I am slightly mad at New York City Transit (MTA). I accidentally bent my metro card and the fare terminal wouldn’t read my card. I purchased my train pass in the month of October and had about $10 or $12 dollars on the card. I took the card to the station manager and his machine couldn’t read it either, so he gave me the MTA brochure and told me to mail the card in to the address on the back.
Long story short… NYC Transit sent me a letter back saying that the card I sent them was a 7-day unlimited “bus” pass purchased in February. They told me there is no way possible that I purchased the card in October and due to the fact that I didn’t mail the card in during the 7 day period back in February… I am basically shit out of luck.
1. Kitty Bradshaw doesn’t catch buses…. and that is a fact. So I know the machine has a screw missing saying I owned a 7 Day Unlimited Bus Pass!
2. Normally I purchase 30 day passes but due to the fact that my job has a deal with the transit… I no longer need to purchase passes directly… so in the month of October, while waiting for my job issued Metro Pass to come… I began to add money to the cards instead of purchasing the unlimited passes.
3. I had my credit card statement that reflected that I added money to my card during the month of October… but customer service said that wasn’t good enough.
So basically it all boils down to because I accidentally bent my card, I lost my hard earned money… and they didn’t even send me the card back!
It bothers me that Transit who is steadily going up on the rates… can not offer their customers some sort of better system to assist with damaged cards. I can offer proof that I paid for the card… but because the machine tells them differently… then I must be lying?! Since when did machines go without making errors? Are these the same machines that balance the budget for New York City Transit? Is this why New York City Transit is $1.5 billion dollars in the hole? My question is, where is the money going? Certainly not to machines that give accurate information. Monthly passes are on the verge of going from $81 to $104?
Now here is the thought… if this country is in a recession…. and we the people are being encouraged to put money back into the economy to come out of this recession… then why is the one thing that helps us New Yorkers get to and from work being increased. How about New York City Transit ask for a bailout, instead of increasing the rates?!
In a minute, I will have the task of making the decision on is it more cost effective to catch the train or to purchase a car?!
