COVID-19 and the GA

[Billy]

They are saying nothing. Went to the gare and was met with a I don’t care robot and was told we don’t give a ***** basically. Still have to give a months notice to cancel. I had to use the last yearly 22 days of my 30 pause which I wanted to use in the summer and Christmas and I’ll still have to pay for 18 days I won’t use and they are running skeleton service and late trains etc and expect use to still pay. Money grabbing thieves. Gonna contract the newspapers after this is over. It’s disgraceful.  

[ManuelaPf]

Hello @RG22 

GA travelcard customers also have the option of cancelling their GA travelcard at the end of each month of subscription after the minimum contract period of 4 months has been reached, subject to a notice period of 1 month.

Kind regards
ManuelaPf

[d99SO]

Dear @ManuelaPf,

The ability to cancel the GA is of little to no use right now. If people start cancelling their GA right now, they will still have to pay until the end of April.

So they are still paying for the entire time where they cannot/ should not use the GA.

[SandraI]

Hi @d99SO 

d to the tariffs and conditions of the Swiss Association of Public Transport. If they make provisions for this, we will follow suit immediately. 

Kind regards
SandraI

[Zurbi]

@SandraI 

The state forbids to travel and SBB (let's not forget state owned) is cashing in on travel cards without hesitation showing absolutely zero flexibility or goodwill towards their loyal GA customers - are you kidding me?!

1) stubbornly following the standard terms & conditions in a national state of exception is principally not understandable. Even more given the drastic reduction of service. Why is SBB not extending the 30 days of suspension?

2) If the suspension time cannot be extended for whatever reason, why is SBB at least not accommodating regarding a shortened period of notice for cancellations? It should in principle be possible to cancel a service such as the GA at any time. In times of great uncertainty a month notice period illustrates SBB's absolute lack of interest for customer experience or satisfaction. 

[ajs1k]

Since the SBB appear to have their hands tied, I just wrote to the VÖV and the BAV. I eagerly await their reply.

[ajs1k · Accepted solution]

Hello everyone, here's the reply I received from the Federal Transportation Office:

Vielen Dank für E-Mail. Die momentane Situation verlangt von allen viel ab. Das Vermeiden von sozialen Kontakten und das Distanzhalten ist ungewohnt und einschränkend. Auch die Empfehlungen des Bundesamts für Gesundheit zur Meidung des öffentlichen Verkehrs ist für viele eine herausfordernde Umstellung.

Ihre Forderung können wir deshalb gut nachvollziehen. Ihr Anliegen betrifft jedoch nicht ausschliesslich die SBB, denn das GA ist ein gemeinsames Produkt der gesamten Schweizerischen öV-Branche und berechtigt zur freien Fahrt mit über 250 verschiedenen Transportunternehmen.

Die Tarifhoheit und somit die Verantwortung für Anpassungen der Tarife und Sortimente, liegt bei den Transportunternehmen und nicht beim Bund. Diese Aufgabe nimmt die öV-Branche zusammen mit der Alliance SwissPass wahr, welche als nationale Tariforganisation des öffentlichen Verkehrs auftritt.

Die öV-Branche prüft derzeit eine nationale, einheitliche Entschädigung für Inhaberinnen und Inhaber von Jahresabonnementen und möchte diese zeitnah definieren. Bei Änderungen informiert die öV-Branche unter https://www.allianceswisspass.ch/coronavirus.

Already there is the notion that you can deposit your GA starting from a date in the past (assuming you haven't used it in the meantime, I assume) and you can also deposit your GA online. Of course as my contact mentions it's not a matter that the SBB can decide by themselves but let's keep an eye on the swisspass webpage above and see what transpires in the coming days.

Stay healthy everyone - hang in there.