Clipper Card
Reviews and Complaints

How to Avoid the Clipper Card Minefield

Using a Clipper Card is a great way to travel, but you first have to understand their un-intuititave rules. I bought 2 clipper cards at the the Windsor Smart Train station for my wife and I last year and took the train from Windsor to the Larkfield ferry. Unfortunately you can't buy a senior card at the train kiosk so you have have to pay the full price with no discount. To get a senior card you have to buy it online and wait a few weeks to receive it in the mail.

A few months ago, I had about $10 remaining on each card and my wife and I decided to take the Larkfield ferry to S. F. the next day. I went online to check my balance and there was no cash available. So I called the number and I was told “ we are experiencing long hold times and there are 38 folks ahead of me”. And they mentioned to go online to use self service. I went online and there was no self service options. The online site is useless.

Finally I spoke to the rep and was informed that since I didn't use the card for 6 months there was no cash value on the card, but she would add the previous balance back onto the card, and this would take a few days. So, I added $20 to each card online using my Visa card. Unbeknownst to me it takes over a week to add this cash value to the Clipper Card, even though they they charged my Visa immediately. When I got to the Smart Train station there was no cash value on the card so I had to add $20 more to the cards. This really upset me.

I had to call the Clipper Card office 5 more times and wait between 14 and 41 calls ahead of me to finally get a promise that they will send me a check. I have been waiting for 2 weeks to get the check and called again only to find out it takes about 1 month to get the check. I'm still waiting. It seems very clear to me that Clipper Card grabs your money immediately and will try anyway it can to keep it.

If you want to avoid some of the money pitfalls and phone calls of using a Clipper Card:

1. Purchase your card online 1 month before you intend to use it.
2. Add value to your card at the train or ferry kiosk only for the amount you intend to use that day.
3. Use the cash value quickly.

I've wasted a lot of time trying to register with clipper. You need a physical card before you can open an account. This system is a barrier to ridership.

Hi

Clipper card # [protected]

Each time i call and email i get same response - "Update payment card and wait for 5 to 5 buisness days". I have called customer service 3 times and they continue to give same response even if i say that i have updated the payment card. As of today it is more than 10 business days since i updated my payment card. My clipper card is still not unblocked. Fed up with such a pathetic customer service from clipper card.

Below is the actual issue which i emailed them on 29Aug23 (called several times before and after as well):

My clipper card is blocked. Payment card is updated. Not sure for what reason. My clipper card number is

[protected]. Please unblock this card as soon as possible. I have $25.60 in this card but unable to use the same.

Please help as soon as possible by unblocking my clipper card.

Thank you

I lost a clipper card, serial #[protected]. I had set up autoload for the card, but the associated payment was declined (I hadn't realized that my credit card had expired). When I replaced the lost clipper card with a new one, I entered a new form of payment online for a one-time load. Immediately, and without my approval, it also charged me for the previously declined autoload payments totaling $122.85 (in addition to the amount I was intentionally loading to the new card). However, given that this amount was loaded to my old card (# — 8034 above) that was now lost and blocked, I have not been able to use or recover the $122.85. Clipper has refused to transfer the amount to my new clipper card despite multiple requests. Clipper has said that this is a 'debt' I owe, but I had not spent it on rides. I spent hours - literally hours on the phone trying to resolve this issue. After lengthly waits, I repeatedly explained the situation to several customer service representatives - some of whom were extremely rude and disparaging despite my patient and polite explanations. All of them gave me a different response. Finally I spoke with someone who was professional and actually understood the situation. She saw that I was charged $122.85 due to the autoload issue, but that it was credited towards the old, blocked card and had not been spent on rides. She told me to email a card cancellation form to have the balance refunded via check. I did so, but the request was denied "due to outstanding balance owed on autoload" - this IS the balance - I have paid it without being able to use it on rides. Clipper's phone hold commercial touts "your money is safe with clipper card!" - this could not be further from the case. They have an outdated system for managing payments with technical glitches that their representatives have not been able to track. This has led to my personal loss of a substantial sum of money they they have effectively stolen. It is totally unacceptable.

The call service number the waiting is more than an hour - UNBEVEILABLE - the worst on the planet. No one is available to help you. The customer service in Embarcadero is also useless, unable to help! My pending cash value worth $211 got expired? I'm unable to use the app because my cash value has expired. Then my other two cash values are just sitting there waiting to get expired. The Clipper card is waiting for the free money that I earn that I'm unable to use.Now, I registered a new card. My old card vanishes; there you go, clipper card, you've earned $633 free money from my pocket. No one seems to care. I've waited, I've waited, no customer service is available, and I've been waiting on the phone for more than an hour.

