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/