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SellingPrepaid
ChapterTitle
Problems surface with times for users making customer service calls and
difficulties in transit riders using the contactless cards
Ventra Card to pay for rides.
News reports, as well as customer complaints on social
media outlets, said Ventra users had to wait up to an
he Chicago Transit Authority reported it was taking hour to reach customer service representatives after
steps to resolve customer service and card usage the contactless fare readers that accept both bankcards
issues with the recently launched Ventra Card pre- and Ventra Cards were debiting prepaid cardholders
T paid transit card program. Media reports have high- multiple times for single rides.
lighted problems with the new program, including long wait
The new program, which replaced
an almost 20-year-old system, went
live on Sept. 9, 2013. On Nov. 4, CTA
President Forrest Claypool addressed
the widespread complaints in a speech
wherein he blamed the program's
chief vendor, Cubic Transportation
Systems, a division of Cubic Corp.,
for the problems. Cubic installed the
new contactless fare payment readers
in Chicago trains and buses; it also
operates the customer service call
center.
Multiple tapping issue
The CTA said Ventra users were being
charged for multiple rides because fare
readers were not responding quickly
enough when they were tapped with
cards, resulting in users tapping their
cards additional times on the readers
or moving to other readers. In this way,
users were being charged for multiple
taps.
Reports added that when users would
call customer service to complain of the
multiple charging issue, they could be
put on hold for extended times and in
some instances would get disconnected.
Claypool subsequently ordered Cubic
to triple its call center operators and
upgrade software on the readers to
speed up transaction times.
First Data defines role
The Ventra Card is the first dual
transit and general purpose reloadable
(GPR) prepaid card program to be
implemented in a major U.S. city.
First Data Corp., which processes
transactions that occur on the GPR
account of the Ventra Card, pointed out
that the Ventra transit account used for
the payment of fares is handled by the
CTA and Cubic.
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36
ChapterTitle
Problems surface with times for users making customer service calls and
difficulties in transit riders using the contactless cards
Ventra Card to pay for rides.
News reports, as well as customer complaints on social
media outlets, said Ventra users had to wait up to an
he Chicago Transit Authority reported it was taking hour to reach customer service representatives after
steps to resolve customer service and card usage the contactless fare readers that accept both bankcards
issues with the recently launched Ventra Card pre- and Ventra Cards were debiting prepaid cardholders
T paid transit card program. Media reports have high- multiple times for single rides.
lighted problems with the new program, including long wait
The new program, which replaced
an almost 20-year-old system, went
live on Sept. 9, 2013. On Nov. 4, CTA
President Forrest Claypool addressed
the widespread complaints in a speech
wherein he blamed the program's
chief vendor, Cubic Transportation
Systems, a division of Cubic Corp.,
for the problems. Cubic installed the
new contactless fare payment readers
in Chicago trains and buses; it also
operates the customer service call
center.
Multiple tapping issue
The CTA said Ventra users were being
charged for multiple rides because fare
readers were not responding quickly
enough when they were tapped with
cards, resulting in users tapping their
cards additional times on the readers
or moving to other readers. In this way,
users were being charged for multiple
taps.
Reports added that when users would
call customer service to complain of the
multiple charging issue, they could be
put on hold for extended times and in
some instances would get disconnected.
Claypool subsequently ordered Cubic
to triple its call center operators and
upgrade software on the readers to
speed up transaction times.
First Data defines role
The Ventra Card is the first dual
transit and general purpose reloadable
(GPR) prepaid card program to be
implemented in a major U.S. city.
First Data Corp., which processes
transactions that occur on the GPR
account of the Ventra Card, pointed out
that the Ventra transit account used for
the payment of fares is handled by the
CTA and Cubic.
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