Oystercard query?

LimeLight

I got fined.once for not swiping my oyster card.
I'm still working out how on earth I did get through the barriers.

zerog

LimeLight wrote: »

I got fined.once for not swiping my oyster card.
I'm still working out how on earth I did get through the barriers.

You probably didn't get fined.

You may have thought you tapped your card, but didn't actually and just followed somebody while the barriers were still open.

yorkie2

LimeLight wrote: »

I got fined.once for not swiping my oyster card.

Were you charged a Penalty Fare or the full Anytime cash fare by a ticket inspector? Or are you referring to the maximum Oyster fare?

(I agree with the previous poster that it's unlikely you were prosecuted and issued with a fine).

LimeLight wrote: »

II'm still working out how on earth I did get through the barriers.

If you can obtain a copy of your journey history, we can help.

It is often the case that you can enter or exit the system without touching your Oyster card, for a variety of reasons, e.g. there may be no gateline, barriers may be open, the previous person entered the gate and you followed them, etc. It is important to be careful in these situations to ensure you have touched in and out correctly.

There is a really good website about using Oyster, but I am not permitted to link to it here.

John_Gray

yorkie2 wrote: »

There is a really good website about using Oyster, but I am not permitted to link to it here.

I can't think why not, so I shall try to link to it for you...
http://www.oyster-rail.org.uk/

LimeLight

Well the woman in the booking office said it was a fine. Managed to get the money back on the card.
I did swipe the card, and the person before me was well through.

yorkie2

John_Gray wrote: »

I can't think why not, so I shall try to link to it for you...

That's the one! Thanks. I got a PM from someone informing me "linking to sites or blogs you or friends are involved with" is against the rules. I have sent an email to MSE asking permission to link to 5 sites, but until then I cannot link to them.

LimeLight wrote: »

Well the woman in the booking office said it was a fine. Managed to get the money back on the card.
I did swipe the card, and the person before me was well through.

Aha, that sounds like a maximum fare deduction (see here or see website linked to by John Gray above for more information). Glad you got it back. Without more info, it's too difficult to say what could have caused it.

LimeLight

Is that even.if you have the disabled railcard thingy on?

Oh and the links problem is because people were signing up and spamming the boards, so they decided you have to post x amount of posts to "prove" you're trustworthy enough.

yorkie2

LimeLight wrote: »

Is that even.if you have the disabled railcard thingy on?

At off-peak times*, the maximum fare is reduced accordingly to take into account your Railcard discount.

(* off peak varies but is generally based on touching in before 0630, or between 0930 & 1600, or after 1900. For some journeys an evening peak restriction may not apply).