It happened to me for the first time on a train journey in the summer: the ticket had disappeared from my BVG app. Between Rostock and Rendsburg my Deutschlandticket had vanished into thin air. Just like that. Everything was discovered during the ticket inspection. The conductor was nice and patient, but there was no way around it: I had to pay an “increased transport fee” and could only avoid the 60 euro fine by nerve-rackingly ensuring that my Deutschlandticket reappeared in the BVG app and submitting it to the train company.
Not only did I have to pay Deutsche Bahn seven euros as a “processing fee” – mind you, the BVG had messed up, not me. My holiday mood was also somewhat dampened because my travel companion spent days complaining about the Berlin transport company, my cell phone and the ticket app. “Why do you buy your Germany ticket from the BVG? The app has always been rubbish.” Thank you very much, dear BVG.
I paid the seven euros, got the ticket back into the app and pushed everything out of my mind until I was stopped again last week at Friedrichstrasse station. I had my bike with me, my office backpack and full shopping bags. When I pulled out my phone to show the inspector my AB monthly ticket for my bike, it was gone. The Germany ticket was there, but the bike ticket was not. No mercy. I had to get off.
I showed the inspector the order confirmation that I had received by email on September 10th. It said that I had a paid monthly bike pass. He was terribly sorry – “happens a lot.” I had to tell myself quite loudly that it wasn’t his fault. If I hadn’t had so much stuff with me, I would have made a run for it. The trauma of the missing tickets popped up again. This time I got the anger that my travel companion had already had in the summer.
The BVG service hotline: “Unfortunately, I don’t understand you”
I’ve been trying to get the ticket back into the BVG app for a week – so far without success. A friendly voice greets you on the BVG service hotline, and it genders perfectly. I now know that there are no discounts for pensioners on the Deutschlandticket. The voice pauses a tiny bit between the root and the ending. In the menu, I select number one because it’s about tickets. I’m supposed to describe my problem there. I leave the office so that no one can hear me. I find it degrading to speak to automated telephone systems.
Well, bad luck. Hopefully the app user had cash on him to pay for the ticket. But wait! The BVG is just abolishing cash payments. Private screenshot
“My ticket has disappeared from the app.” The voice addresses me informally: “I’m sorry. Unfortunately, I don’t seem to understand you.” I check to see if the door is really closed: “Ticket. App. Gone.” – “Can you phrase your request differently?” I notice myself getting angry, because I suspect that none of this is helpful. “Can I speak to someone in person?” – “Unfortunately, I don’t understand you.” I think of a trick and say: “Deutschlandticket. Abo.” If it’s about concluding a contract and not about a problem, you might get your way more quickly. It works.
Major problems with the BVG app
The real, live employee asks for my customer number and sees in my account that I have a valid monthly pass for a bike. But he can’t put it into the app. I ask, dismayed, who can do that. He says I should write an email to app support. But I already did that a week ago. I know this email address from the summer trip. It worked then. This time, too, I immediately wrote to BVG app support. Several times. Nothing happened.
Excuse me? “Just come to the Jannowitz Bridge”
The employee then says something fatal: “Just come to the service center at Jannowitzbrücke.” I reply that I work full time and have two children and I’m definitely not going to the BVG service center to queue for hours. “Besides, you made a mistake.” The employee understands me, but is also at a loss as to how to solve the problem from his desk. He advises me to call the service hotline again and dial number four, “they can do more than I can.” Hope dies last.
In fact, I get a real person on the phone relatively quickly. I explain my problem. “I have nothing to do with that.” Berlin accent meets desert service. I lose my temper, and so does the BVG man: “You don’t have to complain to me!” But where else?
Many problems with the BVG app: “Transaction rejected”
I’m not the only one who has problems with the BVG app. Friends and colleagues have added their own comments. Since the new app was installed, nothing has worked: Tickets cannot be purchased because the payment function doesn’t work. Connections are displayed incorrectly because current route thinnings are not displayed. If you don’t have reception, nothing will load anyway. And you are responsible for providing tickets yourself. The ultimate secret weapon for the BVG app: always take a screenshot of the ticket.
BVG passengers board a subway at Tierpark station.Emmanuele Contini/Berliner Zeitung
A colleague asked if I knew that you could end up in Plötzensee for fare dodging. I know, it’s a problem that affects many homeless people. Anyone who is caught without a ticket at least three times within two years will be charged with a crime by the BVG. Last year, 2,943 fare dodgers were reported for “obtaining services by deception,” a criminal offense in the criminal code that has been in force since 1935.
If a conviction is made, those affected usually receive a fine. If this is not paid, a so-called substitute prison sentence is threatened. In 2023, according to the Senate Justice Administration, around 540 people were ultimately imprisoned for using the bus or train without a ticket. I am well on my way to seeing Plötzensee from the inside. In addition, the BVG is currently abolishing cash payments on buses. So people should also use the BVG app more – for ticket purchases. But what if it only works unreliably? It seems that the BVG is paying for its mistakes on the backs of passengers.
I asked the BVG for a statement. They replied that the inspectors had no other option: “We therefore recommend opening the app before starting the journey and checking the ticket. If it turns out later that a valid ticket was present, the fee can be reduced to 7 euros. Of course, we will reimburse the costs if there is evidence that there was a problem with the app at the time of the inspection.” That doesn’t sound very practical. The whole point of the app and a monthly ticket is that you just get on. “Because we love you” feels different.
