I bought a Weekly Travelcard Zones 1-4 on my Oyster card at a newsagents (364-366 Sutton Common Road, Sutton, Surrey. SM3 9PL). I paid by debit card. The cashier gave me my oyster card and debit card back and I left the shop. I put my belongings into my bag as it was dark and I didn't want to walk around with my purse out. I presumed I had been issued a receipt in my oyster card. I didn't use my Oyster card on Monday 2nd May as it was Bank Holiday. I used it as normal yesterday to go into work in Waterloo and come home. I got the bus to the station this morning and then couldn't get through the barriers. To my surprise, the attendant told me I didn't have a travelcard on my Oyster card, and instead only had 30p pay as you go left. I checked my records at the desk and indeed no travelcard had been issued on 1st May. So I bought another travelcard and went to work (late!) I got home and checked my bank account. The money for the travelcard had been taken from ym account on 1st May (£39.40) but I had not been issued a receipt by the cashier. I returned to the newsagents this evening to report this incident. They called the cashier and he confirmed what happened. They refunded the £39.40 but refused to give me the £10.60 I had spent on pay as you go because they hadn't put the travelcard on properly. They told me it was MY fault for not getting a receipt, even though it is a cashier's responsibility to issue it. They knew what had happened but did not refund the money I had lost as a result of their mistake. At Morden, they told me that if you are topping up and the cashier doesn't beep the Oyster card after the transaction had gone through the money doesn't go on properly. It sounds like this happened to me. I think the cashiers at the shop mentioned above require training on the use of top-up for Oyster cards or they should not be able to provide this service. If the transaction had not gone through properly they should have asked me to wait for the receipt to make sure or followed me out of the shop afterwards to tell me. They did neither. In fact, the man I spoke to this evening already knew about the incident as the cashier had told him although they did nothing about it at the time. Maybe they wanted to take my money without me knowing? I am completely appalled at this poor level of service and as a result I have lost £10.60. They were at fault with the Oyster card process (& not issuing a receipt for the transaction) and yet they tried to blame me. I have all the receipts, Oyster usage statement and bank statement that I can provide you if necessary. Please let me know the outcome of this complaint. I look forward to hearing from you. My email address is
[email protected]. Many thanks. Sarah Heasman.