Posted for Camerom-Another Connex complaint

To whomever,

I wanted to provide some feedback on the pathetic situation I was faced with this morning.

Upon arriving on time at Surrey Hills Station this morning to catch the 7.37 express train I was confronted when walking up the ramp to the platform by about 20 people trying to use the validating machine. I walked past the group only to find that the only other validating machine was not working.

Rejoining the queue the train arrived, and due to the fact that I could not validate my ticket in time to catch the train I missed it and thus got to work late. This is where my issues lie!

1 – Why the hell does a station like Surrey Hills, which is one of the last zone one stations and has a car park that supports about 200 cars only have 2, yes that’s right 2 validating machines?! The same amount as Hawthorn that has a car park that supports 10 cars Surely Connex isn’t doing so badly in revenue that you can’t even afford validating machines so that normal paying customers can do the right thing and validate the tickets they bought!

Perhaps you should invest money in keeping your machines operational rather than investing in millions of dollars in “fare evasion” advertising. Or have you just invested in technology that was outdated 20 years ago. The fact that when purchasing a ticket from a machine the machine a) doesn’t accept a credit card even though there is a button for it on the console b) when buying a ticket with an EFTPOS card the machine takes longer that an espresso machine to make a coffee to spit the ticket out, and c) the machine can’t even work out change of more than $20. It’s absolutely pathetic!

I really wish I had something good happen to me on public transport so I could email positive feedback. The fact that on a daily basis I arrive at work angry and frustrated that such a simple process as catch a train can be made so painful that I would consider just paying the $75 per week to drive in myself and wreck the environment for future generations.

Get back to me as these things are really grating on my happy demeanour.

Cameron Davidson