Sweet, long-suffering readers of the “print product” are familiar with the name Willard Spiegelman, the bow-tie-wearing SMU professor who regularly writes for us. Well, the good professor has gotten himself crosswise with the NTTA. He seeks advice, after the jump.
Here’s Willard’s tale of woe (and I believe him):
Yesterday I received a $182 bill from a collection agency representing the North Dallas Tollway Authority. The latter claims that I had seven violations (read: no fee payment) when I sailed through the Tollway between last fall and this spring. I know this cannot be true. I have never been a scofflaw, received a parking ticket, made a late payment, etc., etc. A law-biding citizen, c’est moi.
I said to the rude ladies on the phone that the “visual” evidence they produced certainly must have been of my car, which they identified correctly, but that the toll machine equipment or the booths or the cameras, or something, must have been at fault. They told me to write an appeals letter.
Have you any expertise in matters such as this? I know that I have have never failed to toss my quarters into the basket or to get change from a toll taker. Have you heard of anyone else caught in this predicament? If so, what did he or she do?
18 comments
Get. A. Tolltag.
Yes, I have received the same letter. I called and was treated rudely by those same “ladies”. Basically I was told I was wrong and I needed to pay up or else. The $25 dollar fine per incident is outrageous. NTTA is a nazi organization………..
Thanks, Mr. Merten, but a tolltag won’t help me retro-actively. I seldom use the Tollway, and have always been scrupulous about paying as I have gone. What I wonder is whether other innocent people have had the same problem as I have just described and, if so, how they handled their dealings with the collection agency.
Actually, the tolltag will help you retroactively. Often they will waive the fines if you agree to get a tolltag.
Can you ask to see copies of the visual evidence?
I had a Tolltag!!!!!!
I would write the appeal letter. However, in addition i write a letter to the head of the administrative head of the agency. I would also copy my State Representitive. I would not mention that fact that the employee was rude. I would ask them to consider your appeal and determine whether there were malfunctions or repairs being made on any equipment at the time they say you went through a toll booth without paying. Also, can you mention that you have had instances where you put the right amount of money into the machine and it still did not register correctly? I would be friendly but mention that you are prepared to file an open records request for the information if there is not a way to resolve the issue in a fair manner. I would also get a Tolltag. They save you money. Eventually, you will have to pay with a Tolltag or receive a bill in the mail anyway.
IANYL. If there is one piece of advice it would be don’t deal with the agency. Call or, better, go by the NTTA office directly and find out exactly why there is a violation and when they took place (maybe you were not even in town). If there is an appeals process to the NTTA, take advantage of it. Get the photos and scrutinize. At the least you might be able to save the collection fees or maybe knock something off the top. The worst thing would be to pay up because it is too hard or time consuming to fight them; don’t give in or up.
I use the tollway sporadically as well. But after a few instances where I chucked the correct amount of change in, only to have the light still stay red, I decided to not risk it – and got the tag. It’s $40, and if you use it sparingly, it just means you use up that $40 that much slower. Plus, the tolls are cheaper when you use the toll tag.
Willard, do you have a wife or child that uses your car and might be less conscientious?
Those with tags ought to watch out for toll lane squatters. They don’t pay, but pull past the basket and stop — when you get close enough for your tag to register (light turns green), they pull through, and when you then go through, you can get tagged as a non-payer.
I shall write to ask to see copies of the visual evidence, but I doubt these will help. I think that the photos are accurate; after all, they obviously have photographed my car and my license plate. That’s how they tracked me down. What is inaccurate is their assumption or conclusion that I had sped through without paying. I know that I paid. In other words, I suspect a glitch in the registering of the money in the basket. Or something like that.
Everyone in prison is innocent. It’s a cynical age.
It can get worse. I had a Tolltag that was billed to an old Credit Card. I rarely use the tag, but after several years, I apparently used up the original deposit and the canceled card would not charged. In the mean time, I had moved and got no notice that I was “running the booth” until I got pulled over in Addison for an illegal lane change. The policeman informed me I had a warrant out for my arrest for $1,300 worth of fines to NTTA and to a JP court. Unbeknown to me, they had filed criminal charges on the accumulated $45 of toll charges plus the fines. I had a failure to appear also, and was arrested. Because every number that I knew was a cellphone that could not be called from jail, and that for some unknown reason bail could not be set for that type of charge I sat in the Addison jail for three days waiting transfer to Lew Sterrett. I was finally released after 5 days. They really are nazis
Similar experience with Harris County Toll Authority last year. Received bill of several hundred dollars on multiple offenses of running the toll booth. Problem was that I had not been south of Waco for FIVE YEARS. Back & forth on phone always concluded with their assurance that they cross-referenced with TXDOT and pictures don’t lie. Finally drove to Houston with vehicle in question, digital pictures, affidavits on vehicle offense dates, etc. When they showed me the FULL FRAME pictures, I burst out laughing, thoroughly perplexing the sanctimonious enforcement staff. The offending vehicle was a Tahoe, my vehicle a Yukon. Both same year and color, but different vehicle name placards on tail gate. Plates the same except off by one letter. The true offending vehicle plate was slightly damaged on the different letter, making it look like mine. The HCTA staff never checked beyond the plate number till I was sitting in their offices. When reconciled with the true offender, HCTA found thousands of dollars of previous fines already recorded for that vehicle, which was a Houston resident. When it was all resolved, got file cleared but no apology or mea culpa. Bureaucracies are always right, even when they are wrong. Go in person. Ask to see the full frame. Ask for equipment service records. Don’t roll over.
Dear Front Burnerians,
All’s well that ends well. (And I also offer a tip of the hat to the blogosphere for helping to bring my dilemma to a satisfying conclusion.)
After seeing my posting, John Bannerman, the Tollway PR and Customer Service guy, called and wrote. I phoned him back. He had done his homework. The situation? Apparently, all seven of my violations occurred at the south end of the Tollway (Wycliff Avenue), where, as of last spring, the commission implemented a new, cost-cutting measure. They are beginning to replace toll booths and collectors with cameras that register vehicles, and the commission then sends out bills.
My problem: I go away in the summer. The commission sent me several bills, which apparently the US Postal Service did not forward properly to New England. Nor were the bills returned to the Tollway Office. Nice Mr. Bannerman will send me another, a final, bill, for $7, which I shall gladly pay.
SO, the moral of the tale is this: do not blame the local authorities all the time. Perhaps Washington is to blame, or general bureaucratic inefficiency.
Thanks to all ..
WS
Glad to hear all was resolved! However, I do object to the accusations against Washington and people who rely on bureaucracies for work…
I’m a consultant that does work for the NTTA. That might make my impartiality suspect. But it also means that I’ve seen first-hand the efforts NTTA customer-service employees expend to try to make sure the toll-collection system works as it is supposed to: accurately, fairly, and efficiently. They try very hard to get it right — or, as in Prof. Spiegelman’s case — to make it right, even when the problem was caused by someone else. The NTTA is not a huge bureaucracy that hires lazy incompetents. It is staffed by good folks who work hard to do a good job in building and operating roads. It’s too bad the state doesn’t have enough money to build roads without charging tolls, but it doesn’t. So the NTTA also works hard to make sure the tolls are collected as they should be. Finally, even if you don’t use the NTTA’s roads very often, it really makes sense to get a TollTag. It’s the best way to avoid hassles and save money.
I appreciate Mr. Beauclerk’s comment, but it must be said that there are many people out there (even most people – trust me!) who would think twice before putting down $40 if they don’t use the tollways daily – no matter how great the Tolltag is.