Toronto Presto users sound alarm after finding erroneous charges on their cards

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Two Toronto residents are cautioning Presto users to regularly check their transaction history after they were both mistakenly charged for a fare in Mississauga — a location more than 20 kilometres away from where they tapped on in Toronto just minutes before.

"So essentially, we got charged for using Mississauga transit but we were literally ... half an hour away from Mississauga," said Samson Solomon, who was erroneously charged again the following month.

When Solomon and his friend Ashley Howard contacted Presto, they were told that an investigation was needed to confirm they didn't actually board those buses in Mississauga. Nearly three months later, the investigation was still ongoing.

'It's just impossible'

Solomon and Howard were returning home from a trip to Costco on Aug. 22. Their transaction records show the two tapped their monthly Presto passes at 8:06 p.m. at Wilson station.

They then took the 52 Lawrence West bus home, but their records show that at 8:12 p.m., they tapped on at the Westwood Mall Bus loop at Morning Star Drive, more than 20 kilometres away from Wilson station.

"Based on the charges, we were somehow [going] from Wilson station to Westwood loop, which is in deep Mississauga North," Solomon said. 

"It's just impossible."

Both Solomon and Howard were each charged an additional $3.10 by MiWay, Mississauga's transit system, which also uses the Presto payment system.