I'm not reviewing this business location nor the customer service there in this review, but I'm reviewing the clipper card (the product) itself. I believe this review is important and clipper must update their illogical function that is currently giving me headaches. My clipper card is blocked because of the auto-loading cash value unable to make a transaction using my credit card (due to the fact that the card is expiring). However, I have purchased a 31-day pass way before the card was blocked, and I should be able to use it for 31-day right? No. The card is simply blocked and I can't use it. I completely understand if clipper would block the cash value function ONLY in my case. But the 31-day pass is a completely unrelated feature that gets blocked just because of something completely irrelevant. It pisses me off. What's worse is that it takes up to 5 days for "removing" the unblock card. 5 days!! Which means from the moment you realized that you're card are blocked, you called the customer service or do it yourself in their website (which I did) to fix whatever they want you to fix. You still have to wait 5 freaking days and double spend your money to travel because of this illogical function of the clipper card. I thought that calling customer service would resolve the issue and my card gets unblocked right away but NO. They told me that they have no control over the card too. Plus, apparently it was my fault that I didn't read the email clipper card sent notifying that my card is about to be blocked. Furthermore, apparently this was the agreement the moment you sign-up for the clipper card autoload function which I should have read, but obviously I didn't. It's all my fault then, but clipper card should have designed a product that let the customers have a peace of mind while using it, and it's reliable, and when there's a problem we should be able to fix, and fix it fast because we are relying on it to function everyday. We are people and we all make mistakes, it's ridiculous that when there's a mistake you have to wait 5 freaking days. That's what pissing me off. To the fellows who are using clipper card or thinking about using clipper. Don't use the auto-load function as it's faulty when there are things going wrong. read more

My work uses WageWorks to load my monthly Caltrain passes. I had a month in June where I didn't use a pass. Mind you these passes are ~250 $ a pop not cheap. Long story short I verify in July I have 2 passes on Clipper account via web. I tag on July 11th thinking I used one of the two passes. Then Come August I find out that when I tagged on both passes were burned and after talking to Clipper customer service that I can't get my money back or a pass for August. To add insult to injury the customer service rep tells me repeatedly that if I just had called before tagging on July 11th they could have refunded me the money, but now it isn't possible because they expired my June pass (for what reasons?) because I tagged on. In what world can a service expect to not be hated when they basically just steal money from customers? I mean honestly if there software is this bad they just need to be given the ability to refund customers, that is it. It is that simple. In my case it is obvious I didn't use the pass and that I am not trying to game the system but they can't do anything about it? Obviously nobody at Clipper or Caltrain wants to do anything about it if they did they would do something, even if it is as simple as giving out refunds. read more

One star because I cannot give zero stars. I mistakenly signed up for the Muni Fastpass and Muni only pass on the website. Clipper card charged me for both passes per month $142! When my debit card ran out, they blocked my card. I had to pay $2 per ride for Feb and March. Now I need to pay for both Feb and March passes to unblock. Total cost = $220 for 40 rides. Customer service only asks for money and will not talk about how their system doesn't make sense. "That's on the contract" Shame on me for not reading carefully, but double shame on them to have a system that allows for this kind of error and no way to fix it. read more

I amfrustrated with Clipper Direct, for multiple reasons. The only reason I use Clipper and not cash is that you do get a slight discount using their service and you can have funds deducted pre-tax from your paycheck. Yet the negative aspects of Clipper almost out-weigh these two benefits. Issues I have with Clipper: 1) It takes forever for money to load onto your Clipper card. You can have funds deducted from your bank account or paycheck in an instance, but to get it to actually show up as value on your card can take up to 2 weeks!!! 2) The Clipper systems often has errors where you can get charged for a full length trip from end to end transportation zones even if you've only traveled a short distance. They incorrectly charge you. 3) The Clipper customer support is not good. 4) The Clipper website is archaic at best. read more

