Okay, I got this lovely little bill from the NTTA (North Texas Tollway Authority) yesterday telling me I owed $128.75 for failure to pay the tollway toll. This tollway utilizes a Tolltag, which I have and use, and which was operational and charged with sufficient cash. They say there were 5 events (dating back to 10/3/05!) where my Tolltag failed to read and now I owe the 75 cent toll plus a $25 administrative fee for each event. They have a flawed system and I’m supposed to pay $25??? Furthermore, shouldn’t they be a bit more timely about this type of notice?
I know this sounds outlandish, and I’m sure you’re thinking there’s something more to this, and you would be right. Here’s why I’m getting hit with this foolishness. Last time I renewed my car registration, the state decided that my license plates were too old and gave me new ones. According to NTTA, I’m supposed to update their database with my new plate numbers. I ordered my Tolltag YEARS ago and it’s set up to automatically charge my credit card when needed. There was no reason for me to think of this need. Besides why would they care what car goes through the Tolltag lane with a valid Tolltag?
Apparently, they routinely inspect a photo of the car license plate when a car runs the Tolltag lane without paying (at least eventually), and if the plate is in their database, they charge the proper account and the customer never knows. But if not in their database, they assume criminal intent and fine the culprit. But, you know what? In order to send me this bill, they had to know my name and address which is ALSO in their database! They can go do a TXDOT lookup on my license plate, but can’t be bothered to to check that against their own database before fining me heavily as though I were some kind of criminal.
Here’s my position:
They failed to communicate how important it is for me to keep their database current when my license plate changes (certainly a VERY common occurrance!).
They failed to notify me in a timely manner that there was a problem - they waited almost 5 full months before sending me the first indication that I needed to take some action. Meanwhile events continue to pile up.
They shouldn’t even care what plate is on the car. It’s merely a convenience for them. The Tolltag has a velcro attachment to the car, for heaven’s sake, to allow it to be moved to another car easily!
Their system is technically very flawed. I’m on that tollway only about once per week and they have 5 events in less than 5 months where the system failed to read the Tolltag.
The tags may have velcro but you cannot move them from car to car.
The fact that your name and address for your current plate matches a name and address in the database is not relevant: They can only assume that your new plate is a different car, and you have not registered a toll tag for that car.
If your TollTag fails to read and you are driving the car with the license plate that the tag is registered to, they should waive the penalty and debit the toll from your account.
First of all, I did not violate:
[a. You may use your Tag only in the vehicle specifically assigned to that Tag and you must display your Tag according to the NTTA’s instructions. The license plate number of a vehicle(s) listed on your Account can not be registered on another NTTA Tag Account.]
as the car IS registered with NTTA and the plates are not on an unregistered car.
and, as far as:
[e. You must inform the NTTA of any changes to the information entered on your Tag Application, including changes of address, authorized users, vehicle and credit card information, if any. Failure to do so may result in one or more toll violations and the issuance of a notice of non-payment and/or citation.]
I readily acknowledge my failure to update my account, but this is rather vague. No change was made to my address, authorized users, or credit card information. As far as vehicle information goes, it’s not all that obvious that the fact that TXDOT changed my plates falls into that category. I also put new tires on the car - does that constitute a change to the vehicle? Remember that I created this account many years ago and it’s been running on autopilot since. It’s not really reasonable for me to remember every scrap of information I have in their database.
Furthermore, they have an obligation to mitigate the damage. If they had sent me a timely notice after the first event, rather than 5 months later, we wouldn’t be having this dispute. Additionally, since a plate change (required by Texas law) is a common, even likely occurrance and, due to their flawed system, failure to read the tag is obviously a common occurrance, they have an obligation to communicate this financial risk to me MUCH more clearly, and more often, than they have.
I went through an extremely similar situation a few years ago: I’d bought a new car and didn’t realize I needed to update my Tolltag with my new plates. I got a bill for around the same amount you did.
I simply called the NTTA and explained that I hadn’t realized the Tolltags were registered to certain plates. They charged my Tolltag account for the TOLLS that I hadn’t paid yet, and removed the “adminstrative” charges. Instead of $125+, it cost me only the amount of the tolls I should have been charged for in the first place.
If that doesn’t work, what about small claims court?
Would anyone show up for the other side?
“Vehicle” is identified with the VIN not the plates. If you have the same VIN then you legally have the same vehicle. Because there is no mention of license plates specifically, and because it is their database (which you could not possibly have reasonable knowledge you must inform them of that change), I think you could make a compelling argument that their instructions are not explicit enough.
