PETALING JAYA: About 48,000 Touch ’n Go cards will be expiring this year, with about 4,000 customers replacing their expired cards every month since January.
The cards, purchased in 1997 (when the service was officially launched), had reached their 10-year lifespan, said Touch ’n Go Customer Service Department head Azmi Jafar.
He said to renew the card, customers would need to purchase a new card at a cost of RM10, which would be taken from the RM15 deposit of the expired card.
Asked why customers were charged for the card renewal, when they were not initially informed of the card expiring, he replied:
“The new card will be able to last for another 10 years, which works out to RM1 a year only.
“The balance of RM5 from the deposit will be credited into the new card as a reload value,” he said, adding that the credit balance of the expired card would be transferred to the new card as well.
Azmi said the cards have a 10-year expiry period as “all electronic products are subject to wear and tear.”
“Touch ’n Go is no exception. The electronic chip in the card, which carries the functions such as
memory storage, radio transmitter and receiver, has a 10-year life-span.
“The chip will lose its efficiency once it reaches the end of its lifespan,” he told The Star.
Card users can only renew their cards at Touch ’n Go offices in Faber Towers, KL Sentral (both in Kuala Lumpur), Penang Bridge Sdn Bhd, PLUS, Elite Highway and Second Link.
“Right now, customers can check when their card expires at our website. We are negotiating with vendors to extend our service of renewing their cards online.
“That system should be out sometime next year,” he said.
He said that should customers decide not to purchase a new Touch ’n Go card, they can return the expired card, and the deposit and balance would be refunded via cheque within 30 working days.
For more information, go to http://www.touchngo.com.my.
Sometimes, I don't know why I got angry easily, or pissed off by reading some "Malaysia" news. Take this news for example, it should be okay, nothing seem to be awkward, but there is one line that's being reported that really make me fucking pissed off.
... "Asked why the customer were charged for the card renewal, when they were not initially informed of the card expiring, he replied :"The new card will be able to last for another 10 years, which works out to be RM1 a year only"...
Who is this fucking Azmi Jafar? Does he understand the question at all? Someone was asking, why we were charged for renewal of card, and he answered "oh.. it's only RM1 per year.."And mind you, even when it's RM10 per year, I don't mind just as long as I've been informed about this earlier.
Don't they know that the lifespan for the card is about 10 years before they start the whole system? Or are they expecting that the system will not last above 10 years, that's why they don't inform their customers about this renewal thing?
I wonder, when will people learn how to be responsible on what they've done wrong? If you've made a mistake, you absorb the cost this time, but inform the customer that they will be charged for the next renewal session.
Damn, I really wish I can just pass all the "mistaken" cost to my customers... niamah...
