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Curious Whether The T Is Over Charging Riders

BOSTON (CBS) -- It's supposed to save you time, but the MBTA's Charlie Card may be costing you more money than it should.

Riders load the cards with fare money and use them to zip through turnstiles.

But some riders are getting overcharged.

Carolyn Cribbie Declared her Curiosity asking: "How many people check to make sure the T isn't deducting extra money from their Charlie Cards?"

Cribbie takes the express bus from Woburn to Government Center, where she gets on the subway. The transfer is supposed to be free within two hours, but she says recently she's noticed that transfer costs her $1.70.

A similar thing happened to Edgar Dworsky, a consumer advocate who is always watching hit pennies. He was overcharged by $1.25.

"If you're at a parking meter and you still have a minute left you don't want to get a ticket. You had time left!" declares Dworsky of consumerworld.org.

T general manager Richard Davey said he knows an issue with a particular farebox has been addressed. Her card was being stamped with the wrong time.

WBZ-TV's David Wade reports.

The system doesn't allow riders to check their transactions online.

The only way to protect yourself is to remember how much is left on your card as you rush through the turnstile. If you didn't know what the balance was ahead of time you don't know you were just charged again.

The T has been sending Cribbie refund cards, but not Dworsky.

The T says it's looking at the possibility of offering transaction information online, but it doesn't know yet when that might happen.

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