Twenty fours hours ago, I went online and deposited $68.00 to my Presto e-purse.I tapped my card this morning. What do you think happened?
May I remind the donkeys running this archaic e-payment purse system that GO trains aren't like TTC subway trains. They don't run 2 minutes apart during rush hour.
Up popped a message when I tapped that read "INS. FUNDS. SEE CUS SRVCE" - something to that effect. I saw red! Red!
I don't have to time to see Customer Service. I got a Presto card to avoid the station all together. I don't want to line up. I don't want to wait. I want to get on the train and I want to get off the train.
I figured I'd deal with whatever that message meant when I got to Union which also meant being late for work. I'd rather be 10 minutes late for work than wait a half hour for the 8:25 train.
I hate, hate, hate being put in this position.
But guess what happened? Yep.
At Pickering, two GO constables got on and I got nailed. It didn't matter that I had a 20-ride history of tapping on and off tied to the system. It didn't matter that I got out my Blackberry and showed the constable the confirmation email of my $68.00 deposit.
I got a warning. And after it was all explained to me what the Warning Notice meant, I noticed that my last name (a portion of it that I don't share online) was spelled incorrectly. The constable was nice, pleasant even, but don't lecture me about taking time to go into the station. I don't have TIME. Have you tried to park at Oshawa GO Station? I do a daycare drop off at 7:30am. That's the contract I have with my provider. That's how my lifestyle works, so I have limited to time to f*ck around at the station in the morning. I park, tap my card, EXPECT IT TO BE UPDATED, and get on the train.
So don't lecture me when you can't take the time to spell my name right on the warning notice. I'm not mad at the constable. I'm just angry with the situation. He handled it well and I'm too honest for my own good, because I pointed it out that if I get stopped again, my ID won't match with the person on file. Oh no! I'll do this right to the end. Put me on the list! I pay my fare. I pay my fare every damn time.
What happened this morning has left a bad taste in my mouth and also didn't seem to convince anyone sitting with me on the train to buy into the system. Many were surprised there was a delay when you deposit online. No one seemed impressed that if you wanted your card up-to-date at deposit, you have to visit a wicket.
"So what's the point then?" asked one woman. I didn't have an answer.
Online e-payment/e-load should be instantaneous when you next tap your card.
If Tim Horton's can get it right, so can Presto.
If it's a cost factor in regards to upgrading the system, charge an annual fee for the card. Find a way. Because when the card becomes mandatory, the expectation of the public won't be to pray for the next 24 hours that their card will work when they roll out of bed in the morning!
Weirdly, I loaded my card yesterday morning and it was already updated by my evening trip home. You've really been unlucky.
ReplyDeleteHave you actually complained yet? Probably a good idea to do so if you haven't...
I have found it to be widly inconsistent, which is part of my frustration.
ReplyDeleteI don't like guessing games.
Last top-up, my balance carried through 5 hours later when I tapped on at Union.
The top-up before that appeared within 12 hours.
The one before that was 72 hours.
A reader texted me that their balance was updated within 2 hours of an e-load.
I really wanted this to work for me but it doesn't. I could sign up for the automatic e-load but I don't trust the system. Do you blame me?
Hi CJ
ReplyDeleteI've been reading for some time but this was a big clue for me. I now know who you are but I promise I won't give you away but how do you feel about people who do figure you out coming up to you? I'd like to just introduce myself because I'm a big fan of the site.
I haven't had any issues, the funds have been there when I tap on, but honestly I would never leave it to the last day anyway. I always deposit a few days before the end of the month, to avoid what you went through.
ReplyDeleteI'm an overly cautious person by nature.
I don't understand why the technology isn't there though. That's pretty frustrating. I though I read that you can have 1 trip in a deficit as long as you're a regular rider?
There's nothing wrong with expecting a balance to be available when you put one on. It's like my OnStar minutes. One call to OnStar and less than 2 minutes later, my balance is available for use.
