The Nightmare Of The Myki
I use a myki to commute, it’s not as nice to use as the metcard system (in that it seems to need a lot more mollycoddling to work a reader) but a lot more convenient to get top-ups for. So all-in-all I’m a status quo user. My setup is a myki card with money and a pass. The money is topped up automatically and the pass covers the Moday to Friday commute. Up till now that’s covered me nicely. However, this week I returned from holiday to find that my credit card had been scammed and so I cancelled my bank card. No problem right? I’ve got a month of myki pass to use so I’ll use that and then update my card details when I have the new card.
Only that’s not what happened. My myki money (which was some 20 odd dollars I think) shrank and that triggered the auto top-up. Which failed. Rather than fall back to the pass I’m now in “debt collection status” and I have to post my myki back to the myki folks to have them “manually” unlock it. Huh? :(
So now I’m left with two questions:
- Why not fall back gracefully? I have prepaid for the trips, I’d like to take them please.
- What is this send it back to the mothership business? Like how does that make any sense?
Seriously, I work in the field, how is this so badly bungled? The situation I find myself in is a less than 1% issue, I get that. But surely I’m not the first person this has happened to and why does the process take longer than a phone call to sort out the outstanding balance? Shame on you myki, long live metcard.
UPDATE: Below is the delightful email I’ve just received:
from myki Customer Care customercare@myki.com.au sender time Sent at 12:23 (GMT+10:00). Current time there: 13:31. ✆ reply-to customercare@myki.com.au to robert date 15 April 2011 12:23 subject myki response (Customer care reference #55028) hide details 12:23 (1 hour ago) Dear Robert,
Due to a recent Auto Top Up payment failure your myki card number 308425022560047 has now been blocked.
The amount of $10.00 was credited to your myki balance on the 12/04/2011, but we have been unable to deduct this payment from your credit card.
To have your myki card unblocked, please follow the three simple steps below.
1.) Pay the outstanding amount of $10.00 using your credit card via your online account or by calling 13 6954 (13myki) any time between 6.00am and 12.00 midnight.
You can make payment via your online account following the prompts below;
Ø Log onto your account Ø Select “Manage my card” Ø Follow the prompts on the Debt Settlement page
A reference number will be provided to you at the end of the transaction for your records
2.) Send us your myki card to have it unblocked.
To have your myki card unblocked post it to the following reply paid address (no stamp required).
myki Customer Service Reply Paid 13281 LAW COURTS VIC 8010
We will endeavour to return your myki within two business days of receipt.
3.) If they have changed, update your credit card details before you next travel.
If your recent auto top up payment failed because your credit card details were out of date then you must update your card number and expiry date before your next top up payment is due; this will avoid any future payments failing and your myki card being blocked again.
You can update your credit card details via your online account following the prompts below;
Ø Log onto your account Ø Select “Top Up” Ø Select “Modify Auto Top Up” Ø Nominate your preferred top up and threshold amount Ø Type in the correct credit card number, expiry date and card verification code (CVC)
A reference number will be provided to you at the end of the transaction for your records
You can also update your credit card details by calling 13 6954 (13 myki) any day between 6.00am and 12.00 midnight.
Regards
myki Customer Care
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Hello,
I’ve just gone through the same ridiculous saga. Here with and edited version of my letter:
The enclosed card is returned for removal of the block that has been placed on it.
This is a ridiculous saga, and I have enclosed the various emails relating so that a human rather than a bunch of code that doesn’t work can explain and fix the problem.
It all started with my credit card being stolen and cancelled. The auto top-up on my MYKI was then suspended and I rang and spoke to a human who then put the new card details into the computer and told me all would be well. Not so.
Yesterday it was rejected as I ran through at Sandringham station to catch a train about to depart – as we sat on the departing train the person following me on-board asked if I had I noticed that my touch-on had shown a ‘rejected’ message.
Now committed to the journey, I rang MYKI from the train to discover what exciting event had now taken place, only to be told that none of the new card details I advised after the stolen card incident were on file (email 1 – reference No *********, and email 2 reference No: *********) and I had to give them all again. At the end of this, and despite my comments that I had a number of emails saying everything was kosher, the very polite and helpful operator told me that I would have to send my card in to have it unblocked. She gave me reference No ********* for this latest.
SEND IT IN??? Well it’s enclosed, but surely a system that’s cost us (you the reader and me) billions of dollars could re-activate my card through the system without me having to resort to 19th century snail-mail? UNBELIEVABLE.
Apart from re-activating my card, would someone also please explain just how much has been debited to my credit card through this fiasco. I’m obviously extremely annoyed by this series of third-world systems incompetence, a disgrace to whoever designed this aspect of the system. They’re amateurs.
It all falls on the shoulders of the phone staff to fix what shouldn’t be broken in the first place – embarrassing to all given the superb systems in London and HK that I’ve had the pleasure of using in years gone by. If it wasn’t for the helpful and understanding staff at the other end of my journey I would have been in even more trouble. Pity help me if inspectors had got on the train!
DD
It is flat-out ridiculous isn’t it? If its any consolation I used the infernal website but ended up with the same result. Now that I can’t buy a metcard I’m back to trying to make myki work for me again :(
these things take time, but surely not as much as myki, even perth knocked out a smart card bus & rail overhaul in half the time & expense of melbourne. surely a dud, full stop
I couldn’t agree more. It’s not as if there isn’t a multitude of systems out there to copy or buy yet Myki seems to have ignored many of the lessons others have learned. Also from my POV it highlights a deeper form of waste in these projects. Why isn’t this out in the open? If we want the best system we have to think differently.