I used Clipper online service for the first time today to add fare to my card in order to get through the ( BART gate on my way to my job.When I went to swipe, no entry. I went to representative at a service desk and she told me the fare added will process in 5-7 business days! Then I was told Ill need to figure out something to get out of the gate. As of now, I have spent 2 hours wait time on the phone trying to have someone reverse the added fare because I have no funds to return home. The supervisor has told me unfortunately there is nothing that can be done except wait 3 days until fare is added. There is no notice on the website that there is a 3-5 day wait time when adding fare. I am left without a way to get home and my only 50$ pending for three days. I find this unacceptable as a customer.

I attempted several times to cancel my clipper card as it constantly appeared blocked all the time when I got onto the bus. I am a commuter who lives in *** and work in Oakland, so I rely on transit completely. Everytime, I would get on the bus, my card would appear blocked. I called clipper card customer service several, several times to cancel the card as they requested for me to submitted a cancellation form and email it back to them. I have done this twice. They claim I will receive a refund within 30 days. It has been way over 30 days now and I still have not received a refund. I called customer service today, 9/22 and they told me the card is still not cancelled and no refund has been issued. Nor are any supervisors or leads available for me to talk to at this time. I need help in resolving this matter. I have $71 dollars on that card remaining and I'm entitled to a refund.

On 9/3 I purchased a Muni pass to be loaded onto my Clipper Card. When I boarded a muni train the next morning, I received a "travel denied" error on the card reader. I opened my clipper app to double check that my muni pass was loaded and it said "pending tag"--which is what I was attempting to do.I have since been trying to reach Clipper Card customer service to have this issue resolved, however, every time I call in, my call is disconnected. I cannot afford to continue to buy daily metro passes while having a $81 pass just sitting on an inactive card.I've tried going to an in person kiosk to have the issue resolved, only to be told that I must call the contact center. After telling the in person rep that I HAVE been trying to call, she responded with "well, you just gotta keep trying to call".I have paid for a service, and am unable to use the service or get the issue resolved by any means.

I'm on hold with customer service for the third time today. I can't get this resolved by email. This is three hours to take care of a relatively small item:I have two clipper cards that I threw away after I added them to apple pay on my iphone. Then I lost my phone. I spent hours thrying to get the cards back from Clipper. Finally they sent me a replacement for one of the cards and I was supposed to call in to get the balance from the second card forwarded to the replacement card.IT's IMPOSSIBLE TO REACH ANYBODY. Right now I am at 57 minutes on hold. THIS IS AN ABUSIVE WAY TO HANDLE CUSTOMERS. This is so that I can transfer my remaining balance of less than $15 over.THIS IS TOTALLY ABUSIVE and it can't be done online. Obviously I am losing money spending so much time on hold. The first two times I called today the system hung up on me after being on hold more than 40 minutes.THIS is totally SICK.

Attempted to transfer clipper card to Apple wallet on Apple Watch. Error occurred and canceled transfer. Then attempted to use physical clipper card but card inactivated. No way to reactivate card online. Forced to buy a new clipper card $3 to access *** no other option to buy a *** and otherwise would be stranded. Old card account with about $40 cash value inactivated with no way to reactivate online. Sent email on 11/18 with no response as of 12/9. Sent another email on 12/1 with no response. Attempted to call Clipper customer service multiple times but could not get through after 30 minutes on hold. Finally got through after calling right at 8AM and waiting 45 minutes on hold. Balance transfer initiated from old card to new card but will take 3-5 days to process (no way to access *** in meantime), and in response to request for refund of $3 fee told that it would be submitted for consideration and would have a response in 30 days.

I got a SENIOR Clipper Card in person on Oct 4th 2021.I tried to register it online with my existing Clipper Card dot Com account, But got an "Oops . . . please call customer service" message in website login screen. I (and others) have tried to call *MULTIPLE TIMESfrom several telephones, with the following consistent results: NO ONE answers the Clipper Card *** line. Ever. Never. Anticipated wait time is announced to be about 30 minutes. On hold with hypnotic, soothing music for almost an HOUR !? and then the Clipper *** Line . . . DISCONNECTS the call with no one EVER having answered. This has happened 2 weekdays in a row during regular business hours. Oct 4th and 5th, 2021. I need a call from them. Not a letter, not an email, not a placid, insipid, delaying, non-responsive reply on Complaintsboard.com. An ACTUAL CALL from them to me. They have already wasted my time on hold for hours. Show some respect for your customers or you won't have any. Please.

