My current unhappiness towards Translink continues...

As I mentioned in a previous post, a power outage caused me to send in my Translink card to get "fixed." That was Thursday? Friday? A long time ago? Over a week ago, that's for sure.

Regardless, now my Translink card with its $115.00 on it is MIA. Usually the process takes tops a week – I mail it in, they do whatever it is they do to it, and they mail it back to me. It's now Tuesday, and I have no Translink card.

I'm the type of person who procrastinates when a phone call is in order, but I'm now miffed. I've bought about five 20 dollar BART tickets during this time (for those of you who can't add – that's $100 bucks), in hopes that my lovely scratched up and tattered Translink card will show up in my mail box. Yesterday was the last straw – still no card.

So now that I'm miffed and getting more miffed as the days go by, I decided I would call today. I was going to raise holy hell, tell them how I've spent 100 bucks already on BART tickets while I have 115 bucks in suspense on my Translink card, and what the hey – this is just not good and I am mad!

I called. I got stuck in telephone button nightmare maze (if I had my Translink card, I would have just punched in the numbers and after three times of not being recognized, I would have been shuffled off to an operator) and I finally talk to a real live honest to goodness person. I wanted to be mad, but I really wasn't. Yet. So I told the lady what was going on and that I didn't have my card to give her the number.

"Oh, that's okay. What's your first name?" she said to me.

Yeah, here we go again with my unpronounceable name that is never spelled correctly. So, instead of telling her, I spelled it out (thanks, Mom...).

"J-A-N-I-N-E," I said.

"Okay, what's your last name," she said.

And the saga continues. Here we go again with my unpronounceable last name that is never spelled correctly (thanks, hubby...).

"Z-A-R-A-T-E," I said.

"What was your first name again?" she asked.

"J-A-N-I-N-E," I repeated.

I heard a lot of clickety-clicks and "hmmmms" and "uhhhs" on her end. I immediately thought that they've shredded my card and dumped me as a customer. I'm gone, my card is gone and I've lost my 115 bucks. Now I was miffed. Miffed, I say!

After what seemed an eternity where I've already planned my nasty speech to her about how Translink has made my commute a nightmare on several occasions, how my money is constantly being held in suspense (happens 1 or 2 times a year, but who's counting?), that I could have bought a discount BART ticket and saved a few bucks instead of buying a 20 dollar one every other day, that I hate them, hate them, hate them, she tells me that it was mailed out yesterday.

"Oh," I said. "Okay." I'm so easily appeased sometimes.

"They're replacing the cards for Phase 2 in a few months, so they gave you a new card," she told me.

"A new card? I'm getting a new card???" I asked. Wow! It's just like Christmas!

"Yes, that's why it was delayed a bit. Sorry for the inconvenience," she told me.

"Oh, so they took advantage of me sending it in to give me the new card now," I said. Boy, howdy, I am smart.

"Yes, I think that's what happened. Again, sorry for the delay," she said to me.

"Oh, that's okay. That's fine," I told her.

Now, all of a sudden, I wanted to chat with her about my shiny new card that won't be all gross and dirty with the plastic coating sloughing off. New cards are the best!

"Okay, have a great day," and she hung up.

What? Hey! I want to keep talking about my new card!