What a shock it was this morning to discover there’s been another technical problem with the myki ticketing system. The Age today reported that myki will be deducting money from thousands of customers bank accounts as a result of transactions not being processed.

So let’s get the story straight:

Users of the myki system who have been undercharged as a result of failed bank transactions don’t need to worry. A lump sum payment will be deducted from their accounts on October 14th, so long as the amount is under $100. No need to worry! Myki will make the calculations and deduct the appropriate amount. Automatically. Without the need for the customer to intervene.

Users of the myki system who have been overcharged on the other hand, which has been known to be occurring since at least December last year, can expect myki to do absolutely nothing. No automatic reimbursement, no periodic auditing of your statement, nothing. In fact, if you want to ensure that you are paying the correct fare, you can trawl over your statement in your free time, make the calculations, and then contact the customer service line to make your case. You could submit your statement to MykiLeaks for automatic assessment, but that involves trusting your personal information with a complete stranger (hi, that’s me), which is neither endorsed nor recommended by myki or the TTA.

Is it just me, or does this seem slightly unfair? Myki should start reclaiming their own lost coin when (and only when) they have audited every single myki account for overcharges, and reimbursed customers who have been duped by this mathematically challenged system.

I’ve already witnessed myki being used as a Software Engineering case study of how to not build a system, is it really going to become a case study for Public Relations experts as well?