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'Stealth' fare increase claim against Snapper

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Newtown-Fella
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« on: April 22, 2009, 09:25:34 am »

anyone use one of these cards ?


Bus passengers who use the controversial Snapper card are about to be snapped themselves - with a fare increase under the guise of a reduced discount.

Go Wellington will bring in new Snapper fares in June, nine months after the smart card was introduced as a means of paying for bus travel in the capital.

Snapper users were initially given a 25 per cent discount on the cash prices of a single adult fare. That discount will shrink to 20 per cent on June 1 - effectively increasing fares.

The new discount will be the same as that once offered on the 10-trip ticket, made obsolete when Snapper cards were introduced amid controversy last year.

The card will become more expensive than the original 10-trip ticket: it costs $10 to buy, and 25 cents every time more money is "fed" on to the card as credit.

Snapper user Kevin Franklin said the discount reduction was "a stealth way to increase the prices". "Even though they might not say 'we are raising the bus prices' they just decrease the discount."

More than 50,000 people now use the Snapper cards, which when introduced were fraught with problems, including over-charging passengers, charging people for trips they did not make and not working on some routes.

Many users were upset that the 10-trip ticket was phased out, complaining that they had to pay to get a Snapper card and were charged each time they put more money on it.

Zane Fulljames, general manager of operations for NZ Bus, confirmed in a statement that the discount would be reduced at the end of next month.

He said the Snapper "still represents good value for our customers".

However, he was unavailable to comment on why the change was being made.

Greater Wellington regional council, which contracts its bus services to Go Wellington, said it had nothing to do with the reduced discount.

All regional council transport operators must offer a discount of at least 20 per cent on multi-trip tickets. A council spokesperson said Go Wellington would have been absorbing the extra cost since Snapper was introduced.

http://www.stuff.co.nz/dominion-post/news/wellington/2353338/Stealth-fare-increase-claim-against-Snapper
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ssweetpea
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« Reply #1 on: April 22, 2009, 05:12:27 pm »

Charging the customer to reload a snapper card is a bit over the top. 10 trip tickets included the retailers margin (all be it miniscule) in the price.
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The way politicians run this country a small white cat should have no problem http://sally4mp.blogspot.com/
Newtown-Fella
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« Reply #2 on: April 24, 2009, 11:11:36 am »

Short bus ride home costs $97


Nedra Fu usually pays $2.25 for her bus ride home. On Tuesday, it cost her $97.

The Wellington woman was one of 101 bus passengers overcharged on Tuesday when a computer glitch caused havoc with the controversial Snapper system.

After getting a text alert that her card had zero credit, she checked her transactions to find she had been charged almost $100 for a bus ride from her office in Molesworth St to her house in Wadestown.

"I got an alert saying my balance was zero dollars, which was a bit strange," she said. "When I saw the $97 charge, I was a bit surprised."

Ms Fu complained to Snapper, then loaded another $200 onto her card. The next day a Snapper staff member visited her and gave her a replacement card, with her $200 on it, plus an extra $10 as compensation.

The Snapper card, introduced last July, has been beset with problems. In the weeks following its introduction, people were overcharged, were not given the correct discounts and in some cases, were charged for trips they had never made.

Ms Fu contacted The Dominion Post after reading a story this week that Go Wellington was reducing the discount offered to Snapper users, from 25 per cent to 20 per cent off the cash price of a single adult fare.

More than 50,000 people now use the card. Zane Fulljames, general manager of operations for NZ Bus, said the computer glitch happened when upgraded software was installed on 40 Go Wellington buses.

He said 12 buses experienced problems as a result of the software being incorrectly installed.

When bus drivers discovered the problem, they switched off their card readers, allowing Snapper users to travel for free to prevent more overcharging.

Mr Fulljames said all buses were checked and the software was now operating properly.

Affected customers would be contacted to arrange a refund of the overcharged amount

http://www.stuff.co.nz/dominion-post/news/wellington/2359531/Short-bus-ride-home-costs-97/
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