Since I work for the City and County of San Francisco, I get to ride MUNI for free. But if I'm taking other transits outside of MUNI, I have to pay. The Clipper card program is great. Just pay the amount and any amount of bus fare you needed in one blue card. The Clipper-card is time-consuming too. Riders, especially on the Golden Gate Transits, take forever to insert the wrinkled dollar-bills inside the fare box Instead of being a dork and asking the bus-driver the cost to ride on the bus, just tag the card on the machine in the bus or entrances to the Cal Train or BART stations. The value of your desired destinations is subtracted from your card. The Clipper Card works on BART, Cal Train, AC Transit, Golden Gate Transit and Ferry and soon on Samtrans. Hopefully, the Clipper Card will expand to other transit agencies, i.e. Tri-Valley, VTA... You can add value to the Clipper Card at most Walgreen's and kiosk machines at the downtown BART Stations. In the spring of 2011, the MUNI Monthly Fast Pass will absorb into the Clipper Card. You can also purchase the Fast Pass and/or monthly passes to other transits link to the card at the same abovementioned locations as well. I infrequently take public transits outside of MUNI. But the Clipper Card program has been good to me thus far. read more

Don't bother getting the monthly MUNI/BART fast pass on your Translink (now Clipper) card. It's not worth the frustration and you will wind up paying much more in the long run. Just buy your month pass directly from MUNI. Point of frustration #1: When you order the fast pass, it can take up to 72 hours to be applied to your card. The website states that e-cash will automatically be applied to your card during the interim, but I was only given $2 (enough for a single MUNI ride), and my account showed -$1 after using it. Point of frustration #2: I paid $70 for the MUNI month pass with BART included and the BART doesn't work. The card works fine on BART if I have e-cash and it works fine on MUNI with the fast pass, but the BART aspect of the $70 month pass seems to have never been applied to my card. Paying for BART rides separately really adds up. Again, I wish I had just purchased a fast pass directly from MUNI. Point of frustration #3: Lousy customer service. I submitted a complaint on the Clipper website regarding the MUNI/BART problem and after several days, I never got a response. Finally, I called their customer service, and the representative who answered was sassy, condescending, and completely air-headed. I had to explain the above problem several different ways in order to get her to understand and she kept putting me on hold to check with her leads and supervisors, who must have been just as clueless. The final conclusion she gave me was that if BART isn't working on my card, my card must be defective and I would have to mail it to them and wait for a replacement. There's only a week left in the month, anyway, so it's kind of pointless now, anyway. Avoid, avoid, avoid! It's well-worth it to wait in line and get your fast pass directly from MUNI. read more

It's really nice to be able to use the same card to pay for Muni and BART. The system, though, is needlessly complicated. The money from BART discount fares is kept separately from cash. So if I have $2.00 left in BART discount money and I take a $3.00 BART trip, it doesn't just add the money I have in my cash account. Nope, I have to pay off the fare in cash at an Add Fare machine. The dumbest part is that your BART discount balance always flashes, no matter how much you have left in cash. And as long as you have at least $1.75, it lets you through, even though you'll have to finish paying your fare later. And don't even get me started on Clipper Direct. Again, why are the systems separate? They're administered by the very same people. read more

DO NOT EVER USE AUTOLOAD!!!! I have been fighting with these people for two months. They will autoload and charge your credit or debit card multiple times at the drop of a hat, even when your balance is okay and at times that you haven't even used it. I am in the situation now where they have both my money and have blocked the card for a "declined transaction" on a day where there was greater than $20 available and the card had not been used in a week, as my husband was driving to work. Calling their call center is useless; if it isn't scripted, they can't help you and if you do get someone other than a zombie, they are belligerent and insistent that it is YOUR fault. I have tried for a month to get the address or contact information for their Agent for Service of Process, which they refuse to give me. I don't want your customer service address..I want Agent for Service of Process for the Small Claims suit I am prepared to file. With my bank statements showing that I am right and they are wrong, it is now a matter of principle, not the $23 they are holding hostage. read more

I was double charged for my monthly pass in August. It took twenty one phone calls (16 of which were with a supervisor), 2 emails, and 2 faxes, before I finally got my refund. I documented each and every interaction with them and have reported them to the Better Business Bureau. When someone steals money from you, you should not have to jump through hoops to get it back. They are preying on the weak and poor who don't have the time or resources to make twenty one phone calls to get the money that is rightfully theirs. Add to that the privacy breach, rude customer service, and cards that only work sometimes, and you have a really sorry excuse for a company. MUNI, please discontinue your ties to the military contractor Cubic Transportation Systems (aka Clipper) immediately! I suggest that everyone who gets ripped off by Clipper should file a complaint with the Better Business Bureau. Once the BBB realizes how corrupt this company is, perhaps MUNI will discontinue using their services and find a more respectable, honest company to do business with. read more

