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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

Before TFL stopped cash on the buses, they should have put in place more ways to top up!

136 replies

devilwithabluedresson · 15/07/2014 20:52

There is a retail area where I live that is next to a dual carriageway. Very unfriendly for walkers, its a miserable walk down a noisy road with very fast cars passing you.

It is huge, probably about a mile from end to end. I walked there this morning and hoped to get home by bus. Anyway, it turned out I couldnt top up my oyster at any of the shops there. Not Morrisons, Sainsburys, M&S, nowhere. I checked my iphone and it showed the nearest top up stop to be 1 mile away in any direction! I understand you get 1 more ride home, but I wasnt sure if I had already used that and I wasn't prepared to wait 20 minutes for a bus just to find I was turfed off.

It was no biggie, I decided to walk home as I actually live about a mile away. But it did highlight some huge problems with this No Cash thing which I pondered on the walk back :

  • Not everyone has iphones to check where the nearest top up stop
  • Not everyone can actually walk 1 mile to the nearest top up stop
  • There is no way to check your credit, or that you have used your 'last ride home' unless you have a smart phone (and know how to use it!) Not everybody does.
  • If I'd had my oyster and my cashcard in the same wallet and it was lost or stolen, I would have no means to get on the bus at all.
  • Someone with mobility issues could effectively get stuck at a place like this and have to hope a bus driver would take pity on them to get home. Even if they had the cash to travel!

Anyway so I was thinking how about a top up facility on the cash points in Sainsburys/Morrisons/M&S. That would be easily solve a lot of these points! AIBU?

OP posts:
Original poster
devilwithabluedresson · 15/07/2014 20:54

This topic has probably been done but I actually hadn't thought too much on it till today!

OP posts:
StandsOnGoldenSands · 15/07/2014 20:57

I agree. When they first announced this I thought it was an awful idea for this precise reason. The payment system is nowhere near comprehensive enough for this to work. And the people who will be most affected are the most vulnerable. The people who don't already have an Oyster!

whatwhatinthewhatnow · 15/07/2014 20:57

YANBU.

Not everyone has contactless cards and what if the paper shops are closed? There is no where else.

babewiththepower · 15/07/2014 21:08

I agree. Being able to top up at the supermarkets would be a godsend. If I could add it on to my online shopping, even better!

whois · 15/07/2014 21:12

Haven't TfL changed it so you can have one journey even if your balance is zero to help solve this problem?

Register your oyster and set up auto top up - never have this problem again.

babewiththepower · 15/07/2014 21:14

Yeah whois, like the OP said you get ONE journey after you use all your money. And there is no way to check that. So you could wait and then not be allowed to travel.

ilovesooty · 15/07/2014 21:15

I don't live in London but I visit several times a year. Auto top up is the sensible option.

AuntieStella · 15/07/2014 21:16

I think the roll out was premature. Not enough people have contactless cards yet.

My (very geeky) teen is btw very anti contactless cards. He things readers of RFIDs will improve and the whole system will be insufficiently secure.

I don't have one yet (expect I'll get one at next issue, whether I want it or not). He's recommending tin foil wallet...

Binglesplodge · 15/07/2014 21:16

I think you get one trip once your card is empty to avoid this problem, as Whois says. That should avoid people getting stuck in remote places.

Bearcatt · 15/07/2014 21:17

Agree with whois. Set up auto top up. I have never had to top up my oyster myself since I got it.

Binglesplodge · 15/07/2014 21:19

It's up to users to know if their card is empty and they've used their one extra trip. It's not TFL's fault if you don't keep track of your balance just like it's not your bank's fault if you go over your overdraft because you didn't keep an eye on your account.

mymoonandstars · 15/07/2014 21:22

As has been pointed out at least twice, you get one more journey, yes.... But you cannot check to see how minus you are unless you have a smart phone.

I agree that it hits vulnerable users the most. Auto top up is well and good but in an emergency situation it fails. They should set up more places to top up so that no one has to walk a mile, thats ridiculous!

SaucyJack · 15/07/2014 21:22

It's stupid. What about people who don't have Oyster cards? I should imagine London had one or two visitors to the area every year.

littleducks · 15/07/2014 21:25

You can link your oyster to your bank amount do that it never a runs out of credit.

Or all your bank for a contactless card.

I think you get one journey into debt which should be sufficient.

cricketpitch · 15/07/2014 21:25

I agree - makes life very difficult.

mymoonandstars · 15/07/2014 21:26

I just cannot imagine a person on the bread line scraping together their 5p's for a bus journey would think "Oh, if only I had set up auto top up!"

On the computer I don't have
With my bank account that's in arrears

Binglesplodge · 15/07/2014 21:28

Does it make life any more difficult than it was in the pre-oyster days if you didn't have cash on you for the fare? You can check the balance on your Oyster card anywhere you'd top it up so it shouldn't be hard to keep track. As others have mentioned, auto top up works brilliantly do that this problem can be avoided entirely.

jay55 · 15/07/2014 21:29

Auto top up is fine until your card expires and they lock you out of your online account so you can't change it.

I buy monthly tickets but have had loads of issues with oyster online previously it's not been consistent.

It's daft, especially at night.

But should keep oyster separate from other cards so not to pay twice and at risk of theft/loss.

mymoonandstars · 15/07/2014 21:31

You can check anywhere you can top up? So in the OP's instance it was one mile in any direction. Mmmm. Convenient.

lucidlady · 15/07/2014 21:31

You can use contactless bank cards on buses too.

Wittsend13 · 15/07/2014 21:32

Auto top up is a pain in the arse. You have to set it so it doesn't go below £8-£10 quid. Used to be fine when it was a fiver, but they changed it I guess to earn more interest holding your money!

vindscreenviper · 15/07/2014 21:35

This is probably going to make me sound as thick as mince but...

does this mean I will have to get an Oyster Card to take the bus from Kings Cross to the West End on my annual visit to London to see a torturous musical?

StanleyLambchop · 15/07/2014 21:35

Ha! We dream of Oyster cards where I live. Shitty , expensive bus service. But we can still pay cash (for now!)

Meloria · 15/07/2014 21:36

But lucid what if you don't have a contactless? I'm a very modern person with a few cards but none of them is contactless and I don't particularly want one. What if you're young and don't have any cards at all?

Meloria · 15/07/2014 21:37

vindscreenviper you'll have to buy an Oyster when you arrive at King's Cross St Pancras.