got done £20 for 50p over on Oyster card!!!!

nealallen

I'm a Bus driver in London. Can I say, when you get on buses and touch the Oyster reader it will show you your balance. I will admit, some readrers don't work but unless they are reported to the driver the machines can't be taken away for repair.

If you have a weeky pass it will also tell you how many days till the Oyster card expires. As far as I'm aware, readers will not allow you to travel if you have a balance of under £1.00. I'm sorry that you got fined for such a smalll amount, but that's the revenues job. You got on the bus, how many bleeps did you hear when you touched the Oyster? If you only had 50p left it would have bleeped twice and displayed 'No money on Oyster'

I would say that you should contact TFL and give them the details of what happened tha day, also explain what other staff has told you about about being able to pay the difference when you top-up at a later date.

I read this post this morning before I went to work and I spoke to a TFL Inspector today, he said, Oyster cards do not work like that, if your Oyster bleeps twice because of no credit it means you are not valid for travel. Hence the fine.

Can I suggest you buy Bus Saver Tickets, pic below. These won't ever run out of date. Next time you find your Oyster is short, just hand one of these tickets to the driver. They cost £6.00 for a pack of 6 so still work out £1.00 to travel.

Dave_Brooker

Wiggynut wrote: »

I've now got a ticket to pay £20 in 3 weeks or court action will happen... £50p = £20!!!!! I'm soooooo p'd off...

I'm so sick of it!

5mph over speed limit = £60 fine.

You didn't have a ticket and you got caught, boo hoo...

Wiggynut

nealallen wrote: »

I'm sorry that you got fined for such a smalll amount, but that's the revenues job. You got on the bus, how many bleeps did you hear when you touched the Oyster? If you only had 50p left it would have bleeped twice and displayed 'No money on Oyster'

crowded bus - had to reach across to the machine so didn't see anything and there was a few beeps - heard a beep when I put it on the machine if there was another I didn't hear it - plus I've never ran out of credit before so actually didn't know it doubled beep - but if it had made a different sound from normal then I would've have know something was wrong!
Just didn't realise!
a mistake - but had been told that if it was a small amount then pay it when you top up. my work colleague said he had the same thing... got off at the tube station and under a pound over - told 'you're allowed that as it's deducted and you just pay at the machine'.

Only knew when the inspector showed me the balance on his scanner that it was over! Obviously he doesn't know that, I could be a good actor - I just think it would be helpful not to be told one thing and then get fined after - I told that to the inspector but he said it had nothing to do with him . It's his job to know the whether or not you can pay the small over limit or I was told the wrong information!

I have no problems with paying my fare or if I do something wrong then fined or punished but fined for being a dope and jumping on a crowed bus?

Will buy some of those tickets instead... walk mostly, so it's only for really bad weather or got to go the other side of London occasionally. (and stick to buses that take money!)

krishna

On the underground, if you have under £1 on the card it a message comes up on the reader saying "Seek assistance". I presume something similar must happen on the readers on buses or otherwise TfL would be failing to provide an accessible service for deaf people. The bus displays are not great, I have to agree. I think they would be better off if they had a red and green light. They if would be much clearer if things failed.

On the underground, even a failed swip of the card on the reader is logged. I would have thought they would do that on the buses too, but can't be sure. If they do, then that would show that you had at least attempted to swipe the card. The transaction history on the card should also indicate whether you have a habit of swiping a card with insufficient funds.

You can definitely get refunds on Oyster cards that have been obtained with a deposit (not all of them have). I've done it frequently (e.g. if I've misplaced mine, or we have someone visiting London, or even just forgotten to carry it, since it provides the cheapest fares). You just hand it in at a station and say you no longer need it. They give you the deposit back in cash after sorting out any remaining balance on the card. I had a card with -30p on it and I had to give them the 30p before they would give me my £3 refund!

Bus saver tickets might expire at some time, if TfL decides to change them. They did it earlier this summer in fact. And now I have some of the old red saver tickets that are unuseable. So actually you might as well get an Oyster card.

On bendy buses and others that require payment before boarding you can still pay in cash at the bus stop. You do need the right money though as I don't think they give change. Having said that, you pay twice as much so over 20 journeys you will have paid as much as the penalty fare.

If you have problems logging into your Oyster card account online ring the Oystercard helpline. I am sure they can sort out new login details, passwords etc.

If you are concerned about running out of funds, you can arrange for automatic topup of prepay oystercards. You set the level you want to maintain and if you fall below that your card is automatically topped up from your bank account.

nealallen

I'm not to sure if the undergrounds system if the same as the buses. By the information you were given, I think the guy was refering to the trains. I know you have to put it on the reader when you go in and again when you leave. I'm sorry if he gave you that info regarding Buses but it doesn't work like that.

Do write a letter and make sure to tell them you always pay your way. They can check your Oyster if need be. Don't let it rest either, keep on at them. I see some right fare dodgers every day and wonder how they get away with it.

Good luck

bribri_2

On the oyster card website today:

When you first get your Oyster card, you will need to pay a refundable £3 deposit if you are only adding cash to pay as you go.

i.e you only pay the deposit in the first place if you initially use it on PAYG. The season tickets don't need a deposit.

I keep mislaying my card and getting new ones and so I have two I want to send back so I hope it does work.

dontknow_wantknow

I got a slightly different Oyster Penalty Charge story.

I do practically the same thing every week. Like clock work.
I put money before I get on the bus, get on the bus and swipe.
It's all in my Oyster history (as I found out when I ran Oyster helpdesk!)