ReplyDelete@Anne
ReplyDeleteDefinitely introduce yourself. Considering few people can tell a person to shut up in the morning, I doubt you'll stand on your seat and yell, "Hey everyone, this woman writes a GO train story about most of you on a website called thiscrazytrain.com!" or someting to that effect.
@Kary
I got distracted (surprise!) but I also expect Presto to fulfill their 24-hour commitment. I'll be paying customer service a visit tonight at Union.
@Lucie
When I did call and discussed the last faux pas, I was told the system was "still in its infancy" and "there were limitations".
The readers at GO stations are connected "live" to a central computer. Ther is no reason for a 24 hour wait. 24 seconds, maybe. I'd live with 24 minutes, but grumble still.
ReplyDeleteSo if they're connected to a central computer why can't the balance be instantly available when you tap? Why the wait?!
ReplyDeletePresto has your cash and you have to wait for the value to be added. That's bullshit and that's why I will not get a presto card until that is the only way I am able to travel on transit. Burn the 'efin card, CJ.
ReplyDeleteHere's my POV.
ReplyDeleteThe money is deducted from your credit card or bank account (if depositing funds through Interac online) IMMEDIATELY. Presto has your money IMMEDIATELY.
Therefore, if they've figured out a way to take your money IMMEDIATELY, they should extend the same courtesy and have the funds ready in your e-purse IMMEDIATELY.
Please do go to customer service tonight and express your dissatisfaction with the delay in being able to use your Presto card. Why on Earth does any person think this is reasonable. I sure as hell don't.
When I buy a paper monthly pass I can use it IMMEDIATELY.
I can understand your frustration. However, I have a couple of points/questions. 1) Given your past problems with Presto why do you wait until your balance is down to zero to load the card? 2) why not just go into the station on non-busy days (which is pretty much any day not at the end or beginning of the month) and top up your card? that taks about as much time as it does to do it online, probably less actually 3) it sounds like you load it quite often with small amounts of money, why dont you put more than $50 at a time so this doesnt happen so often?
ReplyDeleteHi Donna,
ReplyDeletePart of the appeal for me with the card was the fact that I didn't have to go into a station, stand at a desk and deal ... But a bigger factor is how I will mean to go in, but when I arrive at my stop, I auto-pilot to my car. But most of my time is spent rushing, rushing to the station, rushing to work, rushing home. But late at night, when my kid's in bed, or if I'm halfway home and I remember I need to add funds, I can log-on and do so.
I meant to deposit funds Friday night but I'm so absent-minded these days due to stressors I'd rather not divulge, I didn't remember until Sunday afternoon. When I deposited money to my card, I had a balance of $21 and change, this gave me enough fare for yesterday and because presto disclaims a 24 hour waiting period for the balance to be effective, how am I in the wrong for expecting come Tuesday morning, I'd have the right amount of fare?
I shouldn't have to deposit $75 every few days to always ensure a balance. I suppose I could just throw 300 bucks on it every 3 weeks but what about people who live paycheque to paycheque? Many people buy 10-rides because they don't have all the funds at the beginning of each month.
If she has to go into the station booth to reload it, she might as well buy a monthly pass or 10-ride.
ReplyDeleteBrampton and York Region have put their Presto implementations on hold. It's pretty clear that Presto has some bugs to work out. The concept is nice and all, but the execution is somewhat lacking.
If the system is still in it's infancy though and experiencing these issues, the ticket police should be aware of that and trained to accept other proof...i.e. you showed them the email confirming payment over 24 hours before. There's no way you should have even been given a warning, a little discretion and common sense on their part should have been shown.
ReplyDeleteif you do it online it takes at most 24 hours to appear. Mainly for the reason that all terminals, TTC and GO, need to be updated
ReplyDelete@Lucie
ReplyDeleteExactly.
