On my Chicago Card Plus from the CTA it says:
On-Time
Clean
Safe
Friendly
As regular riders of the El know, the CTA standard of “clean” is pretty low if they consider their cars clean. Safe might be true, but I’m not so sure most people are convinced. On-Time is kind of dicey, particularly if you’re not in the rush period. And friendly? Who? The employees pretty much don’t talk to us and passengers pretty much avoid eye contact with other passengers at all costs.
But at least the CTA doesn’t claim to be Customer-Oriented or having great Customer Service. Because they don’t.
My Chicago Card Plus, which I rather like, is teetering on the edge of not working properly. I have to take it out of my wallet to use now, and even then it sometimes takes a few attempts to get it working. So I thought now would be a good time to replace it, before I’m stuck not able to get into the train station.
But as I read the website, I saw that even if I go in person to CTA HQ, the soonest I could get a replacement card is 3 days later, and that’s if I go pick it up! The other option is to mail me one. So I thought, “OK,” I’ll keep using mine until the new one arrives, then I’ll switch. Nope! As soon as I request a new card, the current one is deactivated.
When I asked how I could keep riding in the interim, the response was, “well you could buy whatever fare you need.” To which I wanted to scream “BUT I HAVE A 30-DAY PASS!” Why would I pay twice for rides?!
And during this replacement time, the clock on the 30-Day Pass keeps ticking. So if I have 10 days left when I order the replacement, and it takes 7 days for the replacement to arrive, I’ll have 3 days left when I start using the new card. And if I want to ride the CTA in there? That’s right, I’ll have had to buy cash fares.
I can’t think of a reason that they wouldn’t have cards available right away at CTA headquarters. Maybe there is one. But how can this policy possibly stand? It’s just blatantly and completely unfair to riders.
I guess I’ll have to wait until I won’t need the card for a few days (or a week), and order a replacement then. Hope the card holds out ’til then!
