| from: | PC | ||
| to: | cj@thiscrazytrain.com | ||
| date: | Wed, Apr 27, 2016 at 3:26 PM | ||
| subject: | no pics.. just blog |
You can keep my Loonie…
Should it really be called Service Guarantee when the benefit is only valid for the first 35 trips which in most of the cases is 3 - 3.5 weeks and not the entire month? Considering that from ride #36, the reimbursement are paid at a lower rate which can be a loonie* or even zero, once you hit the 40-rides mark (*it can be different for other routes but the same principle applies).
I am a ‘Milton line’ long-time user. Last night on my way back home, the train came to a full stop @ Kipling for an hour due to ‘signal issues’. Reviewing my claim history, I noticed that there are more delays in the last few days of the month than those at the beginning; hence the reimbursement towards the end might be a loonie (like last night) or $0 later in the month.
Following is an example of a reply from claims@ gotransit.com which came as a surprise -an unpleasant one-
“The GO Train Service Guarantee can only credit you what you paid for your trip. Passengers on their 41+ trip within a month pay $0. Your trip falls within this timeframe, therefore your credit will be $0, as this trip was free”
This trip was free? Wait a minute, I pre-pay $277 per month (Streetsville-Union), the loyalty trip is a great idea, but it doesn’t make any of those rides free. Moreover,this means that the service guarantee benefits more the non-frequent users instead of the everyday users, who by the way are the main customers of the go train
The Service Guarantee should be even throughout the month for presto-card holders. i.e. for a user like me who pays $277 for 40 + trips per month, the credit should be 1/40th of my monthly fee or $7 per trip, or perhaps the price of a single ride to make things even with non-frequent customers which for the Streetsville-Union route is $8.75 CAD instead of the loonie that I am eligible for due to my last night’s 1-hour delay.
I made this unpleasant discovery a long time ago and had exactly the same reaction. I even relayed exactly the same logic to GO customer service and was met with "Well if you didn't actually have to pay for the trip, you're no worse off by receiving no credit for a late arrival." Huh? As the LW notes, we just do a front-loaded payment that eventually means our later trips will be charged at a lower rate (or nothing). But if I travel less that month, I've paid a fare for the trips I DID take as this front-end loaded rate - nothing free about that.
ReplyDeleteWhen I asked why the most loyal and frequent passengers were the ones who would inevitably be penalized by this system, I received a shrug - the same response to my "so, just because I've paid my fee up front and am now on the cheaper or "free" rides, the inconvenience of being an hour late no longer matters? THIS is your Customer Service guarantee?".
The old system provided for a credit slip for the equivalent of one single adult fare, regardless of what type of fare you were holding (e.g., single ticket, 10-ride or monthly pass). The credit could be applied against any further purchase (I think you had 30 days to use it). It was fair and treated every single rider equitably. The PRESTO protocol is ridiculous and insulting.
I can top this as a GO Transit bus passenger. I pay a portion of my $9.42 fare on the bus and the rest is deducted at the station when I tap.
ReplyDeleteIf the train ride goes down the toilet, I am only reimbursed $4.10 unlike the people who drove to the station who get the whole fare.
My GO bus is a train-extension route. It operates because GO can't run a train into Newcastle. So I do my environmental good deed and also allow for a vacant parking spot to be avilable at Oshawa and I get punished for it while all the gas guzzlers get a clap on the back for driving the same route I took by bus. True story.
It is the same issue with DRT buses. I pay 2.75 for the bus on the way to the GO station. If the trains are screwed up, I only get $6 and change. Even though technically, the co-fare should be 75 cents.
ReplyDeleteI am also pissed about the delays - three last week alone on the LSE of which I could only claim 2. What they don't seem to realise is that when they screw up, it has a ripple effect. I have missed classes that I have paid for and no reimbursement is coming from them. It is the same for those parents with kids in daycare.
They need to get their house in order and fix the problems. I am tired of having to cancel on things, have to change plans (and this past Thursday, pray my Mom brought her key) because they keep screwing up. I am also thinking they need to quit raising fares until they can improve service. The service sucks, the increase in issues shows this.
Signal issues every flipping day. Shorter trains because of "operational issues". There is something every day. The sad thing is they can no longer blame the weather.