Hi

I usually travel with "Mehrfahrtenkarte" on buses. There are totally 6 tickets on this card and everytime I use it, the automat will tell me how many tickets I have left. So today I used the last ticket on the card, the card went through the automat, no problem. Then came the control man. I showed my card to him, he was looking at it for a couple of seconds and realised that this card has been used SEVEN times. He told me the problem. I told him in my poor German this is really a mistake. I only used it because I saw there was one ticket left. Then everyone on the bus was saying this is the mistake of the automat. He said I should have counted how many tickets I have used and this is not the automat's mistake. In the end I received an invoice of Fr 80 . I asked him how I can talk to the bus company and he gave me a telephone number. I don't know if it would help but will certainly try. If I have to pay, I hope they will spend my money buying new automats, so this stupid mistake will not happen again.

So guys, if you are travelling with this Mehrfahrtentakrte, please watch out.

If the machine printed the time and date out twice, surely that would show on the card? The time would be the same It'd be a simple error which could be explained. If the time and date were different, no wonder you received a fine

If it is one of those tickets that cuts of a "stub" every time you use it, I would send it in and write a letter of complaint. They may still argue that you should have checked how many times it has been actually stamped but at least they will get an "eye-opener" for a potential problem with their machines/system.

Had it been in Zürich, you may even had gotten an appology as we have seen examples of here on the forum recently.

Yes, it's exactly one of those tickets.

I have called them up and explained that I really did not know that the card had been used 7 times. I never count how many times I have used the card because the card itself always tells me if I can still use it. So they also asked me to send this card to them for checking and depending on what they find out, I might not have to pay the fine.

Thanks for listening.

I assure you that, if you have not tampered with the card then it is their problem.

If you have Rechtschutz (Rights Protection) then consult them if you do not get a satisfactory response.

Also ensure that your name as a "sinner" is removed from their system and that they instruct their over-zealous staff to simply confiscate your ticket (if you're near the end of your journey) and send it in for analysis.

The ticket is specifically designed to use certain phsyical aspects to judge that it is valid or not. If their design has a flaw, it should not be your problem.

On an amusing note, I knew a young student in the UK that was visiting his girlfriend in France. She advised him that he was required to punch his ticket, which he did, at every single stop!
Imagine the look on the Controllers face when he saw the ticket.

I bet his knuckles were sore at the end of the ride.

Cheers,

Nick

Than you for the heads up Vanee.

If I understand correctly, the OP traveled seven times with this ticket. By mistake he had no valid ticket when he was controled. It is therefor up to the conductor and the company if they fine you or tolerate the error. If this is true you may explain your case to the company but any concession from their side would be a sign of goodwill and not because the right is on your side.

The tickets were intentionally designed this way. The Bernese ticket machines must accept 12 stamp tickets too, and SBB tickets sometimes only have one stamp.

Maybe it's something unique to Bern then, because I can remember on occasion my mehfarhkart taking more than 6 stamps also. I didn't get caught, but noticed it as odd. The 7th date stamp went over the 6th so it was messy and unreadable. But I recall the machine did punch the card like this.

Next time you have a mehrfahrkart that's used up (ie: has allready 6 stamps) try putting it in the machine and see if it takes a 7th or 8th stamp.

I don't think you'll have much of a chance complaining.

It sounds as if the conducter may have been a little rude about it, but it is quite clear: You bought a card for 6 rides, you used the 6 rides and so there are no more left...

You can stamp the tickets more than 6 times, but after 6 they are not valid and the print doesn't usually go into one of the empty fields. We usually use them as play tickets...

I found the information about the 12 stamp tickets on the Bernese bus website and just assumed that they're equally shaped like 6 stamp tickets. I know that it was like this back when there were 12 stamp tickets in canton Zurich (and I think the ticket machines still accept selfmade >6 stamp tickets...). But if the seventh and eight stamp always get printed on top of the sixth stamp, it would mean that I'm wrong.

My reply below:

After 6 punches (which I thought only 5), I still saw 1 ticket in the conner (there are numbers from 1 to 6 and number 1 was still there), that's why I punched this last number. That means something wrong with one of the first 6 punches, don't know which one. I would not have used the card if I did not see the last ticket. All seven punches were nicely printed.

Just to update everyone, I sent the card away as proposed. Called them up again yesterday to ask if I should pay the fine now as the deadline is approaching. They told me I can hold back and they will send me a report soon. Don't know what to expect. In any case, it's good they are looking into the problem and don't just ignore it

This reminds me of my own experience many years ago. I wanted to buy a tram ticket from the Automat and I got a newspaper.

Two pickets to Tittsburg please!

Good news I got from the Bus Company today. I will not have to pay the fine any more.

The letter was a bit confusing to me. First it said the bus controller had handled the case correctly, and that all "Schwarzfahrer" are treated the same way, whether they intentionally or unintentionally violate the law.

Then it said in my case it was an error and therefore they will remove the fine. This case, however, is treated as an exception for only once and I should not tell anybody about it (so you guys, please don't tell anyone)

I think it's based on burden of guilt. Their error means that you have no burden of guilt and therefore could legally dispute the fine - their machine must be foolproof.

That's not to say you're a fool, mind you