I have had a clipper card for many years. A few days ago, I noticed that there is an option to actually transfer the clipper card to your phone in order to be able to use your phone as a clipper card. I immediately proceeded to do the transfer, after reading in detail how the program works. However, the next morning, I was unable to use my phone as a clipper card, causing issues as I was trying to board BART.While trying to find out what the issue could be, I read in some FAQ that this feature does not work on *** phones. My cell phone is from ***. So, I guess this means I will never be able to resolve this issue.I tried calling and emailing Clipper to describe this situation and to ask the the balance currently in my cell phone is transferred back to my old clipper card. However I have been told there would be a $5 fee to do this. Since this is not MY problem but theirs (I was not informed about this limitation) I don't think it is appropriate to charge this fee.

I called customer service 8/13 about a local ACTransit ride that was incorrectly charged as *** (fare difference $3.75). The attendant submitted the request and said it could take 30 days. By 9/16 still no credit appeared, so I called again, and got another helpful-SOUNDING rep who went away twice trying to get assistance, finally coming back and asking me what the credit was for. While I was explaining this, he HUNG UP on me.All this would just be run-of-the-mill aggravation, except that sometime in 2020 it seems Clipper has changed their policy to require customers to PHONE IN fare adjustment requests, whereas previously it could be done by email. I cannot see any purpose (certainly it's inefficient) in this--other than to DISCOURAGE customer service inquiries. The only way to avoid almost an hour wait is to call near closing time. First call took 40min (but the expected time fell as it approached 5pm); second call was quicker but the attendant seemed new to the job.

I had a Clipper card stored on an iPhone (Apple Wallet), which I no longer have access to. Per instructions on Clipper cards website, I removed the Clipper card from Apples website and then created a new Clipper card. Now, I just need to transfer the cash value and BART *** value from the old card to my new card, which apparently requires me speaking with the Clipper customer service.Yesterday, I waited over 35 minutes to get a hold of an agent. However, the agent hung up on me once I began talking. I dialed back and waited over 10 minutes to speak to a different agent, who similarly hung up on me. I called my friends and have confirmed that they can all hear me just fine. This morning, I called Clipper again at 8am. This time, the same happened the agent hung up as soon as I began talking. I dialed back and the system put me on hold for over 45 minutes, so I had to hang up. This afternoon, I tried the number yet again, and this time the system hung up on me after 15 minutes.

Oct 4th 2021; I was going to to assist a legal professional friend who was starting a new job this week.We were exploring public transit options in advance of 1st commute. I bought a Clipper Card (adult) at the *** in September, but it only had $7.70 remaining. I thought wise to load more value before going across the bay into ***. I went online to Clipper Card dot com, and found I could add value online. There was a caveat that "1st time use of a card might have a day or 2 delay in making the value available". Since card was initiated 1st time Sept., it seemed that the caveat would not apply & value would be available IMMEDIATELY & I could travel with the card with the added value on SAME DAY the value was added. Added $40. Friend was registering card online but preloaded $$ didn't appear. Both called customer service (Oct4&5). "30 minute wait" became 1 hour + disconnect ?!. Several times ?! So I got a SENIOR card. Need $40 refund on ADULT. Need callback.

My Citi credit card was compromised today, and it had to be closed.On the morning of 11/10 I used my Citi card to purchase a transit card from https://www.bart.gov/tickets *** Rapid Transit) The transit cards are managed by Clipper: https://www.clippercard.com/ClipperWeb/index.html. I opened the clipper account with a balance for $40. They charge $3 to open an account, so the Citi charge was for $43. My Citi card was charged on the evening of 11/10 $105 by PUREOASISTECHCO. I only used my card once today, so it is obvious my credit card data was compromised by the $43 transaction.I was contacted by Citi and they are sending me a new credit card in the next 2 or 3 business days. I will not be able to use my Citi card until I receive the new card, with the new number.It is very inconvenient for me to have to close my Citi credit card. I would only be fair for Clippercard.com to credit my card for me having to enter a new credit card number to the many websites and companies my card is registered with. I also wonder how many people using clippercard.com have fallen prey to stolen data.www.bart.gov should also be in part responsible since they contract with Clippercard.com.Please note the Clippercard business out of *** may or may not be the right company. I just know their website.Thank you very much. ***.

Clipper scammed me by for *** me to pay for the same pass in april. Clipper is now scamm*** me by hav*** charged me *** cash fare off my cash balance when I had already purchased a *** monthly pass which posted to the system less than an hiur after purchase. I paid *** for *** zone 1 to zone 3 pass and attached receipt from retailer as proof. There is no lag time when purchased from this retailer. I tagged on at *** and was deducted *** cash s***le ride fare and was not refunded even after call*** four times dur*** which time i dealt with multiple workers leav*** me on hold time of over 30 mins each and hang*** up intentionally. I will also be fil*** a complaint with *** Transportation and other govt agencies to investigate Clipper for fraud and bad business practices. The company lies to Complaintsboard.com claim*** they addressed complaints or made offers when they never do any such th***. The company lied last month when they stole *** for duplicate fare pass from me wrongly. Please do not let them continue to steal from me and other members of the public. Their workers are serious liars, rude, verbally abusive to customers because they are try*** to stop people from gett*** back money that they are steal*** at large from the public. Clipper owes me *** from April 2022 and owed me *** for cash fare that was wrongly deducted from my separate cash balance this morn*** at ***.

