Oyster Card - weird

dzug

If you use buses only a one day bus pass (£3.50) or a pack of 6 tickets (£6) might be more suitable.

Though I would have thought it should cap at £3 - 50p less than the bus pass. Maybe it doesn't count as a travelcard.

oioiyoyo

That's good to know - thanks! (although the capping part of my rant was based on combining tube and bus journeys - if I have to use the tube for meetings at work and I have to get a bus to the nearest tube station, that's when the money starts adding up and capping doesn't count when you combine bus and tube, unfortunately).

dzug

oioiyoyo wrote: »

and capping doesn't count when you combine bus and tube, unfortunately).

It's always worked with me.

alan99_2

oioiyoyo wrote: »

Secondly and most importantly, Oyster top up can only really work if you stick to tubes and this is why... If you are a bus user (i.e. your nearest tube is a bus journey away or for instance, like many Londoners, you decide to stay out at the weekend after last tube and get the bus home late at night) then its a totally flawed system in three ways:

Capping: this will ONLY occur if you only use tubes, bus journeys are in addition not included when it comes to capping. So when you think you can only possibly spend a maximum amount a day, you end up using up all your money on your card and getting caught out when you step onto a bus, which leads me to...

...

Capping, on pre pay Oyster ,I believe should include buses and tubes. Are you saying it doesnt work for you ?

I always find it useful to carry a book of 6 "cherry" tickets also known as London Buses Saver tickets , £6 for 6. Sometimes the ticket reader on the bus doesnt work anyway.

Alan

chuckley

marksmith99 wrote: »

Bit aggressive I think.

None of the SW train stations I use allow you to top up Oysters (the only exception I can think of may be Clapham Junction which is the end of this London Overground thing).

so y r u travelling knowing u aint got enough for your entire journey leg/day?

On auto top up, it is a right pain that you have to go to a tube station and go through the barriers. My wife only uses Oyster for buses and so can't auto, which means from time to time she runs out of money and has to pay the cash fare. I phoned the helpline and they said the only way to get auto to work would be to do it at a tube station then go straight to the ticket office and get a refund back onto the card as you hadn't travelled anywhere.

not just tube stations, but also tram stops. y not just put on a certain amount for paug journeys? if she runs out of credit on her card, surely thats her own fault?

i dont see how auto top up is that big a deal... practically every cornershop has oyster machines.

chuckley

oioiyoyo wrote: »

First of all, Mr/Mrs/Ms Chuckly – naughty naughy! don’t forget the forum etiquette: there’s no need to shout or be rude!

Secondly, here are my replies to yours (but thank you for the input)

Originally Posted by chuckley

and did it beep once and turn green?
Of course! I said I “deligently” swiped in and out.

if u mix tubes, bus n trams it caps at 50p less than daily travel card. it doesnt cap at different rates. so u must be doin summat wrong...
No I’m not – I’ve checked both my journey history and with the Oyster operator who agrees that this is the case.

FALSE... theres train stations, local newsagents... and some off licences. if u dont have enough on your card thats 100% your fault, unless theres been a fault with the machines.
Fine if you use tubes, but this particular post is for bus users, so your input is not useful here, and I’m still correct. I still use the machines at the stations/news agents/whatever, what I’m saying is, if its late at night and there’s no where to top up or you don't live near a station or newsagent and you have to take a bus, you’re stuck as buses in general can’t top up your card.

AGAIN FALSE... can prove handy for folk that start journeys at certain train, tube and tram stations. the system clearly tells you you have to pick up at a certain station BEFORE you proceed to pay.
Again, as I said in my original post, this is aimed at bus users, therefore my point was not the payment but that it’s a pain to have to go all the way to a station/newsagents (in my area anyway) just to go all the way to a bus stop again to get a bus. So again, my statement is not false.I think you have had oyster problems PURELY through your own errors.
Thanks ever so much, but no, this is false. I’ve had many many lengthy phone calls with Oyster about his problem and they agree on all the above points. Again, may I reiterate that I have no problem with the system (as I said at the beginning of my original post) as a tube user, but now I use it purely for buses it is flawed. And no none of these problems are purely down to my errors.
NB My original post was merely to warn bus users.
Lastly – Auto top up – thanks for tip isasmurf!! – I will do that if it means it will top up my card on buses then brilliant!!!!

so its tfl's fault, late at nite when u have zero on ur card?! LOL!!!!!!!!

it doesnt matter if its bus, tube, rail or tram... u need to have enough on your card for your entire journey/day of journeys. if u mix it'l cap... if not, summats going wrong. if ur a bus paug user only, its even more simple to use. u always know how much u have lefgt, when u swipe... i dont see ya'lls issue.

chuckley

alan99 wrote: »

Capping, on pre pay Oyster ,I believe should include buses and tubes. Are you saying it doesnt work for you ?

I always find it useful to carry a book of 6 "cherry" tickets also known as London Buses Saver tickets , £6 for 6. Sometimes the ticket reader on the bus doesnt work anyway.