The one star reviews start on page 2 of 6. The 2+ star reviews are for people that have yet to encounter any kind of problem or issue... A major problem is that there is no alternative that works across transit agencies, so the company has no motivation to offer anything that even resembles customer service. Go ahead and check the BBB (Better Business Bureau) and see all of the official complaints against Clipper over payment issues there as well. My story? My credit card had to be re-issued by my bank (due to unauthorized use), so the card on file with Clipper was invalid. Clipper disabled my card with a $37 balance even though they were not trying to charge my card (Autoload is for balance below $30) Clipper disabled the card anyway (remember I have a $37 balance). I went online and updated the credit card information and called customer service to activate the clipper card. Here is as far as I could get "There is nothing we can do". Even with a $37 balance!!!! and a valid credit card!!!! They could not activate the Clipper card for 3-5 business days! They also told me that I should carry cash in case Clipper didn't work... The problem with a monopoly... Comcast has better customer service read more

Clipper card, Clipper card, where have you been all my life? Long before BART, we rode the Key System to San Francisco. Although I was only knee-high to a tadpole, I clearly remember the "smoker car" where bluish smoke hovered over all of the occupants. I remember the day the F Key train jumped its tracks and careened far past the Berkeley tunnel, coming abruptly to rest on Solano Avenue just short of the Park 'N Shop. Lots of people stared. Long ago. Maybe 60 years or so. But now I have come of age. I've just gotten my first Senior Clipper Card at the Embarcadero Plaza. Showed the kid at the kiosk my ID before he would issue me my discounted card. Told him that his job (and the long lines of whiny people) looked somewhat worse than my old job at the Main Library's Information desk. He replied that he remembered that desk well, having asked the librarians on duty there many a question. He also thought perhaps he knew me from those days. What goes round, comes round...he was pleasant and well informed, just as at the library, folks tend to answer questions with a certain aura of authority. But that's the point... What goes round, comes round... And here I am, with my newly-minted Clipper card. Able to jump on board virtually any transportation vehicle in the SF Bay area. Ride it as far as I care to, then jump to the next mode of transportation. A quick slap of the card at the turnstile, and I'm through the gauntlet. It puts the Key System to shame, although I think I still have a couple of those little brass Key System tokens left. Tokens make nice jewelry but Clipper Card can't be defaced without losing its value. This is the only disadvantage to the Clipper Card that I can figure out. Never mind. I've got places to go and people to see. My newly purchased Clipper Card is gonna get me there fast and easy....as my Yelp friend Ivy would say... "You go, Girl!" Thanks, Clipper! I'm outta here! read more

Clipper card has the WORST customer service ever. My clipper card was declined, and they had NO IDEA why. Basically, I kept asking and the lady kept repeating "It's a common problem and we don't know why." These people are INCOMPETENT. I was advised to update my billing information despite my information remaining unchanged. It's tied to my Wageworks Mastercard so I can use tax-free dollars. Please refine the system, it is TERRIBLE. 1) My commuter balance is NEVER under $200.00 2) I haven't done ANYTHING to the account, this just happened on it's own. (Both Wageworks and Clipper) 3) Customer service is rude and rushes the conversation. Also, they charge you $5.00 to transfer a balance from a good card to another, AND they make you wait 3 business days. RETARDED! On their website, it advises Wageworks users to use their Wageworks mastercard in conjunction with a regular debit card. Why the F would I do that? Spend my post-tax dollars because your system is ridiculously flawed?!?! RIP OFF! read more