I had the balance of £3.50 a days bus pass basically on it, literally
put on at the tube station right next to the bus stop.
I got on the bus, swiped,and thought my card was
validated. Now I use the 29, instead of the 19 this day.
Biggest mistake of my life.Of course the inspectors came on,
I presented my card.They said it hadn't been validated.
I said it had. We got off the bus.

I told them, it's the machine or the card.One inspector said,
it's my responsibility to get it validated.The issue was
not there was no money on it,I had through fare capping,
a FULL ONE DAYS BUSSPASS EQUIVALENT.
The thing was it had to be swiped to "validate it".
Then we got into an argument.Because If I had bought
a paper ticket at the same price, we wouldn't be talking.

She said I could just have been putting that on
there for a whole month,I said check with Oyster
and your reader. I do the same thing every week!
That's patently not true. The Oyster helpdesk had
6 months worth of my Oyster usage and were
shocked that she was trying to give me a penalty charge.

I'm pressing this because exactly the same thing has
happened before at a tube station.They had a faulty reader.
Got to the other end, got charged full fare! Went
back to the original station,complained,
they checked, and put my money back on!
In fact the Tube workers told me this happens
all the time, even to people with monthly travelcards.
They complain regularly about both the cards and the readers.

We were at loggerheads.Basically with coppers
looking on she said, she couldn't use her discretion and
I'd have to get a ticket or get arressted for fare evasion!
So basically I had to get ticketed! She then immediately
told me I should appeal! And gave me the details.Now i'm plain angry
because i'm on the same routes and i've seen kids to tourists let off
by inspectors.Basically TFL were trying to
make me pay £25 for a Bus Journey everyone
knew was due to the card or the reader.Not the human.

I appealed...

But instead of getting oh, that's a mistake,
we've checked your Oyster usage. I'm getting
the bureacratic stone wall. You need to valiadate it.
It's your fault. Reader? Card/ Don't know about that,
You need to validate it..repeat to infinitum.

I'm appealing that, any help, information on
who has won these appeals, and general
advice would be helpful.Oysterhelpdesk
have said if they need to talk to them
they've created a reference number for
this with all the details.

See I can afford the Penalty charge.
It's the principal.

We have to put up with Buses diverting
without passengers being told, Busses
terminating early making you personally
late and an almost chaotic travel journey
every morning.Busses Not stopping at Bus stops,
not request stops.yet we are supposed to put up
with it, get around it. Find it in our heart not
to go nuts,have the patience of God as
we are packed like sardines. But does that
work the other way round??

i want to fight this and I need your help.
It hasn't got to the whole court thing yet,
but i'm in the process of the second appeal letter.
The first contained my Oyster usage, card number,
photocopies of all relevant documents.

I also need to know how this validation thing
works, Does it need to be revalidated everytime
you go down to 0 to get the capping to strt rightaway.
Or does the price capping validation happen from the day
you use it Because I had put £1 earlier in the day and used it
then put thw £3.50 ontop later when i had
to use the bus again.

wantknow.

dmg24

What is going on with your typing, can you not write right across the page? I can't read it ...

Wiggynut

dontknow_wantknow wrote: »

I got a slightly different Oyster Penalty Charge story.

blimey!!! They seem to create huge problems for people who actually want to pay and leave the fair dodgers alone!

I've got charged the max days fare despite only going into the station and out again due to a security scare and no one was allowed to swipe their cards on the way out.. was told at the desk that it was not their responsibility and you can email them... I can't get a reply to the emails I've sent as I either don't get a reply or it bounces back as it's not in use anymore!!! This has happened several times and it's a case of suck it up!!!!

I've now realised that I have to post the cheque to them to pay the penalty fare yet I was told I could ring them - the inspector - I asked him, the one that has now responsibility on the subject of why I was told and have seen in a pamplet that if you go over by less than a pound you can just top it up!!! :mad:
I bet it will get to them 'late' and it will go on and on!
I'll try some other email address if they work to say how stupid this is!
My oyster card has no history online!!! it doesn't list anything at all???? why not?? I've only ever been able enter the oyster website 3 times now as most of the time it's down or it says I have to reset my password AGAIN and then doesn't send the email with the new password to enable the reset!!! :mad: I think I have a faulty card - do I have to pay to get another one... maybe I'll have better luck with one that works (if such a think exists!).

Have you not paid the penalty (don't blame you if you've just paid!) and do they put the amount up - I think it goes up if you don't pay within 21 days!
good luck with it... Mine is a simple stupid error whereas yours is a joke!!! did you have a receipt I always get one.. it's nice to know that the system is so reliable that you are scared to get on the bus or if they money has gone on your card and not disappeared into space that will take months to find!

Good luck with your fight!

dontknow_wantknow

dmg24 wrote: »

What is going on with your typing, can you not write right across the page? I can't read it ...

Sorry, seems fine to me on my computer.Tried to break it up into chunks for easier digestion...obviously didn't work.

Still want to know how to fight this. The combined knowledge of this forum group is frightening. How do I present the appeal letter, and get past the montone beuracratic stonewall.

It all centres around this validation thing. No one has ever accused me of dodging the fare, it's there in my Oyster history. I didn't.

In fact. The inspector. Not once, did they ask me for the money upfront like they usually do.Or anything.i was just told how to appeal.Like i'm some kind of beraucratic unit being shuffled through the penalty system.

wantknow