Thread: Fine given as a result of defective oystercard

My girlfriend was given a £25.00 fine for a short journey by TFL . She swiped her oystercard correctly but was pulled over at her destination by a ticket inspector , backed up by two plastic coppers , sorry community support officers , she explained that she had done nothing wrong , the card must be defective , they were very sarcastic and marched her to the cashpoint .All the while she had to listen to the powermad , billy no mates , 19 year old Cso , bullying other people pulled over , 'look in my eyes when I am talking to you ", etc . etc .
She now has proof that her card was indeed defective , so she was right all along , and had done nothing wrong . How does she put these jumped-up little fuhrers in their place , people like that should not be working with the public , if at all . I thing money back and an apology at least, its a disgrace .

Originally Posted by noddyaccount

My girlfriend was given a £25.00 fine for a short journey by TFL . She swiped her oystercard correctly but was pulled over at her destination by a ticket inspector , backed up by two plastic coppers , sorry community support officers , she explained that she had done nothing wrong , the card must be defective , they were very sarcastic and marched her to the cashpoint .All the while she had to listen to the powermad , billy no mates , 19 year old Cso , bullying other people pulled over , 'look in my eyes when I am talking to you ", etc . etc .
She now has proof that her card was indeed defective , so she was right all along , and had done nothing wrong . How does she put these jumped-up little fuhrers in their place , people like that should not be working with the public , if at all . I thing money back and an apology at least, its a disgrace .

I have to agree..TfL inspectrors are the worst, especially as they only ever venture out backed up by a 'gang' of police or in your case 'plastic' ones.

There must be an addy or phone number to complain about this situation.,

How do you have proof that the card was defective ?

Andy

Originally Posted by andydd

I have to agree..TfL inspectrors are the worst, especially as they only ever venture out backed up by a 'gang' of police or in your case 'plastic' ones.

There must be an addy or phone number to complain about this situation.,

How do you have proof that the card was defective ?

Andy

I got that bit wrong it wasn't the card , it is the reader at her local station , it has a history of not reading the cards , got the wrong end of the stick . I never go on trains in london , walk , cycle or drive which is lucky as i don't know how I would react to some spotty oik telling me to look at them when they are talking to me , it might involve spontaneous violence .

Originally Posted by noddyaccount

I got that bit wrong it wasn't the card , it is the reader at her local station , it has a history of not reading the cards.

It would be helpful if you can state which station this known faulty reader is located at.

Originally Posted by noddyaccount

I got that bit wrong it wasn't the card , it is the reader at her local station , it has a history of not reading the cards , got the wrong end of the stick . I never go on trains in london , walk , cycle or drive which is lucky as i don't know how I would react to some spotty oik telling me to look at them when they are talking to me , it might involve spontaneous violence .

Unfortunatly its the users responsibilty to ensure their oyster is swiped correctly at the end or begining of each journey, its common for them not to work or to swipe properally, its the users responsibilty to check the green light shows or it beeps, I assume that this is a station without barriers otherwise the barrier wouldnt of opened.

How do you know that this particular reader is problematic ?

Andy

Originally Posted by Old-CodJA

It would be helpful if you can state which station this known faulty reader is located at.

Apologies, for the confusion, I am Noddy's girlfriend Big Ears, he has got it wrong, it is not the reader that is at fault, it is the actual oyster card that is giving problems as it cannot be read. I hope this clarifies matters.

Originally Posted by noddyaccount

Apologies, for the confusion, I am Noddy's girlfriend Big Ears, he has got it wrong, it is not the reader that is at fault, it is the actual oyster card that is giving problems as it cannot be read. I hope this clarifies matters.

It does clarify things..unfortunately its now entirely your responsibility.
You have an obligation to ensure you have a valid ticket or authority to travel.....sorry.

Originally Posted by SRPO

It does clarify things..unfortunately its now entirely your responsibility.
You have an obligation to ensure you have a valid ticket or authority to travel.....sorry.

Unless you swiped 'in' ok and the card stopped working halfway (it happened to me), but in this case how did the inspectors check your card ?

How do you know your card is faulty ?

Andy

With respect to the use of Oyster Card Travel tickets, the published conditions of use of such cards are given in writing and signed for as accepted and understood when the application for an Oyster Card is made.

It is always the traveller’s responsibility to ensure that an Oyster is validated, or a ticket is purchased before proceeding to board a train. The rules of use of Pre-Pay are very specific and make it clear that any such ticket must be validated at the point of entry to and exit from the system.

The same instructions make clear that until a Pre-Pay Oyster card is validated and a green light indication is given the traveller has no authority to proceed to board any train. An Oyster card that has been accepted at the validation point will be signalled by an audible ‘beep’ and a green light indication.

An Oyster Card is not a ticket for travel. It is best described as an ‘electronic purse’. It is a means of carrying credit that must be given up before boarding any train in order to pay a fare before travelling.

The rules require that any traveller who is using Pre-Pay only and has not validated an Oyster Card before travelling must be treated as if no ticket is held.

Those persons who do not ensure that an Oyster card has been correctly validated at the swipe reader and therefore, do not give up the appropriate payment for the journey that they are intending to make, do avoid a fare by retaining the credit. Not swiping-in and only swiping-out does not register a journey for later payment.

If you know that your card is not operating properly and is not being validated at the touch-in, you have an obligation to buy a ticket from the self-service machines before boarding any train and to go to a booking office to get the card replaced.