The following is my recent response to Clipper for gouging individuals $5 to transfer value from lost, stolen or new / old cards... I called Clipper support today hoping to resolve an issue wherein I wanted to transfer balances from an old to new card due to a MUNI / Clipper machine incorrectly providing me a new card when I was only adding value to my old card. My situation is thus... I verified toady (03/19/2014) at 10 am before completing my purchase that I was indeed adding value to the old card however the Muni / Clipper pay point machine gave me a new card with $20 on it. Since my old card which happens to be the Translink type only had $1.85 & $2.65 respectively, I thought it best to transfer this amount to the new card or vice-e-versa. When I called Clipper support I found out from first tier support and that supports lead that Clipper "WILL NOT" transfer from one card to another without a $5 transaction fee. I see this as a grim failure in the Clipper pay point and accounting system. Users can also lose or have their cards stolen and as well must pay the same $5 fee to get a new card and transfer funds however a Clipper pay point machine will provide you with a new card for free. I will admit that the lead I spoke to provided me with a workaround which is to use the value on the new card then at some point if there is an unusable amount left, add only enough value to zero it out. Not a great workaround for such a savvy system. At this point I'm zero for zero with Translink / Clipper. I was an early adopter but on both occasions when I have tried to get even nominal customer support Clipper really provided none. I realize that likely most employee's of Clipper are not responsible for this $5 fee shit so, this email goes only to those worthless fuckers that created the fee. FUCK YOU!!! It's not the small amounts of cash that matter from a given individual but the principle that you created a system that gouges enough people to provide you with extra cash. And don't fucking tell me it's because of bank routing fee's either. That's a bullshit explanation. Sincerely, Getting close to discontinuing Clipper... read more

Why in the climbs of silicone valley is Clipper Card unable to process immediate payment? Why does it take 72 hours to process a payment any other business can process immediately? How much money does that inability waste in administrative effort? Why in the shadow of Intel is their website slow and cumbersome? Why in the belly of the techno-beast do their readers on the bus say "DC not working" 80% of the time? How many $'s is MUNI losing daily? Does their network run on AT&T? Is it any wonder all the transit agencies are broke, broken and lame? God only knows how much money was spent implementing this system. Evidently paying the most inept, ignorant and clueless available persons. Clipper card is a testament to the gross ineptitude of those making six figure salaries as agency heads. The problem of fare scofflaws has only gotten worse since Clipper Card and the fare inspectors are nowhere to be seen. It's only a matter of time before the deficits increase again because of all the above. Who will Nate Ford blame then? Why us of course. read more

I have nothing but good things to say about my Clipper card and I've had it for 2 years now. But after reading all these 1 star reviews here, I'm glad that I have never used the "auto load" feature. And I never will. I load my card instantly at the BART station, it only takes a few seconds. Love my card! I can use it on BART and AC transit (I know there's other agency's but these are the two I use regularly) and it calculates transfers automatically. I've never had an issue. At the end of the month I can go to the Clipper website and download my "ride history" to give to my tax man for Schedule C purposes. read more

Clipper exists because it is entrenched, not because it is good. In fact, it is less than mediocre. The web site is laughable for a high school project, let alone a professional development: it's confusing, buggy, and clumsy. For example, while logged in as kid1@myfamily.com, *the password change form indicates a change for kid2@myfamily.com*. (Smells like session or cookie mismanagement bugs.) The autoload feature is both convenient and an apparent sham. I was flabbergasted to learn that *the current value on your card that you've already paid for is frozen if your credit card expires*. I have 3 kids. We should be encouraging families to use public transit. Instead, my experience is worthy of a Three Stooges episode. I dragged all three kids in person, with their birth certificates, to a Clipper office. A polite guy gave me three cards. After enormous trouble trying to load value, I called customer service only to learn that the cards had been seriously misconfigured (in particularly, were not really youth cards and were not permitted to share an email address). After created new email addresses for each kid, I was finally ready to load value... and learned that the web site has no notion of kid cards and that you have to buy adult value that (I'm told) is adjusted later. Furthermore, you can't buy MUNI 10-trip tickets for youth on Clipper, which happened to be one of the reasons I went through this hassle. In a progressive, high-tech city with lots of kids, we deserve so much better than Clipper and our dysfunctional, inchoate public transit "system". read more

Clippercard is such a joke! Just got an email today saying "On 12/13/2010, $20 was loaded to your Clipper card ... our billing system failed to process the payment. . As a result, $20 remains outstanding and still needs to be collected from you" Did you notice the date? It's almost TWO years ago! It is September 2012 as of this writing. It took these people TWO years to realize that charging my credit card didn't work. If it takes them two years to bother to take your money, just imagine how long everything else takes! read more

At last, a company which will eventually consolidate your commuting costs. Next: follow the lead of other regions in the Northwest and LOWER the price of public transit. Four stars because I don't see CalTrain on the list....? read more

