Metrocard Vending Machines Had a Case of the Mondays

#1, I guess the millions of Americans who are using their Credit Cards just to get by each day in this crumbling economy are Hipsters too? Twit.

And despite this setback, a CASHLESS SOCIETY will still happen (I say within 4-5 years, to be exact).

some of you wouldnt know humor if it bashed you in the head. It is true, that blogs have killed humor and satire. And I know which of you are wanna be hipsters with no fricking money destined to be a manager at a soon to be closed Starbucks in Muncie, clowns

typing this while I clean my teeth with my gold card, clowns...

and I loved how all the both people were like - what do you want me to do... I dont accept cash!!!

thanks MTA - I really hope the technology always works... it would be a shame if this happened on a weekend and you couldnt get your tech guy into the office for a day or two...

MTA - IT STAFF : please remember vacation must be limited to 2 days per a week (most call this a weekend)

For those of us that use monthly cards, paying by credit or debit protects you if you lose your card. (And I would never put $81 in cash into one of those stupid machines.) If you lose a card purchased via debit/credit, you call up MTA, give them your debit/credit card number, and they refund whatever portion of the MetroCard value that you weren't able to use. Happened to me once and I was amazed at how efficiently they were able to refund my money.

Of course my monthly card ran out this morning at 46th/Bliss on the 7 line and out of the 4 machines, only one was working and it was only able to do cash. Thanks MTA!

Right on #25! The MTA employees at Penn Station snickered and did little to inform the public that the machines weren't working-making the situation even worse....

It is always a good idea to have a $2.00 MetroCard with you for just this occasion. The $2.00 you spend is little compared to the hassle.

Although, I haven't purchased a pay as you go MetroCard for some time. I actually wind up finding them. It pays to pick up MetroCards, since the last one I found had $10 on it.

which is all the more reason to keep a backup Metrocard.

The MTA loves that idea - getting money from you well in advance of when you actually need their services. You don't think the machines are purposely poorly maintained for that reason, do you?

Just to point out -- it wasn't the inability of the machines to take cards that was the problem. It was the line caused by all the broken machines (credit AND cash), combined with the total lack of communication. At 42nd Street on the F/V, there are four machines -- two cash and two credit. Of those, exactly one worked. But the one transit worker in the place wasn't telling people that -- she was just standing there, while person after person walked up to try the credit machines or the broken cash-based machine.

At 47th on the same line, there are (I think) about seven machines -- it looked like two worked. I waited in one line for several minutes, before I realized that the people in front weren't actually getting MetroCards -- they were all walking up to the machine, trying it, and walking away empty-handed. It's not that hard to tape an "Out of Order" sign to broken machines, but that's too much to expect from the MTA employees. (I guess posting signs is not part of the union's agreement with the MTA.)

You know, in any half-decent transit system, they would have just opened the gates and let people through...but not here.

I was unable to use my TransitChek credit card this morning at about 8:45am. Said "processing" for about 3 minutes then "unable to process". Hopefully the $ was not deducted from the card.

Checked my bank account this morning and even though the machines aren't working, the MTA is still so kind as to deduct the monet from my account. According to their website, cards will be credited in 7-10 business days but I'm not holding my breath.

The same problem sometimes happens with the LIRR and Metro North ticket machines. A few months ago the LIRR ticket machines was charging the transaction twice on the person credit card.

Credit card use = hipsterdom. That's definitely one of the wackiest associations I've ever read. Keep em coming Twakum, this is hilarious!

I think some newsstands, such as Hudson News, sell Metrocards.

Jen, I agree with the hit or miss statement regarding the machines' reliability to read cards. About 50% of the time I find a machine that can read my bank debit card, yet I never have a problem with Amex.

Slightly OT, but does anyone know how one can get the benefits of Transitcheck/etc. without going through one's employer? My office refuses to participate in the program.

I feel like the Metrocard machines seem to be able to read credit/ATM cards about 50% of the time. So I have no idea if the problems are a widespread issue or just machines being machines.

