Arriva denies charging for lost money

Arriva has denied charging customers to claim back cash they have lost in faulty ticketing machines.

The Times’ On the Dot column last Monday reported that a reader was told by Arriva Customer Care he would have to pay €5 to recover €2 lost he had in a broken vending machine in Paola.

This reader speculated it was a money-making ruse as there was no sign saying the machine was broken.

“No sane person is going to pay €5 to recover €2,” he said.

When contacted, Arriva said there had been a “misunderstanding” and since the article was published it had contacted the reader to arrange for him to collect his money free of charge.

It stressed it did not have a policy of charging customers to retrieve money lost in broken machines.

“Unfortunately, our ticket vending machines frequently suffer from vandalism, particularly in Paola,” a spokesman said.

Pieces of plastic, matchsticks and paper were often inserted in the money slots causing coins to get stuck, he explained.

The machine in Paola is serviced multiple times a week to remove bits and pieces from the coin slot, and serviced immediately upon a client reporting a fault, according to Arriva.

“Any jammed money found is returned to clients who have filed a report with our customer care centre or one of our ticket booths,” the spokesman said.

Arriva ticket vending machines are found in Msida, Sliema, Paola, Pembroke, St Julian’s, Mosta, Mġarr (Gozo), Marsa Park and Ride and the University.