AT HOP CARDS BOTCH-UPS IN AUCKLAND

We decided to venture into the city this morning to Britomart Transport Centre to be precise and face the depressing prospect of upgrading our At Hop cards – the variety that gives free travel around the city to the elderly. I had attempted to do this in late May, prior to our hasty trip overseas with a singular lack of success following a confrontation with a bus driver who reprimanded me for `persistently not tagging off’. Infuriated I talked of this injustice to all and sundry whilst away, so much so that in London I was urged by my daughter to `read Auckland Transport blog’ in order to keep up to date with this unfolding transport botch-up and I did so with mounting exasperation. It appeared that a growing number of card holders were very upset to find that there would be a charge involved for the upgrade, an extra fifteen dollars. Two days ago The Husband was also chastised by an Inner Link driver for the sin of `not tagging off’ and further enraged we descended upon the Transport Centre today our rejected At Hop Cards, our Gold Cards and our driving licenses at the ready. There were reassuring notices on the walls of the Help & Assistance office - `We are here to help you’. The nice young man who appeared to be the supervisor had a very helpful voice. Having assured himself that we had brought `photo ID in the form of a passport or driving license’ he told us that luckily we did not need to update our At Hop cards at this stage; we could wait another year because our cards were totally valid. `Then why was my husband asked to leave the bus the other day?’ I asked. My voice was belligerent, I could hear it myself. `And what would happen if we held neither a driving license nor a passport?’. He looked confused, but still helpful and said he would find out; he would enquire further into our case. He went away for a moment or two and when he came back, smiling still, said again that our cards did not need upgrading at this time. I told him that we wanted them upgraded regardless. In fact we were not going to leave without an upgrade. He decided not to explain further and with a look of resignation told us to wait whilst he organized it. It would take at least ten minutes he warned. It took a total of sixteen minutes to complete the process and when he reappeared he was bearing the much sought after SuperGold Travel Cards and looking vaguely relieved that we would soon be gone. We were relieved too and as we headed towards Queen’s Arcade for coffee I observed to The Husband that the nice young man had not told us what happened to those with rejected cards who neither drove nor traveled out of the country. He agreed and added that he had also failed to charge us the fifteen dollar upgrade fee. We quickened our pace a little and decided to order lemon muffins with our coffee!