Yeah, you can use cash, but if you have an ETRAC card, then the money gets deducted that month (tax-free, I'll grant you), you can't use the money stored on the card for transit, and it just sits there, idly, like those "hipsters" the first poster was banging on about. Or you can take utterly unnecessary trips to bring the balance down. Or, OK, just change the deductions you make.

The interesting thing is that not accepting credit cards is the natural state of the Metrocard machines at the Union St R station.

They were still down as of about 9 this morning. There was a note on the MTA site at about 10 that said:

"Also, MetroCard Vending Machines system wide are experiencing problems processing Debit and Credit card transactions. We are working to resolve the issue. We apologize for any inconvenience and thank you for your patience."

It's now gone... wonder if they fixed the problem. Even though it said it couldn't process my payment for an unlimited card yesterday morning, there was still a hold on my money in my account...

Luckily I had just switched to getting the cards sent to me at work. My friend gets the card that lets you buy a card tho and even that wasn't working in the machines yesterday.

I saw one guy cursing the machine at the G Clinton Washington stop this morning.

i get metro cards through work, but still carry around a pay card with at least a ride on it. that's not expensive to do and has come in handy many a time.

Wow--you guys were right. The first poster IS always a dickhead!

Oh just have them mailed to you each month and have the cost detected from your checking account.

Weird

The irony here is that one should never put cash in a metrocard machine

As an NYPD cop told us once when it ate my friend's $20:

"There is nothing you can do, they sometimes just eat your cash, happens all the time. All you can do if fill out the form to try to get your money back and never put cash in a metrocard machine again."

The problems with the metrocard machines are still going on. I tried refilling my card this morning on 3 different machines at the 23rd street station and got same thing. Sat there saying "Processing", then 3 mins later, "unable to process transaction". Good thing i had cash :)

Aww Poor babies *Sniff* Boo hoo :'-(

I have mine mailed to me each month and the cost detected from my checking account. Now excuse me while I finish snorting the rest of my coke off my hooker's chest.

i could feel a lot of people

mentally bashing

my brains in while

i was fishing around for cash

yesterday am...

I saw the throngs of people at Penn Station and can safely say the majority of them just wanted to get to work on time. They did not resemble fashionistas or hipsters, even if they did, who cares? The MTA forces people to use the goddamn machines because they closed token booths. The machines don't work, there is chaos and frustration. The MTA doesn't give two shits. MTA employees had a good laugh at the public's expense—again.

still down this morning as of 9am.

Damn tawkum, American express is still denying your application huh? Those jerks.

I'm usually supportive of many of the criticisms of the semi-elite class in the city; however, this one's way misplaced.

Lots of people use the MetroCard machines for non-cash transactions, which is possibly one of the reasons that the MTA elected to invest in them. Many people actually try to carry very little cash in order to better track and manage their money, rather than killing their budget with $20, $40, etc. withdrawals from the ATM.

Others use the cashless transactions so they have good records for submitting requests for reimbursement when they've elected to have pre-tax money deducted from their paychecks for MTA/commute expenses. I'd venture a guess that most of these people are neither hipsters nor fashionistas.

Regardless, incidents like this MTA machine issue remind us of how far we still are from a cashless society (if that is even a worthwhile goal!)

Well I had CASH, waited on a line for 15 minutes at Penn Station while some dipshit MTA employee in an orange vest chuckled. The lone token booth clerk chose to drink coffee and take her sweet ass time while the lines grew. Some of my fellow straphangers walked through the gates into the waiting arms of the summons—happy police. At least no one was beaten for trying to get to work. Fuck the MTA...

I suspect that the overwhelming majority, like 99%, of the hundreds of thousands of people buying metrocards with credit cards each day are not "hipsters and wanna be fashionistas" living on parental money.

But, you know, if leaving bitter, ignorant comments on Gothamist makes you happy...

A good proportion of NYC's population can barely affort ONE metrocard, let alone a backup!!!

Well, if you had CASH, you would be able to buy one, wouldn't you now? But that would mean the hordes of hipsters and wanna be fashionistas would not be able to go anywhere, for their money consists entirely of mommy/daddy provided debit and credit cards. So you can walk, punk. In those flip flops. Through the dog shit. or better yet, ride a bike, get whacked by a cop and then sue.