Oyster Card - Still Valid

[cornishjohn]

So my daughter is just back from that there London with our PAYG oyster card last used 4 or 5 years ago. With instructions to use it up and cash it in.

Apparently:

a) TVM's recognised it had credit on it.
b) Gatelines would not accept it - flashed red.
c) TVM could not refund it and instructed to refer to ticket office or post it in.
d) Ticket office could not refund it and advised to use a TVM(!) or post in in.

Bit disappointing really. Lucky we weren't relying on it. Can I reclaim the postage too?

 

[MikeWh]

Can you clarify what sort of station this happened at (NR, LU etc)?

If you call the helpline they should be able to sort out the refund without posting it in. You must destroy the card once they've done it though.

 

[Haywain]

So my daughter is just back from that there London with our PAYG oyster card last used 4 or 5 years ago. With instructions to use it up and cash it in.

Apparently:

a) TVM's recognised it had credit on it.
b) Gatelines would not accept it - flashed red.
c) TVM could not refund it and instructed to refer to ticket office or post it in.
d) Ticket office could not refund it and advised to use a TVM(!) or post in in.

Bit disappointing really. Lucky we weren't relying on it. Can I reclaim the postage too?

What was the balance on the card? I believe the ticket machines can only refund under £10.

 

[cornishjohn]

Can you clarify what sort of station this happened at (NR, LU etc)?

This was at Euston underground.

ticket machines can only refund under £10.

Credit balance of about £4, and of course my £5 deposit.

Thanks,

 

[MikeWh]

This was at Euston underground.

And was the ticket office upstairs in the mainline station, or just a member of staff on the floor of the Underground ticket hall? If the former then their advice to try the ticket machines was probably right because NR ticket offices can't deal with Oyster cards at all. LU stations don't have ticket offices now, but the roving staff ought to have been more helpful.

Credit balance of about £4, and of course my £5 deposit.

That should certainly have been eligible for an instantaneous refund. Did you call the helpdesk?

Something must be wrong with that card, but I haven't got enough information to deduce what it might be. My first thought was that it had already been cancelled/refunded, but the sequence of events doesn't quite back that up. I'd certainly be interested to know what the helpdesk say is the reason it didn't work.

 

[broomster]

There's no need to replace a 1st generation Oyster card. My 1st generation card sees very regular use and works absolutely fine.

You're probably better off selling the first generation cards on ebay - the ones with the red roundel are going for £40-50 currently...

 

[island]

3) I don't think cards go to sleep, and I'm sure I left my Oyster card several years before going back to it to test weekly capping. I didn't have a problem at all.

I seem to recall that before faster universal load an Oyster card that hadn't been used for two years would require to have a balance check on a POM or Oyster ticket stop before it would work again. The rationale was to avoid ticket gates needing to store an extremely long hotlist of cards that had been reported lost years and years ago. Once touched to a machine that could check the full hotlist and was not time-constrained to 0.3 seconds, it would activate again (unless of course the card was hotlisted, in which case it will be deactivated by the POM).

This has long been superseded by FUL of course.

Something must be wrong with that card, but I haven't got enough information to deduce what it might be. My first thought was that it had already been cancelled/refunded, but the sequence of events doesn't quite back that up. I'd certainly be interested to know what the helpdesk say is the reason it didn't work.

It does sound like it's already been cancelled and refunded more than 6 months ago so the card number will have dropped back to the reserve list. I don't suppose @cornishjohn knows the two- or three-digit error code the ticket barrier displayed?

 

[Trackman]

I seem to recall that before faster universal load an Oyster card that hadn't been used for two years would require to have a balance check on a POM or Oyster ticket stop before it would work again. The rationale was to avoid ticket gates needing to store an extremely long hotlist of cards that had been reported lost years and years ago. Once touched to a machine that could check the full hotlist and was not time-constrained to 0.3 seconds, it would activate again (unless of course the card was hotlisted, in which case it will be deactivated by the POM).

This has long been superseded by FUL of course.

I know what a POM is (passenger operated machine), but what is ‘FUL’ ?

 

[swt_passenger]

I know what a POM is (passenger operated machine), but what is ‘FUL’ ?

FUL = faster universal load. It was a modification to the PAYG top up system to remove the requirement to nominate a particular station to add a top up that you’d paid for online.

 

[Trackman]

FUL = faster universal load. It was a modification to the PAYG top up system to remove the requirement to nominate a particular station to add a top up that you’d paid for online.

Ah yes, think that was about 3 years ago or even longer.

 

[island]

And to be fair I did spell it out in the first sentence

 

[Llandudno]

Lots of great advice here - thanks!

