I frequently use the OSI at West Hampstead between Jubilee and Overground to travel across London avoiding zone 1. One morning, I switched from the underground to the overground, only to find the Overground was closed, shutters down, with a sign saying trains were resuming 45 min later, no reason given. So I returned to the underground station to continue my journey, and was charged for 2 separate journeys, second now at peak time.
In my view, this isn’t my fault and I should be charged for 1 off peak journey (ideally the avoiding zone 1 price, but understand if not). I contacted the Oyster helpline, who initially said all trains were running per their records, so no refunds due. Once I sent them a picture of the sign, they changed to saying there were strikes (not that I can find any record of this) and that means they don’t issue refunds at all.
Now I’m not looking for a free journey, just to be reverted to the actual single journey, had the tap out / in not happened, which would have been the case if it was an internal station change. Do I have an argument, and how can I escalate?