Flamingo Fares

Last used the app march 2023. It’s now October 2023 and apparently there is an update five months ago. I had to re login (for some reason aka phone reset etc) and now it forces a new virtual card created. I can see the old virtual card with $7.80 under “manage” along with the new virtual card with $0.00 under “manage” but can only “use” the new virtual card. There is no way to switch which virtual card to use. In the past, I had to have two separate devices and two separate accounts aka emails and phone numbers with separate virtual cards and separate balances if two riders in a family were making a trip. I’m going to give up on this app and see if I can get balances transferred to physical cards. Also I had to regularly delete my credit card information from the app to prevent being charged for unwanted reloads that were caused by pocket taps during use resulting in excessive bank fees. Just doesn’t work right. No meaningful beta testing and Psta et al forcing flamingo fares to be used exclusively for ridership. Just a forced disaster from people who hate public transport and especially those that use it.

The app clearly needs some attention because it never works. It’s not just me but just about everyone that I see use the app get the “Tap Again” message. When I had the card it was great… when the machine worked. However after loosing the card and trying to use the app it is extremely frustrating. What makes it even worse is HART bus drivers in Tampa are the rudest incompetent non-customer service driven people in the world. When I call Flamingo fares customer service…if I can get anyone… they want me to come to one of their offices to fix the problem. That’s completely ridiculous because if I’m riding the bus to work during the weekdays that means I would have to take time off from work to fix a problem they created. And they won’t mail you another card. Even more ridiculous!!! JUST THROW THE WHOLE SYSTEM AWAY!!!