Commuter rail little victory

Praise to Keolis — not a phrase I normally use. However, I just got a call from their support folk about six minutes after I emailed a complaint. AND she resolved it.

This gist centers on a nickel.

I have the senior T card. Hence the ride from my local Fairmount stop to South Station is $1.10. Note that younger adults pay $2.25 one way. Until recently, I'd get a round trip and give the conductor $2.20 and get to enjoy the theater of ticket punching.

Lately however, the conductors have adamantly demanded $2.25, even though they'd charge $1.10 for the ride in. I'd point out that the new fares were clearly $1.10 each way and $2.20 round trip, as the posters that used to appear in many car showed. They insisted on the extra 5¢.

When $20 doesn't buy much, the nickel is hardly worth mentioning. That didn't stop me. On today'[s trip into town, I decided to pay the $1.10 for one way and stop into the commuter rail ticket office at South Station to:

1. Buy a return ticket
2. Inquire about my recollection of the new round-trip senior fare

The pleasant clerk there didn't tell me to drop dead. She rattled off $2.20 round trip. Then she verified on the computer that it was $2.20 and not $2.25.

I sent email to the MBTA box. Just a few minutes later, I got a call from them. Yes, I was right. The conductors were wrong. Yes it was likely a training issue. She said they'd send a memo to all conductors informing them. She agreed that 5¢ was a negligible amount, but "We all ought to be on the same page."

I think that's what we can call customer service.