I called Clipper many times. Their services were the worst I have ever experienced, with connections often cut after over an hour of waiting or representatives unable to find solutions, suggesting I hang up, then cutting the call without explanation. Contacting CCS was a nightmare. My issue was simple: In February , I requested a transfer of all money from my adult Clipper to my senior Clipper. Due to Covid-19, I hadn't used any Clipper cards for nearly two years and didn't check the status until I requested another transfer recently. I discovered the initial transfer wasn't completed, and the card was blocked. The card still had a cash value, but the BART high-value discount was missing and the card was removed from my online account. In September, I asked Clipper to transfer $10.35 in cash and a $40.40 BART high-value discount from another adult Clipper to my senior Clipper, not realizing the previous year's transfer was incomplete. A month later, only the $10.35 was transferred; the $40.40 BART discount wasn't, and the adult card was blocked. I paid $40 for my senior card, and after the September transfer, it had $50.35, with no additional funds or discounts from the first transfer. I simply want the transfers completed promptly. If the BART discount can't be transferred, please unblock both adult Clippers so I can access my funds.

In Fed 2020, I requested balance transfer from my adult clipper#xx10 to my senior clipper. It was pending, but I did not know and did not tag my senior card, and had not used any cards until Oct this year due to Covid-19. This resulted in the order expired, the $10.35 returned back to card #xx10, the *** value disappear, the adult card #xx10 has been blocked and deleted from my registered online account. After calling the Clipper many times, I filled a complaint in last month. On 11/15, Clipper responded by Complaintsboard.com email that informed me: "The request for the order to be re-added was submitted and generally takes 24-48hrs to be completed ". Since then, 20 days have passed, the order has not been completed. Why? I have no choice but file this complaint again, and hope that Clipper company can pay attention to the following issues:(1) I registered two adult clippers online on the same date years ago, but card #xx10 was deleted by Clipper. I tried to re-register it, but I am not allowed to do it. This may be the reason why the transfer cannot be completed. There must be a way to solve this issue.(2) When transfer was re-ordered, my entire complaint might not be forwarded to another group, that group could think that the transfer has been done because the senior card transaction history shows a $10.35 credit added on 11/13, (which was actually ordered last month, from the card #xx09 still shows online.) I purchased two adult cards on the same date, they have the same cash value of $10.35. Their card # are almost the same, except the last two digits: xx10 vs. xx09 (this is a proof that both are mine). I requested two transfers with the same amount in different years, last year and this year. $10.35 from #xx09 this year is done, but $10.35 from #xx10 (requested in Fed last year) has not. #x09 is still online, #x10 is no longer shown. My complaints are about #xx10. Clipper should pay attention to detail. My request is simple, complete the transfer. Thanks

On 3/24/2022 I renewed a zone 1-3 monthly caltrain pass via clipper card website. The pass is for *** I got notice afterward saying that clipper was cutting April passes in half for fare. This morning I was confronted on two separate occasions by two caltrain workers claiming my pass scanned as zone 4-6 when I was not in those fare zones. One of the conductors threatened me with arrest, raised her voice numerous *** in front of other passengers and mentioned police. I paid for my zone 1-3 april pass on march 24th directly. This is only option to get or renew monthly pass for caltrain with free bus transfers included. Incalled four times over course of 2hrs asking for help from clipper people. They repeatedly hing up on me, insulted me personally, left me on hold over an hour at a time and refused to fix my pass. The last worker who was male threatened to wipe the whole purchase by claiming a refund whoch will then make it look like i never purchased an april zone 1-3 monthly pass on march 24. White people arent harassed and criminalized wrongly this way. Only black people such as myself. In february they hid almost *** in ourchases i made for march monthly pass and cash load separately. My bank had to threaten a legal dispute for then to find the money qnd credit me properly for the purchases. I am suing caltrain for acts of discrimination that resulted in physical injury and other damages. Clipper is a division who handles caltrain passes and keeps trying to force me into confrontations with hostile workers who are accusing me of having no fare on trains. My march 24 transaction needs to be listed properly for zone 1-3 monthly caltrain pass. Clipper needs outside monitoring bc they are lying on and stealing from Black riders specifically. They are trying to cause me to be wrongly criminalized when i paid my monthly fare weeks ago upfront. They are violating my civil and *** rights to have proper legal equal access to transit. They are frauding my bank.