Getting a $100 refund for an Auckland Transport HOP bus card
© Office of the Ombudsman, 2019.
The Ombudsman helped change Auckland Transport's HOP card policy and got one of their customers a refund of $100.
A complaint was made against Auckland Transport (AT) about its cancellation of a HOP card used, by commuters on Auckland’s public transport system. AT cancelled the card because the complainant hadn't tagged off three times within two weeks and refused to refund their $100 balance.
Although AT had the authority to cancel cards when a customer failed to tag on and off – as defined in the terms of use – most card holders didn't know AT would claim the credit left on the card. This issue mostly affected unregistered cards, with registered cardholders receiving a text message when they forgot to tag off.
The Ombudsman decided that AT had acted unreasonably and recommended that it apologise to the complainant and refund them the full $100. As a result of the Ombudsman's intervention, AT also changed their policy so card holders are now refunded the balance on any cancelled cards, which has resulted in fewer complaints.
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