Failed Cash TVM and a Disputed OMNY Charge
At 6:50 a.m. on a Monday, the station's only cash-accepting TVM displays 'Out of Service' after accepting a $20 bill. The card-only TVM is working but has rejected three customers' cards in the last 10 minutes. The OMNY reader at the emergency gate is online; two turnstile readers show intermittent red 'retry' lights. A rider says he tapped his bank card at 6:35, was charged, and the gate did not open; he wants $2.90 in cash back. The station's revenue pickup is scheduled for 10 a.m., and your cash drawer contains $412.75, including $60 in $5 bills. A vendor asks you to break a $100 bill. No supervisor is on site. You have a radio, a fare-collection log, a phone, and a booth that must remain attended. The morning crowd is building, and the card-only TVM line has 14 people.
1. What do you do about the cash TVM and the 14-person line?
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Put the cash TVM out of service and place a clear sign: 'Cash TVM out of service; card-only TVM and OMNY available.' Radio control/maintenance with the machine number, time, and symptom ('accepted a $20 bill, then displayed Out of Service'). Do not open the machine or try to retrieve the bill; that is a revenue-control and maintenance task. Redirect the line: one staff member or the agent by PA can tell riders the card-only machine is working and that OMNY accepts contactless cards and phones. If the card-only machine is rejecting cards, show riders the OMNY reader and the emergency gate reader. Ask for additional staff if the line blocks the mezzanine. Why: the goal is to keep fare payment moving without creating a cash-handling risk or a safety crowd at the booth.
2. The rider demands $2.90 cash for a failed OMNY tap. What can you do, and what should you not do?
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I can acknowledge the charge, record the time, reader, and amount, and direct him to OMNY customer service for a review. I can also let him enter through the gate if the payment appears valid and the gate failed, but I should not take $2.90 from the fare drawer. Do not pay cash from station revenue, promise a refund, or tell him the charge is definitely an error. A bank authorization can appear as a charge before it settles, and the booth has no access to the bank record. Why: station cash is reconciled against fare-collection records; a cash payout would create a shortage and would not correct the bank record. Document the complaint and the action taken.
3. The vendor asks you to break a $100 bill, and revenue pickup is at 10 a.m. What do you do?
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Decline. The booth is not a bank, and making change from the fare drawer creates a reconciliation problem and a robbery-risk target. Keep the drawer closed and the $412.75 secured. If the vendor needs change, direct him to a nearby business or the card-only TVM if it gives change; do not use personal money. Record the request only if it becomes a disturbance. Why: the pickup at 10 a.m. depends on the drawer matching the log. Breaking a large bill would mix personal or vendor cash with revenue and could hide a shortage. The safe answer is a clear no plus an alternative.