I had a pleasant interaction with a Metro-North customer service rep this morning.
Can you say that?
As I wrote yesterday, I forgot my new January pass yesterday and had to buck up $11 for a return ticket home last night. (Metro-North lets you use your expired previous month’s pass for one trip, but the other trip is on you. Fearful of crazy first-workday-of-the-month lines at the ticket machines, I allowed an extra 15 minutes, but zipped through the new ticket room in about two minutes.) After asking the conductor if I could avoid getting the ticket punched, as I had a January ticket waiting at home (that was a big No), I spent the entire ride home figuring out how I was going to cut $11 from my budget for the month, such as skipping the lettuce-and-tomato option on a sandwich from the deli.
I decided to call Metro-North today and see if I could get refund on my $11 ticket, seeing as I’d already paid for yesterday’s fare in the form of my January pass. Stacy (or is it “Stacey”? I couldn’t tell) was very helpful. She told me there is a “one time exception” for people in my situation–send in a copy of your one way ticket and monthly pass, along with a short note explaining the sitch, and you’ll be refunded in full.
Looks like I’m back to lettuce-and-tomato on the sandwich today.
You might have to skip on the condiments on the sandwich because of the stamp to mail it to Metro-North.