The day after I posted an updated negative review, mysteriously my card was blocked again, despite having $45.00 cash value on it. I called them up, and the guy kindly told me that there's no reason it should be blocked, but I had to wait 24 hours for his unblock signal to go through. I had to go through the rigamarole of picking up the blocks for every single agency, meanwhile struggling with finding cash throughout my busy day to pay for 5 different rides on public transport. Isn't that what Clipper is for? Convenience? I'm removing autoload from my card, as I'm pretty sure that's the problem. Get it together, Clipper. read more

Clipper is a complete racket. The software is poorly designed. The customer service folks are useless - they lack the authority to do ANYTHING. Have auto-load on your Clipper? My advice is to cancel the card altogether and get a new Clipper card. If you disable auto-load, their software user interface shows everything's fine, but the database still has auto-load set up. So unauthorized charges to your credit card result. You can't see your balance when you tag on/off on most transit services, so you have no idea when you've been over-charged unless you check your ride logs online frequently. This is supposed to save time? Whose time? Not mine! And trying to get a refund from Clipper is next to impossible! They'll steal your money, take 30 days or more to refund only part of it, then charge you a processing fee for the privilege. Clipper is one of the dumber mistakes the Bay Area transit agencies have ever made. I've canceled mine for now and will pay cash for transit - though I'm sure the powers that be will force me back onto Clipper by raising rates. Customer service is rude. They talk down to you, even after discovering that the problem is, in fact, on their end. They make you jump through hoops to get a refund. At the end of my last call, when the customer service lead asked if there was anything more she could do to help, I pointed out that she hadn't helped me to begin with. She said, "Well, I think I have!" REALLY? You stole my money and won't give it back - exactly how did you help me? Rudest, most useless customer service I've ever seen. If you can avoid Clipper, do so. If you have to have Clipper, DO NOT GIVE THEM ACCESS TO YOUR CREDIT CARD. DO NOT USE AUTO LOAD. read more

Ah yes. Time for another "fuck you" review. So my glorious translink card has magically stopped working on the bart after a year in service. It just slowly stopped being read, until I stood at the front of the line, swiping it over and over again. I could hear the groans of the morning commuters behind me. Soon, it stopped letting me out of the terminals completely. The station manager stamped it as invalid and let me out the emergency exit. I sheepishly tried to use it again the next morning. SUCCESS! However, it didn't let me out again and the station manager noticed my large "INVALID" stamp on the back and gave me a rash of shit. So I finally bit the bullet and called "clipper" to get a replacement card. "This won't be too bad..." I thought. "they'll just send me a new one" After going through 5 minutes of menus entering my card's serial number and whatnot I finally get an operator... "Thanks for calling clipper, our system seems to be down at the moment let me put you on hold" I don't like how this is starting! On hold for about 5-10 minutes. After explaining the issue, it seems that there's a 5 dollar fee to get a new card. My fucking card is fine, your poorly constructed scanners are the issue you fucks. I have five dollars to spend, but it's the principal of it. The system was so slow that it took about 30 minutes on the phone to do this simple task. Not to mention that it wont even use my old card's serial number, so I've got to contact wageworks now too for commuter benefits. In the end. I've lost 5 dollars, have to wait a week for a new card, and 45 minutes of my time to this company for their own fuck up. At least writing this rage review has made me feel a little better. FUCK YOU CLIPPER read more

Clipper card has the worst policies and procedures, and the worst customer service... I preferred EZ RIDER, and I feel like if Clipper was going to replace EZ rider then they should have the same quailities of easy and convenient service. With EZRider anytime my card was declined, they would re run it FOR FREE and they would have my card ready to use the next morning. They would also add an additional amount of money to my card everytime they loaded it. With the clipper card, I have to call customer service everytime, because theyre website doesnt make any sense. The call center doesnt make any sense, and arent helpful. Then to re-run my card they want to take 3-5 business days AND charge me $5 for their slow inconvenient serivce. And the only way you find out theyre charging you this fee is by looking at your statements. The call center rep who re runs your card does not even TELL YOU that its going to cost you $5. And they insisted that I knew that this was happening. Because they mailed their policies to me. And when did I ever acknowledge them? NEVER; so why should I have to pay for a charge I didnt even approve? In addition to that Bart employees cant even tell you why your card isnt working. So going to them for help is a WASTE OF TIME. With the EZ Rider bart employees were very helpful. In All, Clipper Card SUCKS! and the call center is WORTHLESS! I have not had good experiences with this company, since the EZ RIDER to clipper card transition. read more