The same story just happened here. It must have happened thousands of times in the year. My card still had more than sufficient pre-paid funds on it to travel, despite the auto top-up failure, but they blocked it all the same… Could easily be challenged legally.
The process as you described it is still used a year later in case of auto top-up failure. Useless and costly for the company, very inconvenient to the customer, legally doubtful. There is no reason for this process except some designer or administrator blunder.
As soon as I my card is re-activated I’ll cancel auto top-up and will continue topping up manually until the system is fixed. Since met-card is soon to be discontinued, they are going to be flooded with this type of issues and will have to fix the process… I hope.
I advise anyone with myki auto top-up to do the same (cancel it and use manual top-up instead) before it happens to them.
Grrrh! My credit card was cancelled after apparently being skimmed. While waiting for new one, the myki auto top up was triggered and failed. Tried to do a one-off top up on line and at local shop but apparently myki is blocked. Had to buy a Metcard.
Don’t want to contact myki – have had so many stupid problems with system already.
If I had been responsible for a system this bad, I would be out of a job.
I can’t believe it, but I’m now in this ridiculous situation.
Same problem: the auto top-up of 20 dollars failed because I only had 5 dollars in my account (I forgot to transfer the money from the savings account).
When you call them, everything seems to be perfect until they give you this address. The question was: “Why do I need an address?”
I advise the same as John: please don’t use the auto top-up! this is my first month and now I’m back to the manual top-up.
Auto top-up is just a terribly implemented idea, avoid it like sandpaper underpants :) The thing that makes you think “just how bad is this under the covers?” is that somehow it’s more economical to leave this broken than it is to fix.
After giving feedback on this to Myki, I got a reply that contained the following hopeful message: ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ . . . We do understand the difficulty of posting your myki in for unblocking and we apologise for the inconvenience this has caused.
We can advise that future rollouts of the myki system will allow for a new unblocking functionality. Once this new functionality becomes available, customers who find themselves in a similar situation will be able to pay any outstanding amounts and have their myki unblocked electronically.
Once again, we sincerely apologise for the inconvenience you have experienced and thank you for your patience in this matter.
If you need further information, please visit myki.com.au or call 13 6954 (13 myki) any day between 6.00am and 12.00am.
Regards,
myki Customer Care Team ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
I’ll remain with manual top-up until I hear this new functionality is implemented.
Add me to the list of people that are now going through this polava. Mine was a case of my credit card reaching it’s expiry date. Any other organisation that I have had dealings with that uses a credit card deduction process, would have sent me an email or letter advising that the credit card on file was reaching its expiry date, but not myki.
I’d been using MYKI from the start that they introduced it but this horrible thing happened to me as well… and thinking that this message had been posted SINCE APRIL 2011, how come that MYKI HASN’T SORTED OUT TO SOLVING THE PROBLEM ELECTRONICALLY?
ISN’T THAT TOO SLOW?? And unfortunately since it takes 2 business days before I can get hold of my MYKI again, now that they are phasing out the METCARDS, how am I going to travel using public transport between Friday to Monday.. that’s 4 days!!
I think, its better to have just your current MYKI card refunded and get a new one ASAP, though I’m not sure if they will also return the money that I originally paid for the card because when I got my new MYKI before, I think I paid more than the initial amount that they put in my card that I can use, I think its about $5 or $10.
ARE THEY GONNA RETURN THAT AS WELL???
I’ve also just been through the same saga with my card and my son’s card – both were on auto top up from my credit card which got scammed online and cancelled. Result – both Myki cards also suspended when the auto top up failed. I’ve wasted considerable time online and on the phone trying to sort it out and like others I could not believe that I had to actually send the cards in to have them unblocked (and Myki does not even have the relevant postal address on its website). Not only that but when I tried to reset the auto top up on both Mykis with a new credit card so the problem would not recur I found I could not do so until I get the cards back from head office. They say the system will be changed “soon” but it sounds like they’ve been saying that for a while. Meanwhile the poor staff on the other end of the telephone have to cop my anger.
Add me to the list as well. Looks like they have still not fixed yet. I had same issue when auto top-up was triggered after my credit card expired and they blocked the myki. Now my question is; they could block my myki electronically and now why do they want to have it physically to unblock it? does not make any sense. I am in the same industry and I know how things work.
I asked customer care, what should I do when myki it sent for unblock, they asked me to buy new myki meanwhile, I was lucky that my station still sells daily metcard; and I did not have to spend extra $6 to buy new myki – but soon this will change when metcards are phased out.
I hope myki ppl are going to fix the irritating system.
Again like everyone else my auto top up money tried to come out of my account and failed, but to make things stranger I was on my way home not realizing what happened, touched on a bus no problem, touched off the bus no problem, go to touch on my train and it fails -_- this is all within the same hour. Ticket inspectors were at the station, I explain the situation and voice my confustion, they use their things to check the card explain they don’t understand why it’s rejecting as a daily trip for the day is already in session, they then allow me in the train anyway. I ring myki n fix up the money and am given the address to send it in. I am confused as to why it was rejected half way through my traveling.
This is still happening to people and it’s October 2012…
So when is “soon” myki?
Hrm