Toll road problem

[Steve Rozmiarek]

I'm having a bit of difficulty with a Denver toll road, and being a country bumpkin, could use some advice.

Around Thanksgiving I got a fishy looking bill for a toll road in Denver. I never signed up for toll billing, nor was the car in Denver around then. I figured ignore it and it will go away like most things, haha. I've gotten a bill every month since, and just now got an email saying to contact them to pay the toll. My name is not quite correct on it and I'm seriously doubting its authenticity.

Question, anyone with some experience with E470 or similar roads know if this seems like a legit process? How in the word would I dispute this? Denver is a LONG way from here, in a different state.

[Wade Lippman]

I would call and ask what is going on.

[Eduard Nemirovsky]

I got same kind of bills from Italy many years ago - for sure it was a scam. For you -better to call them and ask. But find phone number on internet, not from your bill.
Ed.

[ken masoumi]

I got a few phishing emails from" EZ PASS" (https://www.thetollroads.com/communications/e-zpass-phishing-email.php) that asked me to pay an overdue bill from a few month back,I had never been on any of those US roads(live in Canada) so I knew it was a scam.they got the name wrong also.
I would keep ignoring them.

[Ken Fitzgerald]

Steve,

I can tell you that one day I drove on those toