How one database query can fix HOP cards

From Stuff this morning:

Auckland train commuters were over-charged due to a fault with HOP card machines, but Auckland Transport says it won't issue refunds unless passengers complain.

Commuters at Takanini train station on Wednesday found both tag-on machines on the platform were out of order.

Everyone who caught a train during the outage was charged a penalty fee when they hopped off because they hadn't tagged on.

My mind really boggles with this.

Firstly, why are both tag-on machines down in one location?  They should be independent of each other (different network circuits, power feeds etc), so if one goes down, the other can still operate happily? Also, surely someone is notified when both go down, so a contingency plan can be put in place?

Secondly, why isn’t AT crediting penalties for passengers who didn’t do anything wrong?  The fact that you have to contact them to get a refund is pretty poor customer service. Not the best way to build any confidence in their systems.

I have no idea how their internal database is structured, but to help them out, something along this line should get them started:

SELECT * FROM RailTrip
WHERE TagOffLocation = ‘Newmarket’ AND TaggedOn = False
AND TaggedOffDate BETWEEN ‘2016-10-13 7:00:00’ AND ‘2016-10-13 9:00:00’

Grab all the rows from the above, loop through em and credit back anyone who is within that criteria.

You’re welcome AT.