Oyster refund incomplete journey - Waterloo and City line.

[LiIo75]

I've ended up with an incomplete journey while using my Oyster last Saturday. Can anyone help me work out where I went wrong?
I travelled on the Jubilee from Westminster to Waterloo. I followed signs for the Waterloo and City line but ended up at a gateline. I passed through this and spent 5 mins on the main station concourse. Returning back to the same gateline I now see, and before the gateline now, a Waterloo and City sign, some steps and then a long corridor. I can't remember if I passed through another gateline before the W&C train. At Bank I think I must have passed through another gateline while looking for the Northern line, and that's when I noticed I had been deducted £9.40 leaving me only 45p. I topped up £20 at the ticket machine, then went through the gateline to the Northern line.
I'm not a massive Oyster user and all the signage, gates and passageways seemed rather confusing.

 

[hkstudent]

I've ended up with an incomplete journey while using my Oyster last Saturday. Can anyone help me work out where I went wrong?
I travelled on the Jubilee from Westminster to Waterloo. I followed signs for the Waterloo and City line but ended up at a gateline. I passed through this and spent 5 mins on the main station concourse. Returning back to the same gateline I now see, and before the gateline now, a Waterloo and City sign, some steps and then a long corridor. I can't remember if I passed through another gateline before the W&C train. At Bank I think I must have passed through another gateline while looking for the Northern line, and that's when I noticed I had been deducted £9.40 leaving me only 45p. I topped up £20 at the ticket machine, then went through the gateline to the Northern line.
I'm not a massive Oyster user and all the signage, gates and passageways seemed rather confusing.

I think @MikeWh be able to answer your question soon. Waterloo station is really a mess for oyster card

 

[chrisp37]

I'm not sure this helps but to use the W&C you have to tap one of the Oyster readers before the ramp down to the platform I think. Many years ago I commuted from a national rail station to Bank, via Waterloo, and thought that the national rail exit barriers were actually the tube entrance barriers, neglected to tap in for the W&C and then tapped out at Bank. Each time I did this I was being charged for two incomplete journeys. Took me a little while to notice the error and ended up getting a refund which was rather large - too large to go back on my Oyster; they had to do a bank transfer. The TfL customer services guy I spoke to on the phone joked that each time I was travelling on the W&C I should have been offered a glass of champagne, given the amount I was paying for each trip on it.

 

[HughT]

I fell foul of the lack of barriers at Waterloo for the W&C just a few weeks ago. The first time I'd encountered a central London station without barriers (perhaps there are more - I should check before I go again!). It was only boarding the train that I realised I'd not waved my contactless card at anything (I don't have an Oyster, and wouldn't even have been sure I needed to tap an Oyster reader). Admittedly this was just after 5.00 on a weekday afternoon, so I can't be sure how much the signage is an issue, given the general scrummage at that time of day. But it didn't *seem* very obvious what was happening. I shall return on a quieter day to study the set-up at my leisure...

 

[Class800]

I've got an incomplete request in too at moment for Waterloo, it's a mess

 

[Mag_seven]

I got caught out at Waterloo a few months back by assuming that the barriers at the bottom of the stairs direct from the platforms were Underground entry barriers when in fact they are National Rail exit barriers.

 

[chrisp37]

I got caught out at Waterloo a few months back by assuming that the barriers at the bottom of the stairs direct from the platforms were Underground entry barriers when in fact they are National Rail exit barriers.

Exactly the same mistake I made (repeatedly, until I noticed all the money I was paying and realised something was going wrong ...)

 

[MikeWh]

I think @MikeWh be able to answer your question soon. Waterloo station is really a mess for oyster card

Yes, it really is, especially if using the Waterloo and City line. The position of exit gates from NR after you've gone down steps from the platforms makes it look like you're entering the Underground. This is compounded by the fact that the W&C part of the Underground Station is only protected by validators. Once you know this it's a piece of cake. There are at least two validators on every ramp and a few extra.

The helpdesk are well aware of the issue and will always refund incomplete journeys if they involve that interchange.

I would like to just ask one curious question. Did you mean Friday? The W&C is closed at weekends.

 

[Class800]

Can TFL refund contactless payment errors like this or just Oyster?

 

[MikeWh]

Can TFL refund contactless payment errors like this or just Oyster?

Both.

 

[Class800]

Both.

Thanks

 

[Taunton]

It has been a longstanding moneymaker for TfL, ever since Oyster came to the Waterloo & City, for those who only use the Underground in Central London and have no experience of the DLR etc with freestanding readers.

 

[LiIo75]

Yes, it really is, especially if using the Waterloo and City line. The position of exit gates from NR after you've gone down steps from the platforms makes it look like you're entering the Underground. This is compounded by the fact that the W&C part of the Underground Station is only protected by validators. Once you know this it's a piece of cake. There are at least two validators on every ramp and a few extra.

The helpdesk are well aware of the issue and will always refund incomplete journeys if they involve that interchange.

I would like to just ask one curious question. Did you mean Friday? The W&C is closed at weekends.

Yes, sorry I meant Friday, doh.

Nice to know I'm not the only one that has had issues with the Waterloo and City line.
Most of my London trips are at weekend. With it being a week day I thought I would go for a ride on it. More fool me. Lol.