTHING that states that I HAVE to make a journey to another station before I leave the station by which I entered. I might change my mind about a journey, decide to go back out for a cup of coffee etc., etc., or even just use the Oyster card as a free platform ticket. NONE of this is contrary to any contract I have entered and consequently it is simply wrong for £1 to be deducted from my Oyster card until such time as I have made a journey to that value. Why would the system not be able to cope with a touch-in, touch-out situation completed say within a minute or 30 seconds of each other resulting in a no-charge? Because being able to open ticket gates for free creates lots of holes in the system. Use your imagination. Yes, I accept that. But the system created is so anomalous in the first place. Don't forget, we have ONLY been discussing pay as you go. We haven't even discussed the possibility of a Travelcard Oyster being used for those purposes with impunity! If I were really devious, and used that as a ruse to then go on and make a journey, the system would surely pick this up when I tried to touch out somewhere else and make the appropriate charge at that stage. You could do the same thing at the other end - lean across and touch "in" on the other side of the gates, then touch out and walk out for free. I didn't think it was possible to reach across the barrier as suggested. I'll have a better look on Monday when I next use the Tube. If it's that easy, what's to stop someone travelling in from Zone 6 to Zone 1 having 2 Oyster cards, one for each zone, and each time doing what you suggest? Marc. |
Oyster travelcard recharge
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Oyster travelcard recharge
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Oyster travelcard recharge
On 14 Oct 2006 00:23:57 GMT, Michael R N Dolbear wrote:
But that assumes (wrongly, in my case) that I will only top-up when making a Tube journey. The ONLY time I need Pay as you Go is for travelling on a bus. One can't top up on a bus, so how other than at a Tube station am I supposed to top up? At an Oyster Ticket Stop (newsagent). These exist all over the London bus area. Locations can be found at: http://www.tfl-ticketlocator.co.uk/ As you say, there's also auto-top-up. For completeness, you can also top up at certain National Rail stations. There's a list at: http://www.nationalrail.co.uk/times_...ystercard.html |
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