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I had a wild experience with MTA today and I was wondering if anyone’s experienced something similar.

Today I tapped my Visa credit card on Apple Pay to board a bus at approximately 1250 PM. I then got off the SAME bus at 120PM and there were fare inspectors waiting at the stop. I confidently tapped my phone on their Fare Detector Device because I knew that I had paid, but the officer stopped me – apparently her reader was insisting I didn’t pay.

Weird. I try again on another fare reader. Again, no fare paid. At this point the MTA police lady starts writing me a ticket. I wonder if maybe I just didn’t hold my card to the reader long enough or if I didn’t go through and I missed it, both situations would be my fault, so I opened up my card transactions… lo and behold, a $3 charge from the MTA is right there for the exact time I got on the bus. I try to show the officer the charge but she says she’s not allowed to see any of my account details.

I am now desperate to avoid this $100 fine and I find her supervisor. He taps my phone and says “last paid, 12PM 4/22”. Thank god, that’s today and I did pay between 12-1PM so they have my charge on file!

Nope. The officer writing me the ticket turns to me and says see, you didn’t pay today. At this point I feel like I am losing my mind. My card got charged. The charge is right there. One of the readers detected it. 12PM today. I call her an idiot. She finishes writing my fine. I have a ticket now.

I’m going to dispute the fine, but like… does this happen regularly? Anyone else have an experience like this, and were you successful with getting it disputed?