If there is an award for the most tone deaf, paternalistic public relations team, the people at PLUS certainly deserve one. Just one day after inconveniencing highway users with epic traffic jams at various traffic hot spots on a Monday morning, PLUS has issued a press release congratulating itself for the ‘encouraging response’ to its RFID toll collection rollout over the weekend.
“PLUS has recorded a very encouraging 10 percent migration rate for RFID transactions after its implementation on 15-January 2022 across the North South Highway last weekend. PLUS thanks our customers who have migrated to RFID as their toll payment of choice,” said the company.
If you were expecting the highway concessionaire (read: monopoly holder) company to apologize for the inconvenience caused, you would be very wrong.
“We appreciate the feedback and public’s views on the congestion issue that arose at the toll plazas and are making improvements. PLUS has doubled the teams assisting customers at toll plazas, and improved the visibility of directional signages to increase familiarity with RFID lanes. Highway users are encouraged to ensure that they are using the correct lane and to follow guidelines on signboards provided,” it added.
At point of publishing, PLUS has reopened the comments section on its social media channels, after shutting them down yesterday. PLUS is telling highway users to submit their feedback by calling the PLUSLine at 1800-88-0000, or via PLUS mobile app’s chat bot.
As for the high number of complaints regarding detection issues, PLUS has not offered any technical solution, only temporary (and rather comical) solutions.
“Highway customers who experience detection issues at the RFID lane need not worry as toll personnel will be on hand with a handheld device to scan the RFID tag.
“Should the tag still remain undetectable, a coupon for a full detection diagnostic at the nearest Touch 'n Go fitment centre will be provided. If the RFID tag still has detection issues after the test, Touch 'n Go will replace the RFID tag for free,” said the company.
So in other words, we went from manual toll collection to automated electronic payment Smart Tag, only for us to return to a half-baked RFID solution that requires manual assistance?
PLUS ended its statement by saying, “PLUS is hopeful that with the increased RFID migration, which is in line with today's contactless payment digital lifestyle and use of e-wallets, will bring about a smoother and more enjoyable travel experience.”
Over 15 years of experience in automotive, from product planning, to market research, to print and digital media. Garages a 6-cylinder manual RWD but buses to work.
