Reply to: Oyster card issue : am I being unreasonable?

[BrilloPad]

I just got an email :-

Dear XXXXXXX

The pay as you go refund of£4.00 was not picked up on your Oyster card. This may be because you did not touch in at Bank to collect the refund between and .

REFUND DETAILS

Reason: Overcharged because of an operational issue
Value: £4.00
Refund Number: XXXXXX
Pick-up location: Bank
Status: Failed to be credited to Oyster card number nnnnnnnnnnnnnnn

To request for this refund to be re-sent to a station for pick-up, please log in to your online account at www.tfl.gov.uk/oyster and follow the steps given below:

* Go to 'My account' and click on 'Orders/refunds'; your orders/refunds history will be displayed here.
* From the list please select the appropriate 'Refund number' and review your refund details.
* Click on 'Resubmit Refund' and select an appropriate station for pick up.

For any further inquires, please call the Oyster helpline on 0845 330 9876 (8am - 8pm daily).

===========================================
So now I have to get another journey and tell them beforehand before I get a refund! What muppets designed this?

[Olly]

You can walk out without been charged...forgot how many minutes you're allowed

[Peoplesoft bloke]

It's because you went in and out at the same station with no intermediate stop.

The system (not entirely unreasonably) assumes that no-one would want to do this. It therefore assumes that you must have travelled to an 'open' station, left the system, done your shopping, re-entered the system and travelled home with shopping.



tim

Eh? What if I enter the station and then find trains are running stupidly late or overcrowded so decide to get the bus/a cab/walk? Or realise I've left the oven on? There must be legitimate reasons to enter and leave at the same point - and if only a short time has elapsed, it's obvious the user hasn't had time to go anywhere.

[tim123]

Weird - the Circle is all in Zone 1 according to the map

(Notting Hill Gate is in both zones, but that shouldn't make a difference.)

It's because you went in and out at the same station with no intermediate stop.

The system (not entirely unreasonably) assumes that no-one would want to do this. It therefore assumes that you must have travelled to an 'open' station, left the system, done your shopping, re-entered the system and travelled home with shopping.



tim

[tim123]

I remember a reporter did a piece on this subject. He got a zone 1 travelcard which was refused. He went through the barrier : and got a penalty ticket as he went partially into zone 2!

You don't get a penalty for this.

You just get charged the normal Zone 2 "add on" fare.

tim

[tim123]

bloody buggers aren't they.. I went to O2 dome place had a quick walk around, went back to canary wharf where I'd come from and couldn't get out. Turned out they'd deducted max fare because I wasn't at the O2 centre long enough!!! WTF

!

It's not as if this problem isn't entirely fixable in their software is it?

But can the be bothered, No!

(Oh it does annoy me, when I can't get sniff of a job outside of my product area, what a uselss load of morons are allowed to design systems in some technologies)

tim

[TheFaQQer]

faqqer : will the credit still be there in August? I was told it expires after a week and Mrs faq should get another email telling her this.

They've never said it wouldn't be there.

[BrilloPad]

Weird - the Circle is all in Zone 1 according to the map

(Notting Hill Gate is in both zones, but that shouldn't make a difference.)

I think the map has changed? I am sure it was the SW section and Earls court was in zone 2?

I seem to rember that there was no station in zone 1 but it crossed into zone 2 territory between stations!

[NickFitz]

I remember a reporter did a piece on this subject. He got a zone 1 travelcard which was refused. He went through the barrier : and got a penalty ticket as he went partially into zone 2!

Weird - the Circle is all in Zone 1 according to the map

(Notting Hill Gate is in both zones, but that shouldn't make a difference.)

[BrilloPad]

I think they did something similar to me when I passed the time waiting for a train at St Pancras by getting on the Circle Line, going all the way round, and getting off again

It took 57 minutes 11 seconds from doors closing to doors opening, FWIW

I remember a reporter did a piece on this subject. He got a zone 1 travelcard which was refused. He went through the barrier : and got a penalty ticket as he went partially into zone 2!

[NickFitz]

bloody buggers aren't they.. I went to O2 dome place had a quick walk around, went back to canary wharf where I'd come from and couldn't get out. Turned out they'd deducted max fare because I wasn't at the O2 centre long enough!!! WTF

I think they did something similar to me when I passed the time waiting for a train at St Pancras by getting on the Circle Line, going all the way round, and getting off again

It took 57 minutes 11 seconds from doors closing to doors opening, FWIW

[Olly]

bloody buggers aren't they.. I went to O2 dome place had a quick walk around, went back to canary wharf where I'd come from and couldn't get out. Turned out they'd deducted max fare because I wasn't at the O2 centre long enough!!! WTF

Still haven't been able to coincide the refund with a journey from a specific station but I did wangle an extra £5 out when I do get the refund by complaining how pissing stoopid it was...or not ...as all this was 18 months ago!! (see below)

They never refunded my PAYG balance when I bought a season ticket and by the time I'd realised they'd archived the data and had no realistic way to investigate!

[BrilloPad]

So I dont win today's Wilmslow award? Not even a canned laughter?

If I am bored tomoroow will wander down to bank and see if I can touch in/out.....

faqqer : will the credit still be there in August? I was told it expires after a week and Mrs faq should get another email telling her this.

[TheFaQQer]

MrsF has £4 waiting to be collected from Kings Cross.

Which she might get to in August, possibly.

Let me know how you get on, BP!

[NickFitz]

It's the same idiotic system as applies when you use the web site to add credit to your card: despite the fact that other people manage to do web-based transactions immediately, Oyster makes you wait until the next day, and you have to specify the station at which you collect it by touching the machine.

Even sillier, for stations such as St Pancras, you have to specify whether you'll be using the sub-surface lines or the deep tubes

What about going to Bank, touching in, and just turning around and touching out again? I'm not sure if they'd charge for that. One of the TfL people they have hanging around the barriers would probably know - they're actually quite helpful these days.