Oyster pre-pay and Travelcards

[john]

A little bit of a rant from me actually.

As many of you know, i'm a regular user of NatEx services between Harold Wood/Romford and Stratford with a 3-6 Travelcard. Now from this experience, i know i can just walk out of Stratford without having touched in at Harold Wood (no barriers). Obviously to go further i would so that the correct amount is deducted from my PAYG total.

Now, yesterday i went to Holborn for a uni event and thought, as i already had a 1-6 Travelcard, i didn't bother to touch in at Harold Wood knowing that i already had the correct ticket to touch out with at Liverpool Street. On my way home, i couldn't get through either set of barriers at Liverpool Street or Romford because they had deducted the full NR fare from my Oyster, putting it in the red. I didn't notice this as i was able to use the bus freely enough without any problems whilst i was in town.

Now my rant. How the hell can the NR services be allowed to do this when you can use the DLR and Tube quite easily without these problems occurring!!! It's an absolute joke!! I know for certain, that if you have a Travelcard, you don't have to touch in. The amount of times i've got on the DLR at Cyprus without touching in, had my card checked and the PSA has walked off to check others WITHOUT asking why i hadn't touched my Oyster at the reader. My problem is not the fact that i couldn't get in because of the deduction, but that i couldn't get out, even though i had the correct zones PLUS the fact that it had taken the money off in the first place!!!

[Deleted]

Jun 16, 2010 10:48:04 GMT john said:

A little bit of a rant from me actually.

As many of you know, i'm a regular user of NatEx services between Harold Wood/Romford and Stratford with a 3-6 Travelcard. Now from this experience, i know i can just walk out of Stratford without having touched in at Harold Wood (no barriers). Obviously to go further i would so that the correct amount is deducted from my PAYG total.

Now, yesterday i went to Holborn for a uni event and thought, as i already had a 1-6 Travelcard, i didn't bother to touch in at Harold Wood knowing that i already had the correct ticket to touch out with at Liverpool Street. On my way home, i couldn't get through either set of barriers at Liverpool Street or Romford because they had deducted the full NR fare from my Oyster, putting it in the red. I didn't notice this as i was able to use the bus freely enough without any problems whilst i was in town.

Now my rant. How the hell can the NR services be allowed to do this when you can use the DLR and Tube quite easily without these problems occurring!!! It's an absolute joke!! I know for certain, that if you have a Travelcard, you don't have to touch in. The amount of times i've got on the DLR at Cyprus without touching in, had my card checked and the PSA has walked off to check others WITHOUT asking why i hadn't touched my Oyster at the reader. My problem is not the fact that i couldn't get in because of the deduction, but that i couldn't get out, even though i had the correct zones PLUS the fact that it had taken the money off in the first place!!!

That's what happened to me but with barriers open so I touch the pad but me thinking it's not working I again touch the pad on the platform. When I got to the main station an ticket inspector swiped my card and told me I got no credit and issued me a £20 penalty notice.

[jay38a]

I had a slight problem on Saturday, i was coming back from Chelmsford on a fast train that only called at Shenfeild and Stratford, however i had a 7 day travelcard on my Oystercard so brought a ticket from Chelmsford to Boundary of Zone 6 which i think is Harold Wood. When i got to Stratford my oystercard would not let me out, i then showed my oystercard and my ticket to boundary to the bloke on the gates and he said i would have to go back to Harold Wood and tap in to which i replied im not doing that im not fare evading i clearly have a ticket i even showed him the receipt of the ticket i brought at North Greenwich that morning but he wouldnt let me through. I think TfL should have thought this through and maybe given all train guards little machines like conductors have so when we enter zone 6 we can tap in. To exit i had to get on a DLR tap in then go to Canning Town on it and tap out which added another 20 or so mins onto my journey, i was not impressed. When i phoned TfL today i said about the above said which they replied saying i had to buy a ticket all the way to stratford to which i replied why should I i have a ticket so not fare evading and its just a con that the train companies get away with for them to get more money.

[lonmark]

All of you should contact London Travel watchdog and they can look into it. It can't keep going on like that! you alot r confused as well as other people!

[DLA 365]

Jul 4, 2010 18:48:29 GMT jay38a said:

I had a slight problem on Saturday, i was coming back from Chelmsford on a fast train that only called at Shenfeild and Stratford, however i had a 7 day travelcard on my Oystercard so brought a ticket from Chelmsford to Boundary of Zone 6 which i think is Harold Wood. When i got to Stratford my oystercard would not let me out, i then showed my oystercard and my ticket to boundary to the bloke on the gates and he said i would have to go back to Harold Wood and tap in to which i replied im not doing that im not fare evading i clearly have a ticket i even showed him the receipt of the ticket i brought at North Greenwich that morning but he wouldnt let me through. I think TfL should have thought this through and maybe given all train guards little machines like conductors have so when we enter zone 6 we can tap in. To exit i had to get on a DLR tap in then go to Canning Town on it and tap out which added another 20 or so mins onto my journey, i was not impressed. When i phoned TfL today i said about the above said which they replied saying i had to buy a ticket all the way to stratford to which i replied why should I i have a ticket so not fare evading and its just a con that the train companies get away with for them to get more money.

I don't understand why the barriers at Stratford wouldn't let you out - did the travelcard you purchased cover zone 3 (which Stratford is in)?

A travelcard should open the barriers at any station as long as it is in the correct zone, but one question I have is:

Do travelcards including Zone 3 charge you the maximum cash fare when touching out at Wimbledon if you do not touch in?

[jay38a]

My Travelcard on my oystercard was an all zones one so Zones 1 to 6 so should have let me out but kept telling me to Seek Assistance. In Wimbledon i think what you said is correct if you dont tap in on tramlink then the barriers will charge you the maximum cash fare when you exit

[DLA 365]

Jul 26, 2010 14:36:19 GMT jay38a said:

In Wimbledon i think what you said is correct if you dont tap in on tramlink then the barriers will charge you the maximum cash fare when you exit

That is weird, as it wouldn't happen at any other station on the LU/NR network.

Since I have a zones 2-3 travelcard, I can touch in or out at any stations within these zones (only one of the two) and not get charged for an uncompleted journey. I would only be charged for an uncompleted journey if I do this outside my zones or if I have set an Oyster Extension Permit on the oystercard.