Interesting Oyster Problem

[silverfoxcc]

On Tues bought a 1-3 zone Travelcard from the machine at Kew Gardens. The intended route was District to Victorias and bus onwards. The return was to do bus to Waterloo and then train to Richmond then up to Kew Bridge. BUT i did notice that Kew Bridge was zones 3/4 and Richmond was Zone 4. didnt want to risk being checked in the Zone 4 bit, so asked if i could change the 1-3 to a 1-4. no problem but ticket office was closed due to cashing up or something, re open at 13.00. We couldnt wait 45mins but it was suggested i could do it at Gunnersbury, but he wasnt sure if that ticket office was closed. I asked if i could change it at Victoria, he thought it would be alright. so asked a 'gateperson?' at Victoria where i could change it. Advised i couldnt there but to try in the main station. There i got the same answer as it was a Southwest? travelcard and they were Southern. In the end we reversed the outward journey on the way back.

Now can anyone who deals with Travelcards explain why it was so hard to get a ticket 'upgraded' and got the bums rush twice. Not a moan, a genuine question and what to me, seemed a simple matter made hard.

 

[maniacmartin]

Travelcards cannot be excessed, regardless of issuing TOC.
The only option to do what you wanted without spending more than the cost of a Z1-4 travelcard would have been to convince someone at Kew Gardens to non-issue (refund) the ticket you bought in error, and to start again..

Edit: This post applies to paper tickets, not Oyster

 

[bb21]

Do you mean you bought a Travelcard season and put it on Oyster? If so, how long is the season valid for?

There is no Day Travelcard with validity only within Zones 1-3, so if it weren't a season ticket, I have no idea what you mean.

 

[MikeWh]

If the travelcard was a season ticket on Oyster and the trips into zone 4 are not every day then the simplest way to cover the extra is to load some PAYG credit. The system will automatically deduct the zone 4 single when you touch out. If the travelcard was a one-day paper version then the minimum area covered would be zones 1-4 anyway.

 

[silverfoxcc]

bb and mike,

I bought a Day Travelcard via the machine on the 'down side' at Kew Gardens, I am sure the screen said Zones 1-3 It was after that i saw on the map on the station that Kew Gardens is a Z3/4 station.

I will look at the machine next time i am there ( Sun week)

 

[MikeWh]

bb and mike,

I bought a Day Travelcard via the machine on the 'down side' at Kew Gardens, I am sure the screen said Zones 1-3 It was after that i saw on the map on the station that Kew Gardens is a Z3/4 station.

I will look at the machine next time i am there ( Sun week)

OK, well day travelcards are very simple. There are only 3 available within zones 1-6:

Anytime zones 1-4: £12.10
Anytime zones 1-6: £17.20
Off-peak zones 1-6: £12.10 (£8.00 with railcard)

 

[jon0844]

Is it that machines offer tickets but actually give another? Like asking for a named station and getting 'London Terminals' which actually means it's valid further than you requested.

I guess there's some logic if someone might spend ages looking for a ticket that technically doesn't exist.

 

[swt_passenger]

Is it that machines offer tickets but actually give another?

That seems the most likely. IIRC the recent annual TfL fares tables have still shown all the earlier combinations, just with the fares blank in most rows of the table, because the same table shows all the 7 day versions on its right hand side.

It is quite conceivable that the machines still display more possible options than are actually for sale for a one day fare - because the machine offers the choice of zones before the choice of daily or weekly?

 

[bb21]

bb and mike,

I bought a Day Travelcard via the machine on the 'down side' at Kew Gardens, I am sure the screen said Zones 1-3 It was after that i saw on the map on the station that Kew Gardens is a Z3/4 station.

I will look at the machine next time i am there ( Sun week)

In that case, I think, as MikeWh said, your Travelcard would have included Zone 4 travel anyway, so no additional fare was payable.

That is, unless the ticket itself said Zones 1-3 on them? If so, that was very very poor form from the machine operators.