Clipper card sucks... there are always issues where supposedly you tagged on and off at the same time and you can never tell and then you have to pay full fare to "get your balance up to date". I ended up paying WAYYYY more by using this service and it really has not saved much time at all. Especially when you consider the time on the phone afterwards to try to figure out what happened (i.e. tagging in the machine thought you tagged in and out at the same time) I definitely do not recommend it, this service, you spend more time and money than just buying the tickets. read more

The Clipper Card is a great idea poorly executed. Problems they need to address: Card value loading: - It takes them three days to transfer any funds you add using their online system. Why? It sure doesn't take them three days to take it out of your account in the first place. - Want to add value via an actual human being? Now you're just being silly. - It's nice that you can add value at all relevant transit stations now, it would be nicer if it actually worked all the time. Customer service: - If there is a problem with your card station agents cannot help you. - Customer service agents on the phone are fairly useless - I've yet to hear any answer other than "Try it again, if it doesn't work we can replace your card" this is not particularly helpful. Functionality: - The cards are not intelligent. I have a caltrain monthly pass loaded on to my card, if I take a trip outside of my pre-paid zones the card really should be able to figure out the add fair difference and not charge you for the entire trip. This is extraordinarily obnoxious. - You have to maintain a dollar cash value on your card in order to access your monthly passes. Why? That's just stupid. What gets me is that most of the issues with Clipper are things that should be fairly easy to fix. Empower your customer service agents to actually help people, make sure your programming works, it's not that hard! You're never going to convince people to get out of their cars and on to mass transit if you can't even make the payment system easy and relatively painless. Good grief... read more

Clipper customer service is poor at best. They take too long to add valve to an account; yes they have my money on the clipper card and the clipper card says active on website, but at the Bart station the clipper card is blocked. There is plenty of money on my commuter card and the commuter credit card works fine if I purchase a regular Bart ticket. So it's not the commuter credit card or lack of funds. Why can't customer unblock a card that shouldn't be blocked in the first place? read more

Thank you Jesus, thank you Lord.* Translink, I adore you. You have made my commute to/from SF on AC Transit so much easier since I no longer have to fumble for change or bus tickets. Now that you are finally accepted on BART, Golden Gate Transit and SF MUNI after many months of delays, it just sweetens the deal. I can hop and off various forms of transit with just a wave of my card. It's set up to automatically draw from my checking account when I get below a certain threshold, so I don't even need to think about it. Five stars, and get yourself one NOW - that way you won't slow me down! *lyrics from The Girl With Far Away Eyes, Jagger/Richards read more

It's helpful in not having to carry cash but then it also has it's drawbacks. The main thing that comes to mind is that they offer very little discount for using it vs cash. The other gripe is that when you pay by cash you get a longer transfer time on muni. Usually you get 3 hours going the cash route vs clipper card where they jip you time wise. The website isn't the easiest to navigate either. read more

I wrote my original review back when the system was branded as Translink, and still in the early stages of initial deployment, and having had negative experiences with BART's moronically competing EZ-RIDER system (and with BART in general) I gave Translink some benefit of the doubt and gave the system a guarded and preliminary 3-star rating. Of course, I also still lived in the Bay Area back then, too. I'm dropping that rating to 1-star on principle, it's completely inexcusable that several years and a rebranding/relaunch later, the system is still in a complete state of disarray and the people behind the whole boondoggle act like the public should be thanking them for being screwed over. read more

The announcement just came out through WageWorks that Clipper users will now be charged $2.00 per month if they auto-load funds through their employer's commuter benefits programs. I just changed back to getting plain old BART tickets. Besides, you get a discount when you order the paper BART tickets. read more

Paid for a monthly pass in walgreens 66 USD... 3 days later my balance is -9 USD (?)... can't ride the bus. Can anyone please tell me how can I even talk to a human being in their call center? I'm trying this number 877.878.8883 but it seems to be impossible... and I thought that public transport in Chile was bad. This is BS read more

HORRIBLE HORRIBLE HORRIBLE Can I PLEASE have my PAPER Caltrain monthly pass BACK? This is such a terrible company. 5 business day to add a credit card, seriously? Worst transit system in the history of the world. read more

