Via Garibaldi 8 Posted June 27, 2016 Share #1 Posted June 27, 2016 I had an incredible weekend with Metrocards that makes me wonder how many people are being screwed over by the . So Thursday I purchased a brand new Metrocard (an Express Bus Plus card)... Paid $58.25... Friday I decided to put another Express Bus Plus card on that card since it would mean not having to fill up for the next two weeks. As soon as I did that at the 57th street station, my card malfunctioned. I tried swipping it to get the train and all I got was a "Swipe Card Again" message. I got the impression that some of the staff there knew that some of the turnstiles were a mess but were letting people swipe anyway because there was a guy outside of the booth in addition to the Token Booth Clerk that told me to just go through the gate. So after having spent $115.50, I had basically nothing to show for it, and was forced to buy yet another NEW Metrocard for $58.25. There were so many MVMs either messed up at three stations I was at that it was really incredible. One machine at 57th street was basically debiting people's cards (mine included) without giving them a Metrocard. At Herald Square, numerous swipes were necessary for just about everybody at each turnstile, and the same was true at some turnstiles at Union Square. It just seems crazy to me that the can be allowed to run in such a manner. The total monies I spent between Thursday and Saturday was $212.75. The original $115.50, I will have to reimbursed for, then I have to wait for $19.50 to clear my account that was charged in error when I decided to get a pay-per-ride after the original card started malfunctioning. I admit that it's the first time in a while that I've had an issue, but at the same time, there were wayyy too many turnstiles and MVMs screwed up, and it always seems to be during the weekends. It's like no one touches the machines until Monday. For a system that runs 24/7 that seems rather ridiculous. In short I think there should be some changes to the way in which the handles Metrocards and their turnstiles and MVMs. For all of the aggravation, you also usually lose one day from any pass that you have with them which is insane, since they are given your money in advance and will hold on to it (with interest accruing) until they issue you a new card (or cards) in the mail. Something else that I find odd.... Recently had a pay-per-ride and was short on the $2.75 fare for the shuttle bus... Put in $0.15 in change and then dipped my card. Despite putting in change in advance, the remaining amount on that Metrocard was taken, which shouldn't have happened. Yet again money that the gets to keep... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NY1635 Posted June 27, 2016 Share #2 Posted June 27, 2016 Did you fill out the form they give people whenever a Metrocard malfunctions? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Via Garibaldi 8 Posted June 27, 2016 Author Share #3 Posted June 27, 2016 Did you fill out the form they give people whenever a Metrocard malfunctions? I'm doing one online right now (e-fix)... Take that back... Can't even do an e-fix since the card is "damaged"... It has to be mailed in... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
S78 via Hylan Posted June 27, 2016 Share #4 Posted June 27, 2016 I've had a similar situation happen to me with my credit card. I called my company card and reported the issue. It took a few days, but I was reimbursed. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Via Garibaldi 8 Posted June 27, 2016 Author Share #5 Posted June 27, 2016 I've had a similar situation happen to me with my credit card. I called my company card and reported the issue. It took a few days, but I was reimbursed. In the past I've just reported my card as being lost and got reimbursed that way with my card company, but this is wayyy more complicated because I had TWO express bus plus passes on that one card that malfunctioned. I also have a $19.50 charge pending on my account for a card I never received (bad MVM), plus the monies I spent for the other cards, so I have let all of this stuff clear before I do anything. What I am going to do is file the claim and I expect one 7 day express bus pass, PLUS another pass with 5 days on it for the first express bus pass I got. If I don't get that, I'm disputing the charge with my bank. What I find troubling is how the can encourage riders to refill their Metrocards, but not update the claim form. It looks exactly the same as in the past, so I had no room to clarify that it wasn't just one 7 day pass on this card, but rather two. Luckily there was no money on the card... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MHV9218 Posted June 27, 2016 Share #6 Posted June 27, 2016 Call the MTA, get refunded, and get over it. I still can't take you seriously when every time I see your signature there's a racist endorsed for president. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Via Garibaldi 8 Posted June 27, 2016 Author Share #7 Posted June 27, 2016 Call the MTA, get refunded, and get over it. I still can't take you seriously when every time I see your signature there's a racist endorsed for president. My signature has nothing to do with the topic at hand, so I would suggest that you get over it and move on. It's 2016 and people are free to elect who they please, including you with crooked Hillary. I created the topic to see if other individuals have had similar situations, as I noticed numerous machines with problems throughout the subway system over the weekend. Given how important the Metrocard is, it's troubling to me that the does such a poor job maintaining their machines. I imagine that those who use the subway at particular stations indeed have a lot of problems. