is there a reason it is called VENTra ????

OK - it's Friday (TGIF btw) and I am going to unload a M_A_J_O_R VENTra...I got my card in the mail; followed the instuctions to activate it (very poor btw) and received a message that 'my card is already activated' (wtf). OK - I'll play along. I do not know the access code (never set it up - do-h); cannot log in to retrieve it (two strikes for you), so I call the "toll free" number (what a joke); and to speak with someone about it I am told

(with a very cheery female voice (oh spare me honey) "your wait time will be approximately 26 minutes". yeah right. like I have NOTHING better to do than sit on hold

and listen to this nauseating music (good thing I collect barf bags from southwest airlines (now THERE is a company with awesome customer service btw - can you say capitalism with a KAPITAL SEE?????). VENTRA darling - you get a BIG FAT F- in my grade book. I am flushing this lovely little card down the toilet. Oh wait - i will use my handy dandy "pick puncher" and make some nice guitar picks out of you; it was nice knowing you. and why do I hate the CTA ??? let me count the ways. When I get even a B+ from my customers I have to meet with them to see what ever I can do to change that grade to an A+.

 

OK - I feel SO much better now...TGIF

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Permalink Reply by Anne Alt on October 11, 2013 at 10:42am

Judging from this story in the Trib, folks visiting for the marathon are having tons of fun with it.

Permalink Reply by KayCee on October 11, 2013 at 3:32pm
I skipped the Chicago card plus transfer, just ordered a card online. Never activated it- just tried it on a bus and it worked... I assume it reloads itself, so far so good. My friend couldn't figure out how to activate it either, so I told her to pull the sticker of and tap it, it worked. I don't think they need to be activated unless you want to use them as a debit card?
Permalink Reply by Banshee: 12-15mi on October 11, 2013 at 3:52pm
Check out this article. http://bit.ly/GV2tWE

"Now, he has a new Ventra card. When checking his account covering the last couple weeks, he discovered that he'd been charged twice for a single ride. But more interestingly, he found that on September 26, within a span of 70 seconds, he was billed six times for calling the CTA customer call center - a total of $8.50. Not a lot of money, but Kenger's phone log shows no record of those calls, and even if he did make them, you are not to be charged for making calls to the customer service center."

It is recommended to check your ventra account religiously because there might be "ghost charges" in your account. Also, if you call customer service they plan to charge you for calling, this will be automatically deducted out of your account.
Permalink Reply by KayCee on October 11, 2013 at 4:26pm
Yikes. Thank you for the heads up!

Banshee: 5-7mi said:
Check out this article. http://bit.ly/GV2tWE

"Now, he has a new Ventra card. When checking his account covering the last couple weeks, he discovered that he'd been charged twice for a single ride. But more interestingly, he found that on September 26, within a span of 70 seconds, he was billed six times for calling the CTA customer call center - a total of $8.50. Not a lot of money, but Kenger's phone log shows no record of those calls, and even if he did make them, you are not to be charged for making calls to the customer service center."

It is recommended to check your ventra account religiously because there might be "ghost charges" in your account. Also, if you call customer service they plan to charge you for calling, this will be automatically deducted out of your account.
Permalink Reply by Duppie on October 11, 2013 at 4:33pm

So it is not linked to any account you have? So you ride for free? How would it re-charge the credit if you never activated it.

KayCee said:

I skipped the Chicago card plus transfer, just ordered a card online. Never activated it- just tried it on a bus and it worked... I assume it reloads itself, so far so good. My friend couldn't figure out how to activate it either, so I told her to pull the sticker of and tap it, it worked. I don't think they need to be activated unless you want to use them as a debit card?
Permalink Reply by Reba 4.0 mi on October 11, 2013 at 4:37pm

I spent 25 mins on hold yesterday since I hadn't yet received an email or a card. The very nice woman who finally took my call said that thousands of cards came back due to missing or incorrect apartment/building numbers AND that addresses with apartment numbers were/are being sent out in a second phase - loads of people hadn't yet received their cards due to this reason.

They had simply lost me. She found me in the system and I had the necessary emails within a few hours. We'll see about the card. 

This lack of transfer option is truly stupid and outrageous. What does that say to out-of-towners? Here's our great transit system, just insert your credit card and we'll charge you extra to use it efficiently?

