Case Stories
Wednesday, January 27, 2010
In November 2006, the TTC replaced its tokens with a new design. The old tokens were supposed to be good until January 31, 2007. TTC advised people with more than 100 tokens to go to the TTC head office to exchange them.
Ms D had 1,145 tokens. She also had a TTC brochure that said she had until December 31, 2007, to exchange them. She took her tokens to the head office on December 6, 2007. Staff told her the deadline had passed. Ms D wrote to her councillor, and also went to a legal clinic with her complaint. The clinic sent a letter to the Ombudsman on behalf of Ms D, along with a copy of the TTC brochure with the December 31, 2007, deadline.
Ombudsman staff contacted several people at the TTC. A manager there said his office was trying to resolve the complaint. He said the brochure was withdrawn soon after its release, because the deadline was subsequently changed to January 31, 2007. However, the TTC only published this change on its website.
Result: The TTC did agree to honour Ms D’s claim because she had relied on their public information. They exchanged the 1,145 old tokens for new ones.
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