Day Fourty-Three..#Rip Off

I’m annoyed..

Not angry..annoyed.

I have been in Lisbon since September 6th 2011..and since such, I have been charging my Student MetroCard (Portugal‘s equivalent to an Oyster Card in the UK) every month since I arrived.

When I got here, and for a long time before this..so I’ve been told..the price has remained constant at 16 Euro 95 Cents..so that’s what I’ve been paying.

Recently there have been several transport strikes and protests in regard to the Government saying that they intend to increase the price of a monthly travelcard, but on top of that they also stated that they will decrease the number of buses that will be running..*doesn’t make sense does it?*

So imagine my surprise today when I went to go and top up my MetroCard in time for school tomorrow and the machine does not want to work.

So I go up to the clerk and explain that it has expired and needs to be recharged but the machine isn’t giving me the correct option. She then explained to me that the prices of the purchase of the card increased today and so their systems can be updated I can only top up my card in two stations..then I asked her how she expected me to get there if I couldn’t top up my card and she shrugged her shoulders.

I asked her how much the new price was for my card that I had previously paid 16.95 for every month. She took it and placed it on her reader and clicked a few buttons.

The new price popped up on the screen.

€26.25. Twenty-Six Euros and 25 Cents! 😮

Really?!

That’s almost €10 more than the original cost..and to me that is not fair..especially when they have reduced the number of buses and probably also the number of trains and other means of transport that operates.

I’m trusting that God will provide because the Lord knows this budget I’m on is already being stretched..

Well..

That’s my rant over.

~ by originalapplejunkie on February 12, 2012.