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Important announcement for MCard customers – (COVID-19)
26 March 2020The West Yorkshire Combined Authority and the bus and rail operators who work together to provide multi-operator tickets within West Yorkshire are strongly urging people to consider whether their journey is essential and to follow the Government’s guidelines to stay at home unless:
- you are travelling to and from work, but only where this is absolutely necessary and cannot be done from home
- for medical reasons
- shopping for basic necessities
We would like to update you, in light of the current COVID-19 crisis, on the current status of the public transport network and how it affects the MCard products you purchase from us.
Current Status
Bus and rail operators are running key worker timetables focused on ensuring key workers can get where they need to go as reliably and safely as possible. Those who do need to travel should check wymetro.com and @metrotravelnews on Twitter for the latest information before they travel.
How long will this last?
We don’t know how long these measures will be in place, We’re observing the latest Government advice on hygiene precautions and ask everyone to be mindful of the government recommendations with regard to hygiene and social distancing. visit https://www.gov.uk/coronavirus.
Card Usage
We know that many of our customers will now be self-isolating, working from home and following the social distancing measures and are therefore not using their MCard. We recognise that all customers are concerned about the value they are getting from their MCard ticket.
COVID-19 and MCard Usage FAQs
Our COVID-19 Refund Policies
MyDay and DaySaver tickets
We cannot offer refunds for MyDay and DaySavers. If you have bought 3, 5 or 10 day tickets, they do not have to be used on consecutive days and you can use them within 12 months from purchase date.
Weekly MCards – For Adults, Under 19s and Under 26s or Students
No change to our current policy. There are no refunds unless the MCard has not been used at all and the card has not gone past its start date.
Monthly MCards – For Adults, Under 19s and Under 26s or Students
Unfortunately, we are unable to process refunds or product extensions at this current time. This is because, in line with the closure of all but essential retail services, it has become necessary to close all West Yorkshire Bus Station Travel Centres until further notice. When Travel Centres reopen, we invite monthly MCard holders who have not been able to travel, to visit the Travel Centres to either claim a partial refund or to extend their products.
Termly MCards for Under 26s and Full-Time Students
As with customers of our monthly products, for those Under 26s or full-time students with a Spring Term MCard (06/01/20 to 05/04/20), we will endeavour to compensate customers for any unused weeks’ travel with new tickets when public transport resumes to normal. When Travel Centres reopen, we invite termly ticket holders who have not been able to travel, to visit the Travel Centres to extend their products.
We advise all Under 26s and mature full-time students to NOT buy the Summer term MCard ticket which is valid from 20/04/20 to 19/07/20. Weekly and monthly ticket options remain available to purchase.
Annual MCards
We are urging Annual MCard customers to keep their Annual MCard until its expiry date. We will extend the duration of the ticket you have bought so that any unused value can be used when things get back to normal. Clearly, we don’t know when things will get back to normal and we need time to establish the administrative and technical processes to do this within the challenges that the COVID-19 is imposing on all of us. We are therefore asking our customers to bear with us during this uncertain time.
Corporate Annual MCard holders will need to email their Workplace Coordinator in the first instance, should they change employers or wish to cancel their MCard.
Customers who have purchased an Annual MCard and still wish to cancel their Annual MCard within the first nine months of the issue date, can request a refund. The refund amount will be calculated by deducting full priced weekly and monthly tickets from the purchase price. The administration charge for refunds has been suspended for the duration of the crisis. MCards with less than 3 months remaining cannot be refunded, but as with customers of our monthly products, we will endeavour to compensate customers for any unused weeks’ travel during the COVID-19 pandemic, with new tickets when public transport resumes to normal.
Refund Administration Fees
For any refunds, we recognise that this situation is out of your hands and will waive our normal administration fee until further notice.
Contact
Should you wish to contact us about your MCard, the best way is to email your question via this form https://westyorks-ca-self.achieveservice.com, where it will be logged in our system.
These are unprecedented times and our customer services staff will be doing their best to respond to customers as quickly as possible, so please be patient with us as we investigate how our processes and systems can be altered to provide the value you expect from your MCard.
Best wishes to our customers and teams
Our customers and staff are our top priority and we will endeavour to do the right thing for everyone in our community.
Best regards,
The MCard Team
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