GIBC's Policy Against Making Refunds for Loose Tokens
Q: Will the GIBC provide a refund for tokens from an opened roll of tokens?
A: No. It has been the GIBC's policy for decades, if not from the very beginning when the bridge opened, that we do not provide refunds for loose tokens. The GIBC's receipt for the purchase of tokens clearly states this policy.
There are many good reasons for this restriction. During the fall of 2006, the GIBC asked the community to vote on whether or not we should continue to sell and accept tokens. Approximately 87% of the 457 residents who responded wanted the GIBC to keep tokens. As a result the GIBC has kept tokens in circulation and a very substantial amount of them have been purchased and used during the Wayne County Bridge closure period.
The administrative burden of accounting for, and handling, loose tokens is too great for the GIBC to process without negatively affecting other important office operations. Moreover, we do not want to create an incentive for tokens to be stolen from parked cars. Unlike the Bridge Pass which is worthless if stolen from a vehicle after it is deactivated, tokens can obviously be used by anyone.
Beginning in the fall of 2006, the GIBC strongly urged Islanders and all customers of the Toll Bridge to purchase the Bridge Pass. The GIBC will issue refunds for the unused balance and $25 lease deposit when a customer returns a Bridge Pass in good working order.
The GIBC purposely established incentives to use the Bridge Pass because we knew that widespread utilization of this service was essential to safely increasing the volume of traffic that could travel over the Toll Bridge on a daily basis. Currently, there are more than 8,300 Bridge Pass customers and the vast majority are residents of the Island.
If customers have loose tokens that they do not believe they will ever use, the GIBC encourages them to make donations to local churches. During the county bridge closure period, the GIBC has collectively donated thousands-of-dollars of tokens to the five churches on the Grosse Ile in order to ensure off-Island members could attend church services for free as well as to generally support church activities.
