SUMMAGOLD

You need to buy your Oyster at the Underground ticket booths at Heathrow. The Heathrow Express wont sell them...she was likely trying to sell you an Express ticket to Paddington...

Exactly....at the entrance to the tube.

If you were staying at Old Street, I'm not sure why you bothered with the Heathrow Express - and your text reads as if you misunderstood its workings anyway. From T1-T3 to Paddington it's reasonable value and THE most reliable form of public transport in Britain: from T4 (where you must have arrived) to Old Street, it's wrong, wrong , wrong.

But it's run by a different company from the Tube, so it's not surprising their Heathrow staff sent you to THEIR nearest location that sold Oyster cards.

Hate to say it: but the Oyster thing is in there with the Vatican Museums as the subject most frequently advised on here. Next time, you really ought to check the advice offered here.

huh? flanner, what did i miss? not sure what we took, or why we took this route, or if there was a faster route, but we got to our destination. thanks for the insults!