MyCiTi refund problems

David Kanyenda, Parklands

I live in Parklands and work in Atlantis, and I travel there six days a week.

I use MyCiTi, and I always load the monthly contract, but after the strike, I thought I would get my refund or my remaining days back, but I was told to wait until Saturday May 26 to fill out a form, which meant I had to fork out R50 to travel to work and back home.

After May 26, I got the form and submitted it on Tuesday May 29. I was told I would get an SMS and a refund within seven days.

I was also advised not to buy another monthly until I got my refund, so I continued with the R50, but I never received the SMS.

On Friday June 8, I complained at the station, and they told me to phone the call centre, which I did, and the woman who answered said she knew nothing as this was done by the audit department.

I phoned again on Tuesday June 12 and was told refunds had only started on Wednesday June 6, and I have to wait another seven working days.

This is stretching my budget, and MyCiTi does not seem to care. This is daylight robbery, as I have to buy points every day.

I hope this letter will shed some light on what is happening to people with a monthly contract.

Brett Herron, mayoral committee member for transport and urban development, responds:

Monthly ticket holders who are eligible for a refund should be reimbursed seven days from the date of application with the number of days that they could not make use of the MyCiTi service due to the strike action that took place from mid-April to mid-May.

The number of days will be loaded on their Myconnect card.

The City is investigating why the process to refund Mr Kanyenda took so long, as the refund was supposed to be processed within seven days from the day when the application was submitted.

The City apologises for the inconvenience.

In the meantime, we are assisting Mr Kanyenda. Officials have met him at the Table View station on Friday June 15 to finalise the reimbursement process.