Hate clipper, still waiting on a refund of $46. Its been 4+ months. And they charged me a $5 processing fee! Scum. Bad experience? go to https://www.bbb.org/consumer-complaints/file-a-complaint/find-business/name/clipper+card/San+Francisco-CA/ (Thanks Joseph h) read more

There are many issues that need to be addressed. Keep in mind that Clippercard servers over 7 different transit agencies and perhaps that is root of many of the issues that we deal with on a day-to-day basis. 1. Monthly pass holders - Why do we have to tag on an off at the beginning of every month. 2. Tag and and Off - If we forget to tag off after we have tagged on, it charges full faire. That is fine for the daily user but what if you are a monthly user. If you forget to tag on it fails to activate your card. If you forget to tag off but tag on, it doesn't activate your card but does charge you full fare. If the system knows you are a monthly user, it should just refund the daily fare if it recognized that you didn't tag off. Or for that matter, just validate your card monthly so it is always good. What's the point in having the money automatically deducted if it doesn't validate the card with several unnecessary processes. 3. Website - Cmon guys and gals, this is 2013. Having a useful, functional, easy to use, intuitive website is a necessity. Especially for the number of people using this site, you cannot have a site where it takes five minutes to figure out how to add value to your card. It has no online refund request options, etc.. etc... read more

It has now been 3 months since I placed the original claim. Despite the service rep's assurance's that it wouldn't happen again, I bought an August pass online and sure enough, another duplicate charge. Clipper is now sitting on $358 dollars to which they have NO right whatsoever and they're completely dragging their feet. Their service is a complete joke and filled with liars who promise something and do nothing. FWIW, I think Clipper's fare management may actually be outsourced to a company called Cubic.com, since that's the e-mail address of their service rep. I'm wondering how they'd feel about a lawsuit? read more

Wow, talk about a dysfunctional 80's era technology implemented in the modern day. Seriously. I've never seen a more screwed up system. I was in the beta roll out as well, which was even more messed up than when it went live. Currently if you use a program like Wage Works or another Commuter Benefit program, where they have issued you a 'Commuter Benefit Visa Card' to pay for your fares; None of the "official" places that you can charge your card, like Walgreen's, accepts the card. Wow, really? Are you guys that screwed up? Yep.. They are.. Add to all this. About 6 months back, after having my card for about 6 months. It miraculously stopped working. I went thru hell, with customer service to find solutions. Finally they told me to mail it back to them and they would reissue a new card. Well, after 2 weeks of calling and complaining. They still hadn't received it, and gave me condescending attitudes basically telling me I was lying about mailing it in. Finally, "it showed up" RIGHT!!! I bet it did, Right under someone's pile of papers probably. And they issued me a new card, over a month later and then had the audacity to say. "Sorry, The 31 day pass you had on the card has now expired and your just shit-out-of-luck. Completely unacceptable and something you would totally expect from a government agency. Worst thing is you have no choice to use anything else. read more

This is one of the times, I REALLY hoped there would be a zero or negative rating... Horror story follows: I stopped working in San Francisco, so I no longer needed a monthly Caltrain pass. Simple enough? Well, there is NO WAY to cancel a monthly pass on clipper web site. Ok, so I download the Form, fill it in, mail it... Yeah, I know, takes time, and they warn it might take a week or two. Since I had some $50 on the card, I figured out that TWO MONTHS after canceling (in writing) it might be safe to use the card again...? Don't be a sucker -- this is a SCAM of a century! They bill happily another $179 on my card! "oh, the technician said the cancel auto-load failed" -- gee, you think they might have told me about that? Wait, you ask, surely you could have seen that on the web site? NO... there is no way to find caltrain autoload status on their web site! Now, I'm up to getting the bank dispute/fraud to cancel things. Do yourself a favor... If you have already a clipper card... shred it! read more

The worst service EVER!!!! If I could put 0-star rating, I would. I am a monthly CalTrain customer and every few months, Clipper f...ked it up, so as a customer I have few options (this is a rutine now). a. explain conductors on caltrain that I do have a ticket, please don't fine me $400+ b. be a very long time with automatic phone service with Clipper (I bet it was designed to drop customer's calls and frastrate them, rather then help anyone). c. explain the clipper customer service rep what happened and listen back that it is all MY FAULT and may be NOT, but they don't know it and would need 3-4 days to verify what is going on, until that PAY a FULL FARE in ADDITION to MY MONTHLY PASS dues (every day is about $15) HOW F..KING NICE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I would jump to old ticketing system ANY DAY now... I still don't understand why the Clipper Card service is so BAD and Buggy and why I am as consumer have NO other option to get my monthly pass. read more

