I.U Gripe!

[bluenose]

The I.U unit I presume belongs to the government on every vehicle....so why should I pay if it is broken???
Why does the government not maintain it's property

[offshoreoildude]

They come with a long warranty - I'm not on my THIRD visit to the bloody IU station - they never believe me that it works in carparks but not under ERPs (on my bike) and keep sending me very rude letters.

[bluenose]

Mine was on my bike....and same....worked in condo but not ERP.....told me warranty expired!
I explained it belonged to the government and that he could invoice them directly.....of course the mere mention of the Government word had him looking for secret microphones....
No sense of humour...99% of locals.....so sadly I had to pay and have just email the VICOM dudes and will forward to some government department.... who are the other 1% of the population

[offshoreoildude]

Mine was on my bike....and same....worked in condo but not ERP.....told me warranty expired!
I explained it belonged to the government and that he could invoice them directly.....of course the mere mention of the Government word had him looking for secret microphones....
No sense of humour...99% of locals.....so sadly I had to pay and have just email the VICOM dudes and will forward to some government department.... who are the other 1% of the population

I think the older slim unit design has a design fault in it that no one will admit to. I see a lot of them being replaced with the larger older unit (even though that will flatten your battery if left on).

Frankly the whole ERP / pre paid cash card is old fashioned and frankly nonsense. IT just shows how little this govt trusts it's people. Most civilized countries (including MY) have much better post paid e-toll systems with UNPOWERED e-toll RFID tags.

[Hannieroo]

Really civilized countries don't charge you at all. Like, free roads.

[ScoobyDoes]

Frankly the whole ERP / pre paid cash card is old fashioned and frankly nonsense. IT just shows how little this govt trusts it's people. Most civilized countries (including MY) have much better post paid e-toll systems with UNPOWERED e-toll RFID tags.

Malaysia has both. If you are prepared to wait in a lengthy queue for sometimes up to an hour then, yes, the government is willing to trust you but the Touch'n'Go/SmartTAG, which I have, are prepaid cards acting as an encouragement to swifter entry/exit of road tolls.

I go through as many batteries for my SmartTAG as I go through toll booths, or at least the way it feels.

Here, the government is looking seriously at GPS powered road pricing but you know the next thing coming out is tracking and privacy etc. so at the end of the day, there is no winning formula. I don't have problems here with the IU unit itself, but the card IN the unit itself. For condos etc. only the serial number of the device is read, not the card in it so will always work. When it comes to making a payment, then, the interface between the IU and card is the weak link which is why a couple of years back the government modified both the card and the IU.

[sundaymorningstaple]

Really civilized countries don't charge you at all. Like, free roads.

Well, that leaves out both the UK and the US as both charge for road usage, e.g., daily permits in London and Turnpikes in the US. Oh, and not civilized as well!

[x9200]

Mine was on my bike....and same....worked in condo but not ERP.....told me warranty expired!
I explained it belonged to the government and that he could invoice them directly.....of course the mere mention of the Government word had him looking for secret microphones....
No sense of humour...99% of locals.....so sadly I had to pay and have just email the VICOM dudes and will forward to some government department.... who are the other 1% of the population

And they may pay you back with their sense of humour charging you the IU rental fees back from the time you purchased the vehicle

[Hannieroo]

As far as London goes I cannot disagree with you.

[zzm9980]

Frankly the whole ERP / pre paid cash card is old fashioned and frankly nonsense. IT just shows how little this govt trusts it's people. Most civilized countries (including MY) have much better post paid e-toll systems with UNPOWERED e-toll RFID tags.

I don't think it is a lack of trust in the end users so much as the government not wanting to shoulder the burden and risk of maintaining the entire transactional system in their backend. That makes them liable if anything occurs which causes a loss of an individuals stored value. Better to just keep the value stored on the smart card itself, and shrug if a problem causes a user to lose his money.

[bluenose]

Mine was on my bike....and same....worked in condo but not ERP.....told me warranty expired!
I explained it belonged to the government and that he could invoice them directly.....of course the mere mention of the Government word had him looking for secret microphones....
No sense of humour...99% of locals.....so sadly I had to pay and have just email the VICOM dudes and will forward to some government department.... who are the other 1% of the population

And they may pay you back with their sense of humour charging you the IU rental fees back from the time you purchased the vehicle

Yep and I charge rental for space on my bike for their equipment....win win

[PrimroseHill]

govt not trusting?
London congestion charges - see those unmarked white vans with tons of sophiscated cameras?

[ScoobyDoes]

Yep and I charge rental for space on my bike for their equipment....win win

Technically you would have bought the bike with the IU already fitted so best not to try that one.

[Wd40]

I can feel your pain, bluenose. $156 for a stupid thing that when works sucks even more money.

In my case though, luckily, the roads I travel, in the far east have no erps. The IU currently works fine for opening the car park barrier. My bike is now exactly 5 yrs old and the IU warranty expires.

I think its the rains that is responsible for most of the damages.

[bluenose]

The story goes on.....
I could not get my fan on the bike working.....as the guy from VICOM had cut the wires!!!!
I took it back last night and he repaired it....then said when I switched of the fan...the I.U would go off......
I now believe the old one was the same.....and it was not broken only switched off and because we are dealing with unskilled people...people who only do as they are told......I lost 160 dollars
I am glad to be an Ang Moh who knows his job inside out and thinking out of the box comes naturally
Moral of the story....remember you are in Singapore.....check yourself first!