So I recently purchased the new and wonderful (if not long-overdue) “Prestocard” on the York Region and TTC transit system. It’s amazing: you get to prepay and manage your card balance online so that all you have to do is tap their machines to instantly paying for your transit fare. Kind of like what they’ve had forever in Hong Kong.

All was fine and dandy until I reloaded my card yesterday and the balance wasn’t updated on my card in time for use.

So, assuming that any efficient technology wouldn’t make me wait 24 hours before I could use what I paid for, I tapped my card at the train station and noticed that my balance went into the negatives. Bullocks. But I thought, oh well, once my payment is processed, I won’t be in the negatives anymore and I can use my card as usual.

Except, surprise surprise, this wasn’t the case. Apparently, once our Prestocard balance goes into the negatives, we have to go to their office IN PERSON to pay a $0.25 processing fee (?!seriously?!) before we can use our Prestocard again. And get this: their office hours are government hours, meaning they are open from 8:30am-4:30pm.. THE TIME WHEN REGULAR PEOPLE WOULD NEED TO BE AT WORK OR COMMUTING TO WORK.

What sort of idiot made this policy????? Having such inconvenient consequences for a PRESTOCARD??

Way to make people want to use your product, Metrolinx. Kudos to ingenuity. Not.

The York Region Transit has sent a request for this policy to be changed, since it is obviously a ridiculously unnecessary inconvenience for people who are trying to make use of a supposedly more convenient transit option. Until then, I either can’t use the card, or I need to hike over to Union station to pay my darn $0.25 fee just so I can use this card again. Chances are, I’ll opt for the latter, but you can be sure that I will be raising a stink about it.

Figures the head honchos would be so out of touch as to implement such idiotic policies, only to have their workers get yelled at by dissatisfied customers.

All because the transit fee I paid for was not processed in time. What lunacy.

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*One act of kindness at a time…