Complaint Letter
Janice Pang
2978 Whisper Way
Coquitlam, BC V3E 3R8
November 17, 2019
Compass Customer Service Centre
590 Beatty Street
Vancouver, BC V6B 2L3
Dear Compass Customer Service:
For the past few years, the public transit service offered by TransLink has been a reliable commuting service for me to get across Metro Vancouver daily. The implementation of the Compass card has also made paying for fares and loading my monthly U-Pass simpler. However, in recent trip to downtown Vancouver from Coquitlam on November 4, I had to pay an unexpected 3-zone fare despite having loaded a U-Pass to my Compass card on October 25.
I am highly disappointed in having to pay additional fare for my most recent trip given that I had already purchased a monthly U-Pass. The U-Pass is critical in reducing my transit expenses as a student. Before traveling, I checked on the status of my monthly U-Pass on the Compass website to ensure that the U-Pass has been linked to my Compass card. In addition, I had received a text-message notification on October 25 stating, “Your November 2019 U-Pass BC has been processed and will be loaded to your Compass Card before the start of the month.” Furthermore, since I am currently enrolled as a full-time student at UBC without any outstanding fees, I am certain that I am eligible for a U-Pass this month.
It is beyond my understanding as to why I am unable to commute to my destination without additional charges. I would appreciate that you investigate the reason for this 3-zone fare charge and provide me a U-Pass for unlimited travel across Metro Vancouver. For your convenience, here is my Compass card information:
Compass card number: 0101 1234 4567 9876 5432
Security code: 788
I look forward to hearing from you about a resolution to the problem and hope that students can travel across Metro Vancouver with reasonable fare prices using TransLink services. Thank you for your attention to this matter.
Sincerely,
Janice Pang
Bad News Letter
Compass Customer Service Centre
590 Beatty Street
Vancouver, BC V6B 2L3
November 18, 2019
Janice Pang
2978 Whisper Way
Coquitlam, BC V3E 3R8
Dear Ms. Pang:
Thank you for bringing the matter regarding the U-Pass issue on your recent trip on TransLink services to our attention. We are sorry to hear that you have been experiencing difficulties with your U-Pass. Through the U-Pass BC program, we are committed to providing eligible students like you with unlimited bus, SeaBus, SkyTrain, and Canada Line transit services within Metro Vancouver, along with discounts on West Coast Express.
To ensure students are traveling with a transit pass, it is advised that the U-Pass be loaded onto a linked Compass card either on the 16th of each month or at least 24 hours in advance of travel. While we understand that you loaded your U-Pass on October 25th, we are currently experiencing difficulties on our system for the linking of all U-Passes. Consequently, although you have received a notification on the U-Pass BC website indicating that the U-Pass request for the next month has been processed, the U-Pass has yet to be linked to the Compass card. Since we are currently working on resolving the system-wide problem, we are unfortunately unable to issue a U-Pass to eligible students for the month.
The issue is expected to be fixed by end of this month. To ensure successful request of the U-Pass following the fix, we ask that students unlink their U-Pass from their Compass card and re-link again before requesting their next U-Pass at the end of this month. As we recognize that this system issue has caused inconveniences to many students, we would like to offer you a full refund of additional fare charges incurred this month.
Ensuring students are able to easily travel across Metro Vancouver on our transit services through the U-Pass program remains to be a priority. Your patience and understanding are very much appreciated. We hope you have an enjoyable ride on our transit services on your next commute.
Yours truly,
Jane Smith
Assistant, Compass Customer Service
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