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Photograph by [phil h] on Flickr
Commuters trying to buy Metrocards with credit or debit cards on Monday or yesterday morning faced problems at non-working Metrocard vending machines and, worse, money taken out of their accounts though they were told the transactions didn't go through. The NY Times spoke to NYC Transit, which described the systemwide outages (yes, pretty much all the machines) as unprecedented.
NYC Transit spokesman Paul Fleuranges said there was "some sort of communication problem between the machines and where the transactions are ultimately processed" and said customers whose accounts were charged would receive refunds within 10 days. Of course, at the stations, some "token booth" clerks tried to help, but sometimes it didn't work; one would-be straphanger told the Times:
"This morning at the Astor Place station, I had two clerks who told me to insert my card differently, even though customer after customer was stuck with the same problem,” said Torrey Whitman, an administrator at New York University School of Law. “One of the clerks took the card out of my hand, put it into the slot in the machine and let it sit there, as if that would work. Of course, we all know that you dip your card, and what more or less that dipping action involves.”Imagine how it was at the entrances without clerks circulating.
Update: While NYC Transit told the Times the situation appeared to be fixed by mid-morning yesterday, we're hearing that some people had trouble buying Metrocards last night (a station agent at the 53rd Street station said the system went down at around 6 p.m. and to try again in this morning).
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this is MTA's alternative to fare hikes.
This once again demonstrates that the clerks are useless and should be transferred to other, actually productive, jobs, or laid off. All these clerks are getting paid to do nothing.
Maybe the attendant dipped the card and then dozed off before removing it. They are a particularly sleepy breed...
Does anyone else find it to be a huge coincidence that the same week the MTA finds out it is getting audited-they 'somehow' get their hands on a bunch of cold hard cash instead of the credit card transactions?
I know as much about money laundering as the guys in Office Space, but it just seems to be a big coincidence....then again, I see conspiracy in just about everything these days...
or maybe the MTA should go back to having the clerks actually do clerk work...if they could actually do transactions again, this wouldn't have been a huge problem.
I had a Station Manager stop me from throwing my newspaper in the trash. When I asked if there was another area to discard the paper, he quickly replied, "Oh hell no! This is a free newspaper for me!" Useless...
I don't know what job those burgundy vested people do because it sure ain't helping passengers at the metrocard machines.
The MTA machines have always had issues. They are not serviced often enough. This past weekend I couldn't buy anything because the machine was not accepting bills. The week before it was only selling Single Rides. Yesterday I tried to put some money on my card and the touchscreen wasn't responding to the numbers I was pushing.
Obviously the MTA is run poorly and those in authority don't really care.
I don't know why everyone's bitching about the station clerks. A systemwide outage like this is rare, and how were they know to expect it? They certainly aren't trained to repair the machines. It's a failure of the MTA leadership, not the clerks themselves.
Another reason to drive into the city. With less people on the road, driving has been a pleasure.
EZ-PASS never breaks down either.
@Alex: It's just another in a long-running series of examples of MTA waste. If the clerks can't assist passengers with the one problem they do have in the station, what are they being paid for?
"EZ-PASS never breaks down either."
I know you're a troll, but there were many months where E-ZPass violations simply weren't being processed because the system was broken.
What kills me is the complete lack of initiative on the part of everyone at the MTA. The clerks say they didn't know there was a problem. Didn't they see the lines of people? How about picking up a phone and calling to see if anyone else has reported a problem? Nope, that's too much for these sloths.
I love that the station agent last night said to try again in the morning: so, he was saying people just weren't supposed to go home last night?
also, i think all those who have an extra transaction on their credit or debit cards should report it to their bank/cc as fraudulent in the hopes that those companies will make a stink about it.
Best way to handle this would be letting the people through the system without paying.
#14: That would require thought - have you ever seen an MTA clerk? Does it look like they've had a thought in 14 years? They are fat, lazy, rude and useless. Long live civil service jobs.
Belive me, if these fools weren't employed in civil spots, they'd be diagnosed as the mentally challenged folks that they are and they'd be on disability.
At least this way they get to feel productive.
"i think all those who have an extra transaction on their credit or debit cards should report it to their bank/cc as fraudulent in the hopes that those companies will make a stink about it."
They won't, that doesn't happen. All they'll do is charge it back to the MTA and collect their fee for that transaction.
this has been an ongoing issue for months. this past monday was a city wide issue...
Those machines suck. Even when they work correctly, it takes too many button presses buy a card.
First off, the main screen should just be in English, with a row of buttons for the alternate interface languages. A huge percentage of people would be saved a button-press that way.
Second, there should be a row of buttons with the most common options: "pay-per-ride card" "30-day unlimited" "1-day unlimited" "7-day unlimited". All on one screen. You hit the one you want, and then select the method of payment.
You'd be down to as few as two button-presses, instead of the 5 or 6 it takes now. If you've ever stood behind someone carefully considering each screen while your train rolls in, you'd appreciate this.
The only thing the service clerks should do...is be given brooms.
does anyone know what we're supposed to do to get the refund? i don't trust the mta to do it on their own