Caltrain/Caltrain
My response to Caltrain was then taken up by a different representative, maybe because Leigh thought she was too cool to actually take care of riders. Here's what I got back from Astrid, a "specialist":
| “ | Mr. Bokhorov:
Thank you for your comments. If you became a member after November 2006, you should have been advised which transit systems the card was valid on; at that time Caltrain was not included. ERG, the project manager for the MTC, apparently had some problems with their software which is why some TransLink equipment became reactivated after initially having been turned off. The Caltrain TransLink coordinator has therefore at times had to manually turn off the equipment at some stations. That some equipment remained active has not presented a problem, however, since the relatively few individuals that participated in the Caltrain pilot program were aware of that it had been terminated. I am not sure how you obtained your card, but if you got it through the TransLink web site http://www.translink.org/index.do, you would have seen that the card currently only is valid on AC Transit, Golden Gate Transit and Ferry, and Dumbarton Express. If you have any further questions or comments concerning your TransLink card, please contact their Customer Service Center at 1-877-878-8883. |
” |
—Astrid Lindell, Caltrain Customer Relations Specialist, Sat, 26 May 2007 14:02:06 -0700 | ||
Wow, they really don't get it. It doesn't matter what the website says. What matters is that there's a reader that's deducting money off people's accounts, and they refuse to honor that. Notice, by the way, that they still can't spell my name – shit, copy and paste was created for a reason. I responded to her as follows:
| “ | Hello Astrid,
I am amazed that while no matter who gets in touch with me from your side of the story, no one seems to see anything wrong with the situation. This is in stark contrast to essentially every single person that I've relayed the information to, including people in the Bay Area. Not one person from either Caltrain or Translink has offered to give me a refund to this day. If, as you say, the machines cannot be used for paying the fare, then I'm owed a refund on not only this transaction, but also another one that happened earlier this year. Perhaps we should just cut to the chase and I can donate the rest of my Translink balance to Caltrain to make life easier for all of us. To be honest, I couldn't care less whose fault it is that the machines are malfunctioning. What I do care about is that it is your responsibility to be aware of the malfunctions, and deal with them accordingly. I'm amazed by the customer service you are providing – you are asking me, the consumer that got screwed by a malfunctioning machine, to accept the results given by these malfunctioning machines. If all your VTMs [oops, that's supposed to be TVMs] counted only half the cash that you put into them, whose fault would that be? The point isn't what some website says. The point is that the machines are not working properly, and I have suffered (and wasted uncountable hours) as a result. The fact that neither Caltrain nor Translink has done anything to resolve this over a week later is absolutely unbelievable. |
” |
—Paul Borokhov, Sat, 26 May 2007 19:03:56 -0700 | ||
Funny thing was, she responded back immediately...with an out-of-office reply. lol. I heard back from her for real on Wednesday morning finally, with this amazingly insightful text:
| “ | Please advise how and from where you obtained your TransLink card. This is apparently when you received the incorrect information concerning its usage. You could not have received the card from Caltrain, since we no longer were participating in the program at the time you obtained your card.
I am also not certain why you are requesting a refund. I assume that you only used the Caltrain machines when taking the train, in which case payment was due. |
” |
—Astrid Lindell, Caltrain Customer Relations Specialist, Wed, 30 May 2007 10:23:12 -0700 | ||
Damnit, are they really that dull, or am I really that bad at articulating my point? Is it possibly both? That's a killer potion right there...anyway, unfortunately I didn't get her message until Wed night, so I couldn't get an immediate response from her, but here's what I wrote:
| “ | Hello Astrid,
I am amazed at the incompetence of your organization. You see, it doesn't matter where or how I obtained my card. What does matter is that when I arrived on the platform, I saw that there was a functional Translink reader. I don't know about you, but every reasonable person that I know would assume that since
it was a valid method of payment. You see, payment was not due since I was kicked off the train. If that didn't happen, we wouldn't even be having this conversation. Let me know if there are any other obvious points that I missed. Just in case you think I'm making this stuff up, I'm attaching some pictures that I took yesterday that still show the readers being active. Paul |
” |
—Wed, 30 May 2007 21:40:34 -0700 | ||
I've inserted the images that I attached into this section (click on them for full versions), so now everyone can see what I'm talking about.
It took them an entire week to come up with a response to that, and it wasn't that pretty...
| “ | Thank you for your comments.
Only one card was tagged at the Palo Alto station during the afternoon of May 19th. This card was purchased through the Web link at http://www.translink.org. Since you mention that a fare was deducted from you card that day, it would appear that the above card may belong to you and that it was obtained via the TransLink web site, where it clearly states on which agencies the card is valid, Caltrain not being among them. It is not clear why an attempt was made to pay a Caltrain fare with a TransLink card, given that the cards are being sold for use only on the specified agencies. Under these circumstances it should be irrelevant whether the Caltrain card readers are turned on or off. If you have any further comments concerning a possible refund, the TransLink card or the card readers, please contact the TransLink Customer Service Center at 1-877-878-8883 |
” |
—Astrid Lindell, Caltrain Customer Relations Specialist, Thu, 7 Jun 2007 09:35:49 -0700 | ||
I also just realized that they gave up on trying to write my name correctly, lol. Here's what I sent back to her...
| “ | Astrid,
This is the main point of contention I have with you. It is not irrelevant whether the readers are turned on or off. Websites, especially of public transit agencies, have been notoriously out of date and inaccurate. Just because the website doesn't explicitly state that the card is usable on Caltrain doesn't mean that your liability ends right there. Again, I cannot understand what is so hard about getting this. The readers are on. Fare inspectors say that they are off. That is all that matters. The problem is not with what some website says; it is with the fact that there is a disconnect on the enforcement side between rules and reality. How many times do I have to explain this before you guys finally get it? Can you tell me how hard it is to simply shut off power to the readers and be done with it? |
” |
—Paul, Thu, 7 Jun 2007 10:05:37 -0700 | ||
She responded fairly swiftly, and to the point. Namely,
| “ | We have no further comments on this matter. | ” |
—Astrid Lindell, Caltrain Customer Relations Specialist, Thu, 7 Jun 2007 12:19:59 -0700 | ||
Cool.
