Originally Posted by nrr (Post 22721958)

If you have a half-fare EZ-Pay metrocard, there is an additional perk: If you use more than a monthly card, all trips from that point are FREE (for that month).

Originally Posted by Analise (Post 22723852)

...and the MTA pocketed his money with that deactivation. That's what is egregious.

Originally Posted by Blumie (Post 22723952)

What are you talking about? Have you unearthed another in a never-ending line of left wing conspiracies?

Originally Posted by gfunkdave

Hey, thanks Analise. The online account summary says there's a $10.something on the card. I suspect there's an issue of some sort with my transportation flex Mastercard that funds it. Perhaps I ran out of money on it temporarily. (edit: no, it says my balance is $52.50).

Originally Posted by Analise (Post 22724396)

Did you decide to ignore gfunkdave's post or were you just too emotional to READ that the MTA deactivated gfunkdave's account while keeping over $52 of his money on his Metrocard? Whatever your reason for not paying attention, I'll repost this as a kindness for you.

Originally Posted by Analise (Post 22724396)

My goodness, you may need to relax more. What are YOU talking about? ;)

Did you decide to ignore gfunkdave's post or were you just too emotional to READ that the MTA deactivated gfunkdave's account while keeping over $52 of his money on his Metrocard? Whatever your reason for not paying attention, I'll repost this as a kindness for you.

Originally Posted by themicah (Post 22724423)

First, $52.50 was the balance on gfunkdave's debit card that he uses to fund the Easypay Metrocard, not the balance on the Metrocard itself.

Second, if gfunkdave did still have a balance on the Metrocard itself, the MTA didn't pocket the money. They just suspended his ability to use it until he fixed his account.

Originally Posted by themicah (Post 22724423)

First, $52.50 was the balance on gfunkdave's debit card that he uses to fund the Easypay Metrocard, not the balance on the Metrocard itself.

Second, if gfunkdave did still have a balance on the Metrocard itself, the MTA didn't pocket the money. They just suspended his ability to use it until he fixed his account.

Originally Posted by Analise (Post 22724396)

My goodness, you may need to relax more. What are YOU talking about? ;)

Did you decide to ignore gfunkdave's post or were you just too emotional to READ that the MTA deactivated gfunkdave's account while keeping over $52 of his money on his Metrocard? Whatever your reason for not paying attention, I'll repost this as a kindness for you.

Originally Posted by themicah (Post 22724423)

Second, if gfunkdave did still have a balance on the Metrocard itself, the MTA didn't pocket the money. They just suspended his ability to use it until he fixed his account.

Originally Posted by Analise (Post 22723888)

Anyone with an unlimited metrocard can enjoy that perk and use it as often as she or he likes. Half fare, however, isn't available to the general public. It is available to those 65 and older and those with the following disabilities:

https://www.easypaymetrocard.com/vec...s/disabled.pdf

Originally Posted by ijgordon (Post 22733663)

Why do they need to suspend it? Why can't they just let you use it until the balance runs down to zero? (Or less than $2.50?)

Originally Posted by Blumie (Post 22736047)

In a perfect world (1) the customer would get an email informing them that replenishment of the card failed, (2) the card would continue to work until the balance were depleted, and (3) the cardholder could solve the problem on line without having to wait on hold for 40 minutes. But the MTA doesn't exist in a perfect world.

Originally Posted by Blumie (Post 22719409)

I use an EasyPay Express metrocard and haven't had any problems. The MTA "decided" to deactivate gfunkdave's card because his method of payment was declined. Hard to blame them, no? gfunkdave, were you not able to fix the problem simply by logging into your account and revising the payment method?

Originally Posted by themicah (Post 22719696)

They definitely suspend accounts if a replenishment attempt is declined and you don't have a valid backup payment method. So it's important to always have a backup credit card linked to your account AND to keep the expiration date of the backup card updated. My wife experienced exactly the same thing as gfunkdave when her TransitChek debit card had insufficient funds and I neglected to keep current the expiration date of the backup credit card on her EasyPay account.

It WOULD be nice if they sent you an e-mail letting you know your account had been suspended and explaining why, though.

But overall the Easypay cards are incredibly convenient, as I never have to worry about whether I have a sufficient balance on my card (or my wife's card or our nanny's card). And if I lose it, a simple e-mail to EasyPay customer service will immediately put a hold on the old metrocard and transfer the balance to a new one. It takes about a month to get the new card, but it's still better than losing a regular pay-per-ride card, where you'll never get the balance back.

So yeah, it's not perfect, but I still think it's way better than the available alternatives, especially if you're a pay-per-ride user (if I was an unlimited user I might be more reluctant to get EasyPay, since you can't "time" when you start your month).

Originally Posted by Analise (Post 22723852)

...and the MTA pocketed his money with that deactivation. That's what is egregious.

Originally Posted by Blumie (Post 22736047)

But the MTA doesn't exist in a perfect world.

Originally Posted by ijgordon (Post 22737693)

Hence the rants on FT.

Though to be honest, I don't think you need a perfect world, just some pretty basic and common sense functionality built into the system. Which is apparently lacking.