BCL
Engineer
Maybe a first here?
I got off this morning after using up my last 10-ride. I figured I had enough time to buy my next 10-ride at the QT kiosk to use later. So I went through the motions, used my credit card, entered my AGR number, and waited for the ticket and receipt.
The printer started humming and then stopped. The screen had a message saying that it couldn't complete the transaction and to see a ticket agent (I'm at an unstaffed station). Them the entire screen goes black except for OUT OF ORDER. I noticed the ticket is partially ejected and I pulled it out. It's got a reservation number and the upper 3/4 of it is clearly printed. The bar code is faint with the rest barely printed or not printed at all.
So I'm at a loss to figure out what to do. It's not going to scan and there's no visible ticket number. I called Amtrak and after a while am told I was charged and that I'm going to need to take what I have to a ticket office to get a reprint or voucher.
So this was my biggest worry about using one of these things - that a machine could malfunction while printing a live ticket and I'm left with no proof that I made the purchase. If the ticket simply jammed in the printer such that I couldn't pull it out, what could I have done without a res or ticket number? It's not so bad with an eTicket, but a 10-ride has cash value. I used my AGR number but what if its someone randomly buying a 10-ride or monthly?
I believe a regular eTicket is attached to the credit card and can be reprinted at a working machine. Or a conductor could look up a reservation by name.
Sort of reminds me of my worries of slot machines with only electronic credits. I always wondered how they handled power outages. I saw an outage once in Reno and the machine booted up with the same credits as when the power went out. I also have seen a credit slip partially come out but the slot machine said it still had the credits. The casino employee who cleared the jam said to check the slip anyways, and I found out it was already invalidated.
I got off this morning after using up my last 10-ride. I figured I had enough time to buy my next 10-ride at the QT kiosk to use later. So I went through the motions, used my credit card, entered my AGR number, and waited for the ticket and receipt.
The printer started humming and then stopped. The screen had a message saying that it couldn't complete the transaction and to see a ticket agent (I'm at an unstaffed station). Them the entire screen goes black except for OUT OF ORDER. I noticed the ticket is partially ejected and I pulled it out. It's got a reservation number and the upper 3/4 of it is clearly printed. The bar code is faint with the rest barely printed or not printed at all.
So I'm at a loss to figure out what to do. It's not going to scan and there's no visible ticket number. I called Amtrak and after a while am told I was charged and that I'm going to need to take what I have to a ticket office to get a reprint or voucher.
So this was my biggest worry about using one of these things - that a machine could malfunction while printing a live ticket and I'm left with no proof that I made the purchase. If the ticket simply jammed in the printer such that I couldn't pull it out, what could I have done without a res or ticket number? It's not so bad with an eTicket, but a 10-ride has cash value. I used my AGR number but what if its someone randomly buying a 10-ride or monthly?
I believe a regular eTicket is attached to the credit card and can be reprinted at a working machine. Or a conductor could look up a reservation by name.
Sort of reminds me of my worries of slot machines with only electronic credits. I always wondered how they handled power outages. I saw an outage once in Reno and the machine booted up with the same credits as when the power went out. I also have seen a credit slip partially come out but the slot machine said it still had the credits. The casino employee who cleared the jam said to check the slip anyways, and I found out it was already invalidated.
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