Clipper can make a girl cry. I recently became a monthly passholder to travel to and from San Francisco. Unfortunately, this means dealing with one of the most complex ticket systems in the country. Even the people who are supposed to monitor the system--the conductors--don't know the system. There are inherent and OBVIOUS flaws that need to be fixed. I had bought an eight pass on my card to begin with at Walgreens. That was all fine and dandy until I used all those rides. I returned to Walgreens where I prorated the month of September with a monthly pass and also added on a monthly pass for October. Here is where the nightmare began..... As Caltrain tells you to always (they are very firm about this) clip on at the beginning of the month, I clipped on for my month of September. What both Walgreens and Caltrain failed to make clear is that if I bought my card at Walgreens, it is already tagged for the month. Even so, I am still not even sure this is fact is correct....Thus, I attempt to tag on for October and the card says I have a negative balance. At this point I realized it was time to talk the conductor or risk becoming stranded in San Francisco. He explained that to re-activate my monthly pass, which I had spent my hard earned money paying for, I have to pay another $7 or they can't activate the monthly pass. This charge was on top of the obscene $180 I had already paid. But, here's the catch...He told me to tag on after I reloaded my card at Walgreens and everything would be fine and dandy. WRONG ANSWER. Even this conductor does not know that after buying a pass at Walgreens, it is already tagged. When I arrived at Walgreens, having to leave work early to deal with this issue, I asked the man reloading my card if he knew the answer. He proceeds to tell me that he knows nothing about the system and that no one there knows so I will have to wait for the manager the next day. In the end, I am still unclear about the system. I don't even think the system is clear about the system. My actual job was not the work of the day. The greatest stress came from dealing with this convoluded system of doom. read more

I like the Clipper Card. After watching the Muni Fast Pass lose its luster over several decades, and having to pay cash on CalTrain and AC Transit, I am happy that the railroads have coordinated their payment system and I can now go almost anywhere in the Bay Area with one payment method. When I was working with smart cards at Visa I could tell this would be a great way to handle cash-like transactions, but I didn't dream that it would be the railroads that would lead the way. There's a chip in the card that responds with a radio signal when the reader tickles it. You have to hold the card just right in front of the reader to make it work. Three high beeps means something went wrong, dude, try again. There's a diagnostic on the reader that says why it beeped like that. I've seen people pulled off the bus because they didn't pay attention to that three-high-beep warning. One low beep means OK, pass. My experience is that my magnetic stripe credit cards are not threatened by the signal. I have learned to "tag" the reader with my wallet without even opening it, although I do make sure the side of the wallet with the Clipper Card in it is closest to the reader. Here's the part that I find fascinating: In order to fund my commute in pre-tax dollars, the money passes through at least 5 hands. There is the accountant at my company who allocates the reserve. There is the company that cuts the commuter check, and mails it to me. Yes, mails. As in there is a postal carrier who drops the check through a slot in my front door. Then I have to take the check to my nearest Walgreens, where the Walgreens clerk then processes it and loads my Clipper Card. And let's not forget there is someone at the Clipper Card company, secretly known as Cubic Transportation Systems, that does the daily card clearing. Oh, and then Muni, BART, AC Transit and Golden Gate Transit all have their own operations, so when I travel their readers are updated. Somewhere there are computers and engineers paddling and turning wheels to make sure the whole system keeps working. Isn't modern life convenient? I get the Muni-only Fast Pass loaded on my card at Walgreens, and I load my cash balance for the other transportation systems at a BART kiosk. Convenient. As in for the railroads, not necessarily for me. read more

When it works, the service is great. But woe be you if you forget to update an expired credit card. My card was blocked today, because an old credit card that was still on the account expired. I haven't used the card because I use Commuter Check now, and there is plenty of money on the card, but apparently that doesn't matter. So I call and ask if they can take my card. No, I'm told, I have to go to the website. Okay, so when I correct my card it will be unblocked, right? No, it will take 48 hours to process. So apparently Translink is incapable of doing what even the smallest of online retailers can do. Outrageous. read more