I need to make a few amendments. My balance after tapping on Friday morning was $20.63. I had enough to ride home Friday night. Friday night came and went and of course, I forget to re-load. I did it Sunday. Monday morning I rode and Monday night, I would have had a negative balance (a tab). This also means that having a tab locks your card (I know this is in the literature but it does not attest to a customer having loaded the card more than 24 hours prior). So, I expected come Tuesday morning to be fine. With a locked card, I am forced to pay the balance owing DESPITE FUNDS HAVING BEEN DEPOSITED (wth?!) and then my card is unlocked and the funds deposited are applied. I learned this at GO CS tonight.
I didn't realize Presto was a bank. The hold on the car WHEN FUNDS ARE AVAILABLE is EXCESSIVE.
Ok, I'm done now.
Yeah, your card locks up after you go into the negative and you need to visit a GO/Presto booth in person to have it cleared.
ReplyDeleteLovely.
the reason why your Tim's card shows its balance changes immediately is because their system is on he rails of a true stored value system versus something built from the ground up by so-called experts.
ReplyDeletein fact, just about every other prepaid system works that way too. why the head of design allowed this design flaw to be built is beyond me but since they were paid using our tax dollars, I shouldn't care, riiiiiight?
-401
I hope someone from Presto or GO is reading your blog. Based on the horror story you are having I am one GO customer who will not be getting a Presto card anytime soon.
ReplyDeleteOf course they would actually have to be up and running in Pickering for me to do that, but that is another problem that Presto needs to figure out, our station is only six months late for having the system installed.
Presto is lame and very arcaic, I will never get one. I prefer the 1940's type writer ticket punchers, at least they are consistant.
ReplyDeleteJust reading this now, in September 2011, and looks like nothing has changed. I've actually wondered what happens if your Presto doesn't work. I mean, I was lucky the few times I got a "card error" or the machine wasn't working that I had a 10-ride handy, but if I went onboard, how is it my fault? I'm not going to miss my train b/c of the machine. At my station, there's TWO machines. At opposite ends of the station. At the next station, they're spaced quite far apart as well; infact I asked the CSR where it was so I can hop off the train and tap on the next stop instead, but he didn't know where they were. It's pretty crap service if I'm expected to wait another 30 minutes for the bus, or get a warning (which is a bit embarrassing).
ReplyDeleteThe e-purses are still not automatic and recently when I registered my card, it took almost a week for it to process, and that was after I went to the customer service desk and they said they'd "push" my request through, whatever that means.
When I was tapping onto the bus on the first day Presto was available on busses (Aug 22, I think?), NO ONE told me you had to tap off. Next morning? Card didn't work! On another bus trip, I tapped on, but didn't move my card quick enough from the scanner, so it counted TWO taps, and messed up the ride completely. Bus driver had to fix it while waiting to turn right out from the terminal. Half the time when I tap off, it says "error". As if there's some special way of tapping I haven't figured out.
Lastly - I went into overdraft. Okay, no big deal right? Except because this system doesn't update automatically (so they claim is the reason when I went to GO customer service), you have to go in PERSON, and pay a 25 cent admin charge. WOW, seriously? First, being treated like a criminal for owing $2~ by the guy at kiosk #4 serving me, on September 2, 2011 was bad enough, having to pay extra when the extra money you're adding should already cover the overdraft is silly. Overdraft...is GO transit a bank now? I'm not even sure CIBC would charge me 25 cents on an overdraft. Anyway, I am throwing that card out and just getting a new one.
But not for a while. I ended up paying for a "classic" monthly GO pass. No more tapping on and off 30 times. No more dealing with potentially being a criminal because I have a GO overdraft or not being able to tap on because the machines weren't working. I'm going to get another Presto card later so I can use the TTC (love not buying tokens), but I'm NEVER using it for GO transit again unless I have no other options.
I have had the same issue with the payment taking 48 hers to get to the card. GO claims the system still has bugs, but this system is not new tech. It was used in Asian cities in the 1990s (who have now moved to using cellphones to pay). Perhaps the issue is the culture and bureaucracy of the Go
ReplyDelete