Home Asides MTA introduces online MetroCard claim system

MTA introduces online MetroCard claim system

by Benjamin Kabak

For years, the MTA has offered a protection plan of sorts for MetroCards. For those who buy fare cards with a credit or debit card and find that card lost or stolen, a quick call to 511 can result in an eventual refund. It’s not the speediest process, but it works. Now that process is available online.

As part of an upgrade to the MTA’s eFix website, lost of stolen MetroCards may now be reported online. The site isn’t quite intuitive; a lost or stolen card gets reported via the “Balance Protection claim.” But there it is, a 21st Century solution to a misplaced or misappropriated MetroCard.

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17 comments

Phantom December 12, 2012 - 5:30 pm

I get my MetroCards via the mail each month, via an employee benefit arrangement where they’re paid for out of pre tax payroll funds.

I don’t understand why the many who use this arrangement can’t access this claim system.

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Duke December 12, 2012 - 9:05 pm

The method of refund is that they credit the card you used to buy the Metrocard. If you didn’t use a card to buy it, that doesn’t work.

They could issue refunds by other methods, but then that would start to become more labor intensive and expensive.

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Someone December 12, 2012 - 6:07 pm

I just pay for my Metrocards at the Metrocard booth, with cash. If I lose a card I just buy a new one.

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Mika December 12, 2012 - 11:49 pm

I really wish you could check card balances online through this system. The cards all have serial numbers on them, don’t they? Shouldn’t that info all be available?

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Chicken Underwear December 13, 2012 - 6:20 am

Exactly! What can’t I type the numbers into a box and get the card info. I can do that with a credit/debit/gift card.

and I wish I could combine them at a MVM. We used to be able to do that.

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Michael Pomposello December 13, 2012 - 5:55 pm

HA! I’ve come to love the look of pure FURY when I politely ask a token booth agent to combine cards.

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Chicken Underwear December 13, 2012 - 7:54 pm Reply
Phantom December 13, 2012 - 9:10 pm

My token clerk is cool. Never a problem.

In many stations its one of the few duties they still have

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Someone December 13, 2012 - 8:10 am

When are they going to start charging the fares through credit/debit cards?

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ArtV December 13, 2012 - 8:21 am

“For years, the MTA has offered a protection plan of sorts for MetroCards. For those who buy fare cards with a credit or debit card and find that card lost or stolen, a quick call to 511 can result in an eventual refund. It’s not the speediest process…”

It actually IS the speediest process. You call the “Balance Protection” area of the MTA and while you’re on the phone they determine whether a credit is due (assuming you purchased eligible products with credit/debit at a vending machine) and tell you how much you’re due and then order the credit request back to your bank. All while you’re on the phone with them. Can’t get much speedier than that. Of course if your bank takes 3-5 days putting the funds back in your account that’s an issue to take up with them.

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john January 15, 2013 - 2:24 pm

Currently wishing eFix was a little more transparent and/or fast? A MTA vending machine failed to issue me a 1 month unlimited Metrocard but charged my flexible spending account-linked debit card.

The machine was capable of:
1. Giving me a receipt that stated it charged my debit card
2. Stating that it could not issue me a metrocard because of a “failure to encode media”
3. Give me all sorts of error codes, machine information, date and time, etc.

The machine was NOT capable of:
1. Figuring out that it couldn’t actually give me what I was paying for BEFORE draining the last of my money from my flexible benefit account.
2. Refunding my debit card.

I filed my claim a week ago. On the one hand that’s not very long but on the other HOLY JEEZ this shouldn’t be this hard to process.

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Stephen November 17, 2014 - 8:01 pm

Same exact thing happened to me, did you get this resolved?

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SALLY August 29, 2013 - 11:38 pm

Hello, i bought my metrocard monthly unlimited today , and i lost it. please someone can help me if i can get my money back?. i still have my receipt. thanks

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SALLY August 29, 2013 - 11:39 pm

i bought it with cash not with credit or debit card

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Simon June 7, 2014 - 1:50 pm

I have filled out online balance protection claim 9 days ago, and I just checked my case status with reference number. The system did not has my record, and it said need to call the customer service. The representatives refused to answer my question, and transferred me to their peers. I spoke with the 8 representatives. I remember one of them said “We just start process refund for March, you will get your refund 2-3 months later” I can’t believe the process of refund take 2-3 months!

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Simon June 7, 2014 - 1:50 pm

I purchased my 30 unlimited with a my debit card

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Carol October 7, 2016 - 6:23 pm

Hi, what is 23rd St, 6th Ave MVM number is? Thank you!

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