The reason they use the plates is so they can identify the car if it doesn’t pay the toll. There’s a camera that shoots a picture of any car that triggers the alarms.
The Crescent City Connection in New Orleans has the same setup, but they allow you to use the tolltag in any vehicle. My company has two tolltags, but there are about 12 vehicles listed that may be using them. I probably need to update my list because a bunch of those vehicles have been sold, new cars have been bought and plates have been changed.
Either way, I’ve had the tag not read in vehicles I know weren’t registered and I’ve never seen any repercussions.
Oops…the point of my post…this probably will get you out of the administrative fees. Just call them. Unless you’re dealing with a bunch of real asshats, they’ll probably waive the fees. You do owe them the $3.75 in unpaid tolls, but it’ll save you $125.00.
And make sure they have your current license plate number so that you won’t have to worry about it anymore.
Fundamentally, NTTA needs to get their shit together with the two (3?) counties that it administers toll roads in, and keep their license plate database updated from that source.
It’s ridiculous and asinine to expect people to notify them when their licence plates change, when it’s an easy enough problem to solve using information technology.
After all, if they can straighten out the toll charges between themselves and the toll authority in another city (HCTRA in Houston), they ought to be able to keep their license plate information straight with Dallas and Collin counties.
I had the same problem about 2 years ago- they sent me a letter saying I owed them several hundred dollars, in spite of my tolltag being in good standing the entire time.
I very much agree on your point that they should be able to handle updating their database themselves using the information they already have available.
So what was the outcome of your situation 2 years ago?
I’m wondering how many people they’re screwing with this scam?
Perhaps, but do they ask for your VIN number in the application process? Do they have anyway of knowing what your VIN number is when you run the toll?
I agree it’s not obvious that you need to update your plate number when it changes, and that the velcro on the tolltags encourages you to move them from car to car, which many people don’t realize is a violation of the agreement until they get a notice similar to yours. Nobody says NTTA is well-run. I have little hope the tollways they’re about to open down here will be run any better.
As far as why it took so long to send notices, I do know that it seems NTTA will wait until a pattern of violations builds up before sending a notice and going after the fine (ie, jumping the toll once or twice cause them to come after you.) No cite on that, just anecodotal evidence from my in-laws.
To prevent fraud by using the same Tolltag for multiple cars. You also say in your post that they did not stress the importance of reporting your new licence plate. Did they tell you this years ago when you got the Tolltag? If so, do you only need to follow the rules if they tell you it’s really REALLY important to follow the rules? If not, then how can they call you on a rule you didn’t know about?
How is it “fraud” if I’M paying the toll tag bill? What does it matter if I wan’t to use it in multiple cars? they’re still geting there darn money.
I’d like to thank the OP for the heads up on this. I’ve been thinking about getting one lately. I have a Truck and a motorcycle. I figured it wouldn’t be a problem using the same tag on both vehicles. I see now that I’m wrong.
I also see that I wont be buying into these scamsters.
Also to answer the quoted OP’s question:
Yes, if they’re are going to be racking up fees of that magnitude; a little extra “heads up” is the only ethical thing to do.
Different tollways have different rules. Some do not allow you to transfer boxes to other cars. I know the 91 Tollroad out here in Calif used to have that rule. Clearly your tollroad has some restrictions on the cars that can use your box otherwise why are they charging you the $25.
Because the agreement you make with NTTA is that each transponder will connect to one specific license plate. If you have multiple cars, NTTA will issue up to 3 tolltags on your account.
A quick read of the “TollTag Help” section of the NTTA website contains all this information.
I had a very similar problem with my car about a year ago. Their system didn’t properly register my tag on a toll bridge between two states. The system in one state didn’t have proper information about my car which was registered in the other state.
Anyway, I called up and demanded to speak to a supervisor, who told me to just write a letter in with a check for the proper toll amount and to request waiver of the $25 fee. The supervisor admitted to me that the $25 fee was pretty much automatically waived for anyone who asks for it.
Same Tolltag for different cars is hardly “fraud”, even if it is against their rules.
Did they tell me anything about reporting license plate changes? No, not specifically. Yes, somewhere in several pages of fine print there is something about it. I’m not saying I shouldn’t have to follow the rules - I’m just saying it’s tough to do when I don’t know what they are. Modern life requires me to enter into hundreds of these kinds of quasi-contracts and it is not possible to comprehend the complete set of rules for all things. I expect the important ones to be brought to my attention, explicitly, and then to be reminded of them periodically. I don’t think that’s unreasonable.