Permalink Reply by KayCee on October 11, 2013 at 4:43pm
I entered my billing information when I ordered it, Nicknamed it Visa, and set it to reload to 40 bucks- just like my Plus card I had years ago. I thought the system seemed pretty much the same. I'm hearing all kinds of horror stories, and kind of waiting for disaster to strike! Just checked my transactions- other than a $0 charge in two places (where I think I swiped twice on the bus) it still looks good.

Duppie said:

So it is not linked to any account you have? So you ride for free? How would it re-charge the credit if you never activated it.

KayCee said:

I skipped the Chicago card plus transfer, just ordered a card online. Never activated it- just tried it on a bus and it worked... I assume it reloads itself, so far so good. My friend couldn't figure out how to activate it either, so I told her to pull the sticker of and tap it, it worked. I don't think they need to be activated unless you want to use them as a debit card?
Permalink Reply by Anne Alt on October 11, 2013 at 10:03pm

If you buy a card from a machine or by ordering it online, you register the account online.  You can set the preference for auto (linked to a credit card) or manual (at a machine) reloading.  Through your online account, you can also specify if you want to use Ventra as a debit card - or just leave that feature turned off if you prefer not to use it.

I bought one from a machine while I was waiting for mine in the mail, just in case CTA didn't back down on last Monday's deadline.  Those bought from machines do NOT require the activation phone call

I dont know the answer on activation for cards ordered online that weren't linked to a Chicago Card Plus account.  

I can tell you that if did get one mailed to you that's linked to CC+, you do need to call the phone # on the sticker and go through the menus in the automated phone call to activate in order to trigger the balance transfer from CC+.

 


Duppie said:

So it is not linked to any account you have? So you ride for free? How would it re-charge the credit if you never activated it.

KayCee said:

I skipped the Chicago card plus transfer, just ordered a card online. Never activated it- just tried it on a bus and it worked... I assume it reloads itself, so far so good. My friend couldn't figure out how to activate it either, so I told her to pull the sticker of and tap it, it worked. I don't think they need to be activated unless you want to use them as a debit card?
Permalink Reply by Duppie on October 12, 2013 at 7:03am

If you are not in a hurry, I would wait a few weeks, until the additional callcenter staff is trained. At that point the wait time should be reduced and the process should become less aggravating.

h' 1.0 said:

I'm in the "balance-transfer from CC+" camp; am I reading correctly that I'm going to have no choice but attempt to talk to a live person because I can't find any evidence of an e-mail? 

Anne Alt said:



I can tell you that if did get one mailed to you that's linked to CC+, you do need to call the phone # on the sticker and go through the menus in the automated phone call to activate in order to trigger the balance transfer from CC+.

Permalink Reply by Duppie on October 12, 2013 at 7:03am

OK, got it. That sounded to good to be true.

KayCee said:

I entered my billing information when I ordered it, Nicknamed it Visa, and set it to reload to 40 bucks- just like my Plus card I had years ago. I thought the system seemed pretty much the same. I'm hearing all kinds of horror stories, and kind of waiting for disaster to strike! Just checked my transactions- other than a $0 charge in two places (where I think I swiped twice on the bus) it still looks good.

Duppie said:

So it is not linked to any account you have? So you ride for free? How would it re-charge the credit if you never activated it.

KayCee said:

I skipped the Chicago card plus transfer, just ordered a card online. Never activated it- just tried it on a bus and it worked... I assume it reloads itself, so far so good. My friend couldn't figure out how to activate it either, so I told her to pull the sticker of and tap it, it worked. I don't think they need to be activated unless you want to use them as a debit card?
Permalink Reply by Sol on October 13, 2013 at 1:28pm
I received my card last week, but not the email needed to register or activate the card and have my Chicago card balance transferred. I had the Chicago card rather than the Chicago card plus as I did not trust the cya with my credit card number. I also do not intend to give it to Ventra. I will reload with cash at the stations.

I waited on hold for one hour Monday bout them on speaker phone while doing other work at my desk). They were able to get everything done, but my balance gas still not tranferre because only the cc+ balances transfer. Anyways later that night I found out....pay attention if you did not get the required email...

If you call the number on the sticker on the card, press 0 to talk to a live person and you should get one in only a few minutes, rather than waiting an hour when you call the regular customer service number.
Permalink Reply by Anne Alt on October 14, 2013 at 3:00am

To do a balance transfer from a regular Chicago Card (NOT Chicago Card Plus), you need to go to one of the balance transfer events.  More here about how the events work - note that these events are NOT for Chicago Card Plus.

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