Clipper Card FAILS to Fix Problem They Promised to Fix a Year Ago - Muni & BART Transfers

UPDATE: Clipper responded to Mimi's message:

Hi Mimi. We are in the process of correcting this problem and these transfer rules will be changed within the next month. You - and anyone else - in this situation should contact Clipper Customer Service (custserv@clippercard.com or 877.878.8883) to request a refund.

While satisfactory for Mimi's problem, it still shameful that Clipper failed to fix the problem for nearly a year.

Original Blog Post:
Nearly a year ago, I mentioned about John Murphy's experience of using his Clipper card to ride Muni and BART within a 90 minute period.

Mr. Murphy did the following:

1. Took Muni to a BART station in SF.
2. Took BART to a different station in SF.
3. Transferred to Muni.

The correct way this is supposed to work is that Mr. Murphy should have paid $3.75 because:

1. He paid $2 to ride Muni.
2. He paid $1.75 for the BART ride.
3. His next ride on Muni [within 90 minutes of boarding first Muni bus] is free.

But... he was charged incorrectly, he paid $5.50:

1. He paid $2 to ride Muni
2. He paid $1.75 for the BART ride.
3. He paid $1.75 because his Muni transfer was erased in favor of the "BART to Muni" discount e-transfer which gives a 25 cent discount on the next Muni ride.

Clipper's response to Mr. Murphy's inquiry nearly a year ago stated the following:

You're correct - you should not have been charged for the second ride.

This was an incorrect implementation of Muni's transfer policy and MTC has been working with our contractor to fix the issue.

We encourage customers to access their online transaction history records to determine if they were overcharged for this transfer trip. Customers who are affected by this issue should contact Clipper Customer Service to request a refund for the $1.75 that they were overcharged.

--------------------

Basically, Clipper and the MTC promised nearly a year ago to fix the problem.  Did it get fixed?  NO.

The Problem Still Exists
Just yesterday, a person by the name of Mimi Chan posted a statement on Clipper's Facebook page mentioning the same exact problem that John Murphy experienced a year ago.  She paid $5.50 instead of $3.75. 

On AC Transit too?
And just to take this home, just a few weeks ago, the SF Examiner reported a similar Clipper card failure regarding people using AC Transit, transferring to BART, and having their AC Transit transfer voided to pay the "BART to AC Transit Bus" transfer discount.


Akit's Opinions:

I have two big issues with Clipper FAILING in resolving this process:

• They made a promise to fix the problem and didn't do it.  I don't like people who do not keep their word, especially those who serve the public.
• Clipper and MTC better be ready for a class action lawsuit.  People can only research their Clipper card records online for up to 60 days.  People will start demanding to look at their records ever since 2009. 

Here's a FACT: Clipper (known as TransLink back in the day) started allowing all BART stations to have their card readers active as of August 3, 2009.  AC Transit and Muni has been a part of TransLink/Clipper ever since they started their pilot program back in early 2000.  I'm betting thousands of people have been victims of this particular transfer problem, and they all have a right to a proper refund.


There's no place to hide Clipper and MTC.  You screwed up and the public demands answers.