incorrect oyster charging on new London Overground circular route

katejo

totallybored wrote: »

Does the system think you went the other way from Queens Road and changed at Barking? That might explain a zone 4 fare if its actually quicker to go to Barking and then back west to the orange overground line? That could be the reason to use the validator at H&I.

Except that it isn't possible to change onto the London Overground route to South London at Barking. Why would I want to go that way? The place to change is Highbury.

katejo

wealdroam wrote: »

OP, I would consider asking your question here...

http://www.oyster-rail.org.uk/

The guy who runs that site is very knowledgable about all things Oyster.
I am sure he will be able to answer your query.

I have already emailed the TFL customer complaints so will see if i get a reply first. then i might try your link if needed.

bram01

totallybored wrote: »

Does the system think you went the other way from Queens Road and changed at Barking? That might explain a zone 4 fare if its actually quicker to go to Barking and then back west to the orange overground line? That could be the reason to use the validator at H&I.

Hello, I'm the guy from oyster-rail.

Yes it does. The default fare from Queens Road to Denmark Hill is a zone 2-4 journey which means they think you'll go via Barking and Whitechapel. I think the default route should be via Blackhorse Road and Highbury & Islington. You aren't supposed to need the pink validator at Highbury when changing onto the ELL so I'm not convinced that that will make a difference, but it might. Another way of doing it would be to walk between Leyton stations and change at Mile End and Whitechapel, but again that isn't logged as a journey option so it may not make a difference.

The problem is that for PAYG users a zone 1-3 journey (remembering Shoreditch High Street is in zone 1) costs more than a zone 2-4 journey. It's only a problem for you because you have a zone 1-3 travelcard meaning that you don't want to use zone 4.

Some work arounds for you will be to split your journey in two by touching out and back in again while changing trains. You could do that at Black Horse Road or Highbury and Islington. Because you have a travelcard it won't matter how many journeys you make as long as the system doesn't think you've strayed into zone 4.

Hope this helps.

katejo

bram01 wrote: »

Hello, I'm the guy from oyster-rail.

Yes it does. The default fare from Queens Road to Denmark Hill is a zone 2-4 journey which means they think you'll go via Barking and Whitechapel. I think the default route should be via Blackhorse Road and Highbury & Islington. You aren't supposed to need the pink validator at Highbury when changing onto the ELL so I'm not convinced that that will make a difference, but it might. Another way of doing it would be to walk between Leyton stations and change at Mile End and Whitechapel, but again that isn't logged as a journey option so it may not make a difference.

The problem is that for PAYG users a zone 1-3 journey (remembering Shoreditch High Street is in zone 1) costs more than a zone 2-4 journey. It's only a problem for you because you have a zone 1-3 travelcard meaning that you don't want to use zone 4.

Some work arounds for you will be to split your journey in two by touching out and back in again while changing trains. You could do that at Black Horse Road or Highbury and Islington. Because you have a travelcard it won't matter how many journeys you make as long as the system doesn't think you've strayed into zone 4.

Hope this helps.

Thanks for that. However Queens Rd is in zone 3 not zone 2. My main point however is that other passengers will be caught out in this way. It had simply not occurred to me to go via Barking and, even if it had done, i would have immediately rejected it due to the extra cost. It is fine for someone living further east but totally illogical for anyone living closer to the Victoria line.
The route validators are labelled to be used by passengers with PAYG cards who want to avoid zone 1.
No way would i go via the Leyton stations. I have been to Stratford several times via Highbury and have not been charged for that. What is the expected route to get there?
I am unlikely to return to Denmark Hill soon but may want to go to other South London stations on Overground.

wealdroam

katejo wrote: »

However Queens Rd is in zone 3 not zone 2.

Yes it is, but whichever way you go, via Highbury and Islington or Barking, you stray into zone 2.

katejo wrote: »

I have been to Stratford several times via Highbury and have not been charged for that. What is the expected route to get there?

You weren't charged because it is actually very difficult to do that trip via zone 4.

katejo

wealdroam wrote: »

Yes it is, but whichever way you go, via Highbury and Islington or Barking, you stray into zone 2.


You weren't charged because it is actually very difficult to do that trip via zone 4.

Even if I had a zone 4 card, I wouldn't want to go via Barking. Both options should be available (Barking or Highbury & islington). My journey on Saturday was entirely within zones 1-3. I had no way of guessing that i would be charged. I have spoken to a staff member on duty at Walthamstow Queens Rd. and given him a print out of the explanation from Bram01. He was completely unaware of this and is scanning this info to his manager.

I may test it again by trying the validator at Highbury to see if it makes any difference. Alternatively i suppose I could exit through the main ticket barrier at Highbury and come straight back in again. I don't want to pay for zone 4 just to get to South London.

katejo

katejo wrote: »

Even if I had a zone 4 card, I wouldn't want to go via Barking. Both options should be available (Barking or Highbury & islington). My journey on Saturday was entirely within zones 1-3. I had no way of guessing that i would be charged. I have spoken to a staff member on duty at Walthamstow Queens Rd. and given him a print out of the explanation from Bram01. He was completely unaware of this and is scanning this info to his manager.

I may test it again by trying the validator at Highbury to see if it makes any difference. Alternatively i suppose I could exit through the main ticket barrier at Highbury and come straight back in again. I don't want to pay for zone 4 just to get to South London.

The staff member at Queens Rd. showed this info to revenue officers who were checking tickets there during yesterday. They knew nothing about this routing/charge for zone 4 either.

katejo

I have just had an update on this from TFL. They said the following. Even if I had touched on a validator at Highbury, it would have made no difference to being charged.


Thank you for your email to the Oyster card Helpdesk.
The Oyster system currently is set to charge, for the journey in question, a default fare of travelling via Transport for London zones 2 - 4 as the assumed route is via Barking station in zone 4. Therefore, at present touching the pink readers at Blackhorse Road and Higbury & Islington stations will not resolve the problem.
We will investigate whether a suitable change to the system can be made during our normal process of uploading fixes. The next opportunity for this will not be available until 19 May 2013.
Whilst it is not ideal, the best option to complete the journey Walthamstow Queens Road to Denmark Hill would be to interchange at Blackhorse Road and exit and re-enter at this station. The interchange at Blackhorse Road, according to information available to us, passes very near the ticket gates.
The journey Walthamstow Central to Denmark Hill would result in no extension fee being applied to your Oyster card. However, we appreciate that the stations Walthamstow Queens Road and Walthamstow Central are not very close to one another.
I would like to apologise for any inconvenience that may have been caused. Furthermore, I would like to assure you that we constantly try to improve all our services and take into consideration the feedback we receive from our customers.
I hope this has been of some assisance. Please contact me again if you need any help in the future.

Yours sincerely,

chuckley

so you have to take a longer route because they cant be ARSED to sort it out until may which is when it's be put in a queue of 'things to fix'. they knew when the line was going to be opening so ALL of this shouldve been sorted for 9th december!!!

they basically just hope people dont check these things and can make a quick buck of us tax paying mortals.

reminds me of when i got overcharged by about 85p and when i called for a refund they said 'but it's only 85p!'.

Thieving scumbags.

giraffe69

reminds me of when i got overcharged by about 85p and when i called for a refund they said 'but it's only 85p!'.

Thieving scumbags.

Nothing like having someone to put a balanced point of view. How much does it cost to get a life? More than 85p apparently.