Another query!

My Oyster Card hasn’t been used for a number of years, so will be trying it out on Thursday, but I now have a Senior Railcard, which as I understand it gives a one third discount on all TfL fares after 0930.

I presume that this includes buses as well as the tube?

I have looked at the TfL website and it appears as though I have to register my ‘old’ Oyster card at a staffed Underground station to validate my Senior discount going forward.

Has anyone else tried this, I will by arriving by train into St Pancras, so I guess I would need to find a ticket office (I presume there is one!) in the Underground station to register my card whilst showing my Senior Railcard?

Shame I can’t validate my Oyster Card on line or at a National Rail station ticket office..?

 

[bakerstreet]

Lots of great advice here - thanks!

Another query!

My Oyster Card hasn’t been used for a number of years, so will be trying it out on Thursday, but I now have a Senior Railcard, which as I understand it gives a one third discount on all TfL fares after 0930.

I presume that this includes buses as well as the tube?

I have looked at the TfL website and it appears as though I have to register my ‘old’ Oyster card at a staffed Underground station to validate my Senior discount going forward.

Has anyone else tried this, I will by arriving by train into St Pancras, so I guess I would need to find a ticket office (I presume there is one!) in the Underground station to register my card whilst showing my Senior Railcard?

Shame I can’t validate my Oyster Card on line or at a National Rail station ticket office..?

Any staffed tube station should help you add your Senior railcard discount to your Oyster card.
Unfortunately there is no discount on buses (or trams), but the card will give you the discount off daily caps which include validity on buses and trams.

 

[MikeWh]

And to be fair I did spell it out in the first sentence

But you didn't put (FUL) next to the full words.

 

[Haywain]

Has anyone else tried this, I will by arriving by train into St Pancras, so I guess I would need to find a ticket office (I presume there is one!) in the Underground station to register my card whilst showing my Senior Railcard?

There is no ticket office in the underground station but there are staff who can help with to be found around the ticket machines.

 

[Watershed]

Lots of great advice here - thanks!

Another query!

My Oyster Card hasn’t been used for a number of years, so will be trying it out on Thursday, but I now have a Senior Railcard, which as I understand it gives a one third discount on all TfL fares after 0930.

Your Oyster card will still work (if undamaged!). When applied, a Senior Railcard gives a 34% discount for off-peak Oyster rail fares. Note that for most journeys, there is an evening peak between 16:00 and 19:00. You will not receive any discount on single fares during this period. However "peak" fares paid during this period will still be subject to the off-peak daily cap! Confused yet?

I presume that this includes buses as well as the tube?

As with peak rail fares, there is no Railcard discount on the bus or tram Hopper fare (£1.65, which includes any second or subsequent bus or tram you touch in on within 1 hour). However, Hopper fares are subject to the daily caps, and of course the off-peak cap is subject to a Railcard discount.

This slightly bizarre situation is essentially because the Railcard is a discount just for rail travel, but historically also granted a discount on Travelcards (which are valid on buses and trams). So this has been 'translated' as above for Oyster cards.

I presume you are not yet eligible for a free bus pass?

I have looked at the TfL website and it appears as though I have to register my ‘old’ Oyster card at a staffed Underground station to validate my Senior discount going forward.

Yes, an Oyster card needs to be registered (you can do this at the same time as adding your discount). All Underground stations are rostered to be staffed during opening hours, however some may not have staff hovering around the ticket machines/barrier line at quiet times. The major stations should always have staff visible.

Has anyone else tried this, I will by arriving by train into St Pancras, so I guess I would need to find a ticket office (I presume there is one!) in the Underground station to register my card whilst showing my Senior Railcard?

Shame I can’t validate my Oyster Card on line or at a National Rail station ticket office..?

There are no more ticket offices on the Underground. You will need to ask a 'floating' member of staff to assist you on one of the ticket machines. You should have no difficulties locating a member of staff at a major station like Kings Cross St Pancras.

Unfortunately TfL is still pretty backwards in this respect, but to be fair they are constrained by the architecture of the Oyster system in some respects.

 

[Llandudno]

Your Oyster card will still work (if undamaged!). When applied, a Senior Railcard gives a 34% discount for off-peak Oyster rail fares. Note that for most journeys, there is an evening peak between 16:00 and 19:00. You will not receive any discount on single fares during this period. However "peak" fares paid during this period will still be subject to the off-peak daily cap! Confused yet?


As with peak rail fares, there is no Railcard discount on the bus or tram Hopper fare (£1.65, which includes any second or subsequent bus or tram you touch in on within 1 hour). However, Hopper fares are subject to the daily caps, and of course the off-peak cap is subject to a Railcard discount.

