I want to love the T, I really do. I try to take it as often as I can, I have a T pass, my office sits right above an entrance to the Red Line. In fact, last Saturday when my family went to attend the Futures at Fenway game, we chose to take the T rather than driving. We dutifully parked our car in Waban and I used the Parkmobile app to pay for parking.
Apparently I forgot that kids under 12 are free. The T operator didn’t bother reminding me, so I paid for 3 kids unnecessarily. Whatever, user error.
It turns out that during the Futures game, parking near Fenway is only $10, so it would have been cheaper for the 6 of us to drive. But that’s not all. Upon returning to my car I had a ticket for $7. Apparently the payment from the app never went through. The ticket is for parking ($6) plus $1 in a penalty fee.
Confused, I called the number on the ticket and the recording assured me that the voicemail would be checked once a day and calls returned that day. I figured beause it was Saturday night I’d get a return call on Monday. I didn’t. I called again Monday afternoon. Then again Tuesday morning. Three messages, no return call.
So I emailed the Parkmobile people, who were far more responsive. Apparently the screen that I thought told me my session had started was, instead, just a confirmation screen. I had one more click to make that I never did. I’m a relatively sophisticated user of technology. If I had a problem I’m guessing I’m not the only one. But that’s another issue. I thought I paid, but I didn’t.
Now, the big problem. In all of this back and forth my ticket payment is now late. Worse, due to a daughter with a weak stomach and a long-ish car ride, I no longer have the ticket. So where do I send my money? I tried calling the T police, but they tell me they can’t help, only the parking officer can help. So the transferred me to that person.
Only, his voicemailbox is full.
Oh, and did I mention that I’m headed out of town and won’t have access to email for a week? I tried tweeting to @mbtagm, but that hasn’t worked for me in the past, I have no expectation that it will help now.
I really want to love the T, the promise is there. I bought my house, in part, because it’s on the bus line and close to three different commuter rail stops. Boston metro is congested with cars and I like to try to help reduce that.
But seriously, do you really need to make simple things so difficult?
Quick update. I heard back from MBTAGM on twitter.
…and what did he say?
The only T related issues on this complaint-fest is the app. It didn’t work, although, after reading this bitch-fest I question whether you did it properly.
I googled ‘where do I send my MBTA parking ticket?’ and got the answer.
It’s on you bro. Not on the T.
I don’t know Kim, unreturned calls, messages that say they will check voice mail daily and full voice mail boxes are not exactly the hallmark of good customer service.
Human Customer Service Reps are the most expensive way to deal with customer issues that can be solved electronically. The cash strapped MBTA is relying more on apps and IT solutions which is good business. You’d think someone who is tech savvy enough to use an app might take the time to google something first.
Chuck needs to be honest with us and himself at how he is responsible for all of his inconvenience.
Hmmm……”complaint-fest”, “bitch-fest”? Seems kinda harsh, “bro”……..!
And, if the T is going to rely on voice-mail to handle customer service issue, they had best check and empty out the mailbox.
To give the T a little credit, looking outside for an IT solution is a big step. Seems like they’ve had a stubborn refusal in the past to do so. The CharlieCard system didn’t come cheap, and the MBTA had to step up to deal with security flaws. Also, a private firm was willing to get those signs on the green line to post something other than annoying public service announcements — real time alerts for the next train. But the MBTA is going to provide that service everywhere but the green line, where it’s needed most, using its own IT.
There are enough reasons not to use public transit. The MBTA needs to do everything it can to improve the user experience, and there are indications that it’s trying to do so. If their outsourced app has a sub-optimal user experience, Chuck is right to demand better. Tech savvy people know as well as anyone how important UX is, and they’re not immune to user error.
I’m just shocked that the fine for taking a space w/o payment is just $1. Did I read this part right?
Chuck you have my sympathy. Your experience bites and that is why more people don’t take the T. (I’m sorry but the operator watched you pay for 3 kids who should have been free?! That is inexcusable)
A $7 ticket? Oh noes!!!
This whole rant is asinine. You’re pissed because you’re going to be out of town and can’t deal with this?
The MBTA is not without its problems, but I think service problems are the real issue – not having a daughter with a weak stomach, accidentally paying your kids fares, or being out of town.
I don’t know LM, a page one story in the Globe today talks about the high value the MBTA is putting on customer service..
I’m sorry, folks, but when statements like “This whole rant is asinine” are tolerated, the value of a blog is diminished. Who we we to judge the validity of another’s feelings and impressions?
Well, you can’t expect everyone to agree with you. Chuck put his feelings out there on a blog, and commenters have the right to feel differently. I think that his rant was of a more personal nature, like Kim said and not terribly T-related.
Sorry for the delay, but I’ve been offline for a few days.
I want to be clear, I’m not upset about the fine. What I wanted to know on the Saturday of the game was “why did I get this ticket when I thought I had paid.” It’s a simple question. I looked at the direction I was given by the T. That is, the phone number that is on the ticket. I followed the directions of the voicemail.
And didn’t get an answer.
So went into the app (and the T SHOULD be applauded for using technology for payment, it’s a great thing) to find someone who could help answer my simple question “why did I get a ticket when I thought I had paid.”
The problem was that as I delayed in paying the ticket to try to figure out this basic problem, I risked having to pay a larger fine.
The folks at Parkmobile were quite responsive and solved my core problem, and then I wanted to pay. I was on the road and moving, running up against a personal deadline and looking for answers. So I did what I felt was a normal thing: called the people who gave me the ticket. That also didn’t help as I went to another FULL voicemail box.
I will say that once I tweeted MBTAGM I received responses relatively quickly.
But why should it take all that effort to get answers? Why didn’t the T simply return the call as they said they would, since they laid out the path?
That’s really my complaint here. The T sent me down a path, but didn’t make that path at all user friendly. I’m sure I’m not the only one who ran into this.
To put this in perspective, I received a parking ticket at a lot in Central Square for staying longer than 2 hours. However, I had paid my parking fee. I followed the directions, sent in an appeal and received an anwer: you can’t park at that lot for longer than 2 hours even if you pay AGAIN for a space. You need to move your car somewhere else, it’s not meant for you to sit all day and just feed the meter.
I followed the rules, I received an answer. It’s not overly efficient, but it worked.
The MBTA has to make a lot of changes to be more user-friendly. For a more costly problem than Chuck’s, here’s an example of something that drives people away.
Last month my son put$20 on his Charlie Card. Less than a week later, when he tried to use it he was informed that the card had expired. The only way for him to retrieve that money is to pay to go to Downtown Crossing – someplace that’s very much out-of-the-way for him. Meanwhile, there have been complaints in the Boston Globe’s transit blog from people who’ve gone there only to find that there are no cards available. So there’s no point in my son spending time and money to take a crap shoot on being able to retrieve his $20. Needless to say, we are both very much discouraged from wanting to give our money to the T.
LM, you needn’t agree with everyone. Just be civil. Thank you. We can all learn a lot from each other – our neighbors – if phrases like “this rant is asinine” are not used!