Today, I'm not going to roast Clipper and MTC, I'm going to deep fry them to a crisp.
On Thursday evening, KGO-TV did a "uFixIt" report asking why are the Clipper card readers continuously beeping like crazy. The MTC said they have a software patch that will solve the problem and promises to get all the card readers updated the next day (Friday).
Everyone thinks this is a new problem... NO IT'S NOT!
Four months ago (October 13, 2010), I posted a blog entry asking why are the Clipper card readers going on a beeping frenzy. Not long later, a Clipper representative explained why by leaving a comment and promised a fix in November. In December, I questioned why Clipper and the MTC failed to fix the problem because the card readers continue to go on a meltdown.
If you read this correctly, the Clipper folks said on my blog they'd have a resolution sometime in November 2010.
Now it's been four months since my first posting and did Clipper and MTC resolved it? Can someone please find me a dunce cap so I can put it on Clipper and MTC's heads?
It is so frustrating to hear that when KGO-TV reported this, the problem would be fixed in a mere 24-hours. Really? 24-hours? You promise a TV station that you'll get it fixed in 24 hours, but you don't listen to someone who has been providing feedback, asking tough questions, and doing helpful free P.R. for you for years?
I know Clipper and the MTC reads my blog, and I'm going to bet they knew a major ass whipping would be coming from this blog post today. It's humiliating to hear the problem can be fixed in just one day, while I've been told promises of a resolution back in October.
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There's also a second level of frustration. I wonder if KGO did their homework and realized that Akit has been reporting on this problem for a long time now, and even if they didn't mention about the Complaint Department, they could at least acknowledge that this issue has been known months ago and with no resolution. The way it was reported sounded like this was something relatively new.
It makes me wonder how much power a TV station has to change something with such fast turnaround time; but for a blogger, I don't have so much power to sway. I work hard on this blog to make changes, and I've had that moment of fame when the SF Examiner applauded me for my efforts for Muni to fill-in the gap of service for the 38L and 38-Geary bus lines.
It's discouraging that I write a lot about Clipper and I know a heck of a lot more than many of those customer service agents, but that doesn't stop me from doing a fun hobby. Just like Rocky, "Eye of the Tiger", I'll still be fighting no matter what.
4 comments:
A kit, I know if I want current info, this is the place.
Akit, they came to my house and I told them it was an old problem and detailed when it started happening (aka oct) etc.! They still wanted to do a segment despite that, though.
Unfortunately, what exacerbates the problem is the lack of Clipper knowledge of some Muni drivers. Although it is a Clipper bug, a simple workaround is for the driver to reboot the system via the Clipper console.
Once spent over 10 minutes at a stop because the driver had to call Central about the constant beeping and how to troubleshoot. In the end, a passenger helped the driver locate the bright red on/off button on the console.
They promise to fix it. But it won't get fixed. :)
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