This slightly bizarre situation is essentially because the Railcard is a discount just for rail travel, but historically also granted a discount on Travelcards (which are valid on buses and trams). So this has been 'translated' as above for Oyster cards.

I presume you are not yet eligible for a free bus pass?


Yes, an Oyster card needs to be registered (you can do this at the same time as adding your discount). All Underground stations are rostered to be staffed during opening hours, however some may not have staff hovering around the ticket machines/barrier line at quiet times. The major stations should always have staff visible.


There are no more ticket offices on the Underground. You will need to ask a 'floating' member of staff to assist you on one of the ticket machines. You should have no difficulties locating a member of staff at a major station like Kings Cross St Pancras.

Unfortunately TfL is still pretty backwards in this respect, but to be fair they are constrained by the architecture of the Oyster system in some respects.

Thanks for the detailed response, crikey it is complicated though!

 

[mmh]

I presume you are not yet eligible for a free bus pass?

If he were, it'd be for a Transport For Wales bus pass, not valid outside Wales due to the wonder of transport devolution.

 

[Haywain]

Yes, an Oyster card needs to be registered (you can do this at the same time as adding your discount).

I would recommend registering in advance though, as you have more control over it.

 

[Watershed]

If he were, it'd be for a Transport For Wales bus pass, not valid outside Wales due to the wonder of transport devolution.

goodness me, you learn something new every day!

 

[Llandudno]

Thanks for all the replies and advice.

Here is an update as to what happened on Thursday on my visit to London.

My Oyster Card which I hadn’t used for about 5 years. I went to a LU ticket machine at Kings Cross/St Pancras and the machine instantly recognised my card and advised me that I had £17 credit left.

There were no LU staff to be found near the ticket machines, so I asked one of the gate line staff about the possibility of registering my Oyster Card to receive railcard discounts seeing as though I am now in possession of a Senior Railcard.

The young lady said, yes, of course no problem and she escorted me to the ticket machine and entered various PIN numbers and within 3 minutes my Railcard was validated. However, as I had a 3 year Railvard she could only validate the TfL concession for 2 years as the computer says no!

She said don’t, worry come back in two years time and I will add the extra year on…!

 

[transportphoto]

The young lady said, yes, of course no problem and she escorted me to the ticket machine and entered various PIN numbers and within 3 minutes my Railcard was validated. However, as I had a 3 year Railvard she could only validate the TfL concession for 2 years as the computer says no!

Small hiccup but sounds like a perfectly fair and reasonable outcome. Hopefully some reassurance for you!

 

[berneyarms]

Thanks for all the replies and advice.

Here is an update as to what happened on Thursday on my visit to London.

My Oyster Card which I hadn’t used for about 5 years. I went to a LU ticket machine at Kings Cross/St Pancras and the machine instantly recognised my card and advised me that I had £17 credit left.

There were no LU staff to be found near the ticket machines, so I asked one of the gate line staff about the possibility of registering my Oyster Card to receive railcard discounts seeing as though I am now in possession of a Senior Railcard.

The young lady said, yes, of course no problem and she escorted me to the ticket machine and entered various PIN numbers and within 3 minutes my Railcard was validated. However, as I had a 3 year Railvard she could only validate the TfL concession for 2 years as the computer says no!

She said don’t, worry come back in two years time and I will add the extra year on…!

And more importantly how was your trip on the 46 bus?

 

[cornishjohn]

It does sound like it's already been cancelled and refunded more than 6 months ago so the card number will have dropped back to the reserve list. I don't suppose @cornishjohn knows the two- or three-digit error code the ticket barrier displayed?

I did write a long reply sometime ago but this seems to have disappeared. But I wasn't there to see an error code.

So now my wife has been up to Town to see what she can achieve. One card wouldn't allow her on the tube in the first place. The second one did, so not a cancelled card. (In any case, I am quite confident that these cards were never cancelled - I have not done this and my wife would not have the enthusiasm to deal with this.)

However, it seems she voluntarily "sought assistance" before tapping out (i.e. she was not told to by any machine). The helpful assistant kindly informed her that in fact, one card had a debt to TFL of about £3, and the other had a debt to Tfl of about £6. So he would keep the cards, and she could go free with no payment and no further questions asked.

So I am entirely baffled, and certainly feel rather out of pocket, since the previous report was that we could see credit on the cards. Have we been conned? Any way, no cards to continue the saga, and no evidence to pursue anything. No names no packdrill either. So thanks for all your comments - it will all be one of life's mysteries.