Grumble. Bloody Oyster
Posted: 11 May 2017, 08:40
My Mrs is in London at least once a fortnight and uses the tube sparingly, mainly as she is addicted to upping her step count on her Fitbit. When she does use the tube, she uses her business contactless card and sings the praises of the TfL systems for recording her journeys. For months she's been banging on at me about using my bank card when I come to London with the comment "It doesn't matter how much you use it, your daily use will be capped".
My opinion is that when I'm 'playing' on the tube I'm making lots of changes and I simply don't trust the system. I'd rather pay a flat fee for a paper card and no that no matter where I go, I cannot be overcharged.
To try and prove a point, she bought me an Oyster card for my birthday and loaded it with £25 for my trip to London last week. Despite my reservations, she was absolutely adamant that this would work. I used the card between 10:48 and 19:33 to do a Zone 1 challenge and after this, visit a friend living in Tottenham Hale (Zone 3). I used the card at every barrier to enter and exit the system, just as I would if I had been carrying a paper card. I've checked my balance and from a £25 start, I am left with a balance of £1.50.
A Zone 1-3 paper travel card would have cost me £12.30. Using the Oyster has cost £23.50. What the absolute fluff?!
I've checked online and can see statements:
We are not able to show where you touched in during this journey
We are not able to show where you touched out during this journey
Which is bloody annoying as I tapped in/out everywhere I could - what happened to their mantra of "Daily Capping" and "You can't overspend". Cobblers. In the same way I refuse to use self-service "Unexpected item in bagging area" checkouts in Supermarkets, I'll never use an Oyster/Bank card for the tube again. I'm sticking to a paper card knowing that I can't be ripped off.
My opinion is that when I'm 'playing' on the tube I'm making lots of changes and I simply don't trust the system. I'd rather pay a flat fee for a paper card and no that no matter where I go, I cannot be overcharged.
To try and prove a point, she bought me an Oyster card for my birthday and loaded it with £25 for my trip to London last week. Despite my reservations, she was absolutely adamant that this would work. I used the card between 10:48 and 19:33 to do a Zone 1 challenge and after this, visit a friend living in Tottenham Hale (Zone 3). I used the card at every barrier to enter and exit the system, just as I would if I had been carrying a paper card. I've checked my balance and from a £25 start, I am left with a balance of £1.50.
A Zone 1-3 paper travel card would have cost me £12.30. Using the Oyster has cost £23.50. What the absolute fluff?!
I've checked online and can see statements:
We are not able to show where you touched in during this journey
We are not able to show where you touched out during this journey
Which is bloody annoying as I tapped in/out everywhere I could - what happened to their mantra of "Daily Capping" and "You can't overspend". Cobblers. In the same way I refuse to use self-service "Unexpected item in bagging area" checkouts in Supermarkets, I'll never use an Oyster/Bank card for the tube again. I'm sticking to a paper card knowing that I can't be ripped off.