Alan

i has those once but they said they were getting rid and as they were bringing in new ones so the old ones would 'expire'. i was not happy.

i love it when the reader aint workin... i get home for free

Bongedone

You only have to activate the auto topup at a tube station once. When that is done it will top up on busses also.

Chuckley: The auto topup is great. Means you never run out of credit at awkward times. The OH kept running out of money at work and having to borrow the bus fare.

marksmith99

chuckley wrote: »

Quote:
Originally Posted by marksmith99
Bit aggressive I think.

None of the SW train stations I use allow you to top up Oysters (the only exception I can think of may be Clapham Junction which is the end of this London Overground thing).

So why are you travelling knowing you haven't got enough for your entire journey leg/day?

I'm not, I have a SW trains paper goldcard, I was just correcting the error in your original post where you indicated that oyster cards could be topped up at train stations.

On auto top up, it is a right pain that you have to go to a tube station and go through the barriers. My wife only uses Oyster for buses and so can't auto, which means from time to time she runs out of money and has to pay the cash fare. I phoned the helpline and they said the only way to get auto to work would be to do it at a tube station then go straight to the ticket office and get a refund back onto the card as you hadn't travelled anywhere.

Not just tube stations, but also tram stops. Why not just put on a certain amount for payg journeys? If she runs out of credit on her card, surely that's her own fault?

True about tram stops, but as I said she only uses buses so same point applies. Just saying that auto top up is promoted as a great convenience, but doesn't quite live up to that in all situations.


i dont see how auto top up is that big a deal... practically every cornershop has oyster machines.

Don't get me started on what happens if I want to go outside my Goldcard zones!

DoctorOcta

Ok let’s get some things straight here cos people seem to be getting very confused. I’ll try to answer all the questions posed. Everything I am saying is from experience – just an Oyster geek!

1. Capping definitely works on all TfL modes of transport. There is a Bus cap (stops at £3) and a multi modal cap which depends on the Zones you travel in. If you extend your journeys, the cap re-evaluates to cover your trips

2. The cap is always the cheapest it can be for a customer – for example this may be a combination of an off peak cap and a single journey in the morning IF that is cheaper than the peak cap!

3. Oyster works on Buses, Tubes, National Rail, Trams and DLR. However it is not the card that is not allowed on some routes, but the product on the card!

4. National Rail went private in the 80s. At the time it was agreed that ALL tickets that were shared with the public transport system would be retained so that the paying public would not have any issues. This is why if you have a season ticket on an Oyster card, you can use ALL NR in London.

5. Pay as you go (payg for simplicities sake!) was introduced in 2003. NR decided NOT to be part of the scheme and to continue charging the prices they wanted to charge. There was nothing that could be done for the customer, cos as they are private companies, they can do as they wish.

6. There are SOME routes that do allow payg – the most common at the moment being the London Overground (orange lines).

7. Extensive discussions between the NR companies and the Mayor’s office have meant that from Jan 2009, 99% of all routes will accept payg.

8. Auto top-up (ATU) and Capping are features of payg – and NOT products in themselves. That means that if you cannot use payg on a route then you definitely can’t cap or use ATU.

9. ATU DOES work on buses – most definitely!!!

10. You have to set up an instruction on your card to ‘teach’ your Oyster card to top up. THIS requires going to a Tube station. This is a one off procedure and NEVER needs to be done again.

11. YES this will charge you money (as the system will think you are starying a Tube journey) but you get this refunded over the counter at the Tube station. You NEVER need to do this again.

12. The instruction is ON the Oyster card and NOT on the central system. Therefore if you touch any reader in London (Bus/Tube/Tram whatever) and your balance is under £5, you will top up by your top up amount of £20 or £40. (with Tubes you need to be on an entry gate rather than exiting)

13. The money is taken from the customer’s account a few days later. This means that you can have a card that will never run out of money.

14. You can buy products for your Oyster card online or on the phone, in a shop or at a Tube station or at some NR stations (normally ones that accept payg – so SW trains won’t do it).

15. OiOiYoYo – you are right – if you don’t have money on your card and there is nowhere to top up then you have to pay cash – but then ATU is perfect for you.

16. OiOiYoYo – you DEFINITELY have the wrong information from whatever helpline you called – I guarantee what I am saying above is correct. Maybe the help line you called were incorrect – or newbies or something. Ring up and speak to a manager – they’ll tell you I am correct. And tell them to re-train their staff.

17. You cannot get charged more than £3.00 a day on the buses using payg. If you do – then you must have got a tube during the day or something!!

18. If the bus reader DOESN’T work then the driver needs to let you on. If he charges you then call Bus Customer Services and they can sort him out. Same thing with inspectors – they have to prove you DON’T have a ticket – you don’t have to prove that you DO.

19. If you want to go out of your Goldcard Zones – you need to see where you are travelling. Is it a payg friendly route? Is it NR? Do they accept payg? If they DO accept payg then all you need to do is top up with a few quid to make the journey (when you touch out you will be charge bout £1 for an extension – varies depending on Zone). If they DON’T then you need to buy a paper ticket from the relevant NR company. (see points 4-7 for reasons)

Anything else Oystery? this should be made into a pamphlet!