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sovetskii52 Posted June 27, 2016 Share #8 Posted June 27, 2016 Same problem for me. I added $10 to my regular card Sunday (6/26/2016) morning at Grand Central, swiped the card, but it kept telling me swipe again and again. Tried different turnstiles. I went to the machines and did a "Get Card Info" and it said the entire card expired in 1990. WTF? And this is not the first time. Same thing happened once with my 7-day local bus and subway unlimited card after 2 days of use. Had to fill out the long form to get a refund. I am getting annoyed with Metrocards and turnstiles. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Missabassie Posted June 27, 2016 Share #9 Posted June 27, 2016 Something else that I find odd.... Recently had a pay-per-ride and was short on the $2.75 fare for the shuttle bus... Put in $0.15 in change and then dipped my card. Despite putting in change in advance, the remaining amount on that Metrocard was taken, which shouldn't have happened. Yet again money that the gets to keep... Unfortunately, I've been burned with this too in the past. It seems if you put in change before dipping your metrocard, it won't recognise it. If you have less than full fare you dip your card and then add change after to make up the difference. It sucks I know.... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Via Garibaldi 8 Posted June 27, 2016 Author Share #10 Posted June 27, 2016 Unfortunately, I've been burned with this too in the past. It seems if you put in change before dipping your metrocard, it won't recognise it. If you have less than full fare you dip your card and then add change after to make up the difference. It sucks I know.... I think it's important that folks see how the has manipulated certain things with the Metrocard to favor them. I normally purchase passes so I wasn't aware of some of these things, but it's very troubling nonetheless. I mailed in my damaged card and will just wait and see how long it takes to be reimbursed (hopefully with the right amount of passes). I will be very interested to see what they do with the new system. It's also absurd that after all of this time, you still cannot do all Metrocard claims online. Snail mail gives them more time to delay in getting your problem resolved. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lance Posted June 27, 2016 Share #11 Posted June 27, 2016 I don't think it's any kind of malicious intent on the part of the MTA, just a sad fact that the technology dates back to the early '90s and all the problems that stems from a card reader system this old. I do agree that in this day and age, we should not have to deal with snail mail for reimbursement claims, but I'm not really surprised. Way too many government agencies seem to live in this fantasy land where snail mail and calling between 9a-5p are still en vogue. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Via Garibaldi 8 Posted June 27, 2016 Author Share #12 Posted June 27, 2016 I don't think it's any kind of malicious intent on the part of the MTA, just a sad fact that the technology dates back to the early '90s and all the problems that stems from a card reader system this old. I do agree that in this day and age, we should not have to deal with snail mail for reimbursement claims, but I'm not really surprised. Way too many government agencies seem to live in this fantasy land where snail mail and calling between 9a-5p are still en vogue. Has there been any attempt by the to reduce the number of MVMs? There used to be more in Grand Central, particularly by one of the Metro-North ticket areas, which no longer exist, though there is certainly space to house them. Those machines had constant problems (one couldn't read credit cards for several months). How often do they actually check the machines? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lance Posted June 28, 2016 Share #13 Posted June 28, 2016 I can't say for certain, but I also have noticed they removed the MVMs in Grand Central Terminal proper and replaced them with more TVMs for Metro-North. I kind of wish I knew that before I walked all the way to the TVM location and then had to walk all the way back to the shuttle entrance to refill my MetroCard. Also, it would not surprise me if there were less MVMs in the subway station given the ongoing construction of the new stairs and entrance from the subway mezzanine to the 42nd Street side of Grand Central Terminal, which incidentally, is why I've taken to using the Lexington Ave passageway entrance for the train as of late. With the now more confined spaces of the main Grand Central subway mezzanine, those MVMs have been moved around and are currently clustered around the stairs. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
46Dover Posted June 28, 2016 Share #14 Posted June 28, 2016 I've had an instance where my MetroCard didn't work in the subway, but it did on the bus (after it going up and down like 6 times lol) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Via Garibaldi 8 Posted June 28, 2016 Author Share #15 Posted June 28, 2016 I've had an instance where my MetroCard didn't work in the subway, but it did on the bus (after it going up and down like 6 times lol) I was hoping that would be the case for me... Dipped my card almost 10 times on the BxM2 and it didn't work... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RestrictOnTheHanger Posted June 28, 2016 Share #16 Posted June 28, 2016 I think it's important that folks see how the has manipulated certain things with the Metrocard to favor them. I normally purchase passes so I wasn't aware of some of these things, but it's very troubling nonetheless. I mailed in my damaged card and will just wait and see how long it takes to be reimbursed (hopefully with the right amount of passes). I will be very interested to see what they do with the new system. It's also absurd that after all of this time, you still cannot do all Metrocard claims online. Snail mail gives them more time to delay in getting your problem resolved. I had to mail in a damaged card once. It was a weekly that I just bought. Took about a week or week and a half from when I sent it and I saw a credit on my card. They dont contact you about it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Via Garibaldi 8 Posted June 28, 2016 Author Share #17 Posted June 28, 2016 I had to mail in a damaged card once. It was a weekly that I just bought. Took about a week or week and a half from when I sent it and I saw a credit on my card. They dont contact you about it. Oh I'm not new to this... I expect to receive a plethora of Metrocards and perhaps small checks for me to deposit for the aggravation, as if I want to schlepp to my bank to deposit checks for odd amounts. The last time this happened and I was stupid enough to send the card in, I got a Metrocard (several months later) and one or two small checks. The whole thing was laughable. It's yet another example of the being stuck in the past. I was almost certain that I would be able to file an e-claim, but after all of these years, snail mail is the only way, and I'll probably lose one or two days on my first pass to boot, so when you think about the amount of time spent dealing with this, I would've been better off reporting the card lost with my card company and calling it a day. Too late for that now. I still have a pending $19.50 from Saturday on my account too for the MVM that was messed up... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Porter Posted June 28, 2016 Share #18 Posted June 28, 2016 The really needs to replace the magnetic stripe cards with smart cards housing microchips, otherwise I wouldn't mind reverting to tokens. Call the MTA, get refunded, and get over it. I still can't take you seriously when every time I see your signature there's a racist endorsed for president. Nationalist and xenophobic, not racist. Please don't try to read between the lines; you'll strain your eyes to the point of going blind. For the record, I'm not voting for him anyway, in case you were wondering. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MHV9218 Posted June 28, 2016 Share #19 Posted June 28, 2016 Nationalist and xenophobic, not racist. Please don't try to read between the lines; you'll strain your eyes to the point of going blind. For the record, I'm not voting for him anyway, in case you were wondering. It cracks me up that VG8 upvoted this. "Nationalism and xenophobia," ah yes, that's the ticket I'll sign on to. I stand by my comment, though. When you grossly generalize negative beliefs about certain peoples and do everything your power to eliminate their rights and humanity, that makes you a racist. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Via Garibaldi 8 Posted June 28, 2016 Author Share #20 Posted June 28, 2016 It cracks me up that VG8 upvoted this. "Nationalism and xenophobia," ah yes, that's the ticket I'll sign on to. I stand by my comment, though. When you grossly generalize negative beliefs about certain peoples and do everything your power to eliminate their rights and humanity, that makes you a racist. I upvoted the part talking about the needing to update their Metrocards, which is what this thread was created for. Apparently some people can't stick to the topic-at-hand. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Union Tpke Posted June 28, 2016 Share #21 Posted June 28, 2016 The really needs to replace the magnetic stripe cards with smart cards housing microchips, otherwise I wouldn't mind reverting to tokens. Nationalist and xenophobic, not racist. Please don't try to read between the lines; you'll strain your eyes to the point of going blind. For the record, I'm not voting for him anyway, in case you were wondering. I agree that they aren't great, but you can't get transfers with tokens. Trump is racist. See what he says to "the Blacks" or to the Latinos. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fresh Pond Posted June 29, 2016 Share #22 Posted June 29, 2016 Keep the politics to the off-topic side of the forums. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MHV9218 Posted June 30, 2016 Share #23 Posted June 30, 2016 That signature brings politics into every single post on the forums. I don't need to see racism when I click on a thread about MetroCards. And if I do see it, there's every reason to call it out. I keep my politics out of my signature, don't know why others couldn't learn to do the same. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lance Posted June 30, 2016 Share #24 Posted June 30, 2016 You know, you could simply ignore the signature or hide it in the member options page. I'm not going to force anyone to remove or change what is tantamount to a bumper sticker because of perceived offensiveness of the signature itself. Since this thread has run its course, I have locked it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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