Gorilla Cards held up by hardware
Joshua Ames, Collegio Reporter
Issue date: 9/7/06 Section: Front Page
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If only it worked. Dunham, freshman in biology, tried to use the card's debit function three times so far at Gorilla Crossing, but no luck. "The first time was OK because it was the second day we were here and I kind of expected it to not be running right, but after the third time, it's kind of getting on my nerves," he said. The biggest problem with the new system is that the hardware needed to process the debit transactions is not currently available on the Gorilla Crossing cash registers. Employees of Sodexho CampusServices, which operates Gorilla Crossing, have had to run the card through a regular credit machine, which is available on only one cash register. "I came down to the U-Club a week ago and they couldn't do the debit card processing," said Carla Meister, sophomore in history, of the snack bar and coffee shop in the basement of the student center. Meister says paying for items in the U-Club takes just as long as in Gorilla Crossing. "It's an inconvenience for everybody, the students and the people that work here," says Chanel Curry, junior in elementary education and Sodexho clerk. "If the customers don't have an alternative like cash or Banana Bucks, then they have to go all the way down to the first register in Gorilla Crossing, swipe the card, then put in their pin number, and then it takes forever to print a receipt while the line gets longer and longer." Todd Wixson, Sodexho general manager at PSU, says the problem comes down to equipment that hasn't been delivered yet. But, he says, the equipment to process the debit option of the cards and make it more compatible with Sodexho's register program is on its way. It is expected to arrive within the next week and a-half, Wixson says. "I want to make it clear that the expectation of the students is the expectations of Sodexho, in terms of the card," Wixson said. "We are just as antsy as the students about getting this new technology." So far, Sodexho is the only company on campus having difficulties with the debit feature. Fawn Baker, manager of the Barnes and Noble store in the student center, says the bookstore has had no problems with the card. "Our use of the card has been really successful," Baker said. The only problem has been forgotten pin numbers and financial aid account transactions that have not yet taken place, Baker says. The bookstore, Baker says, can accept both bank-debit transactions and Banana Bucks. Other scan-related purchases, such as soda machines and printing in the Axe Library, still function on Banana Bucks only. Gibson Dining Hall, the residence hall dining hall also operated by Sodexho, is awaiting the same equipment as Gorilla Crossing. So, until the equipment arrives, it also cannot use the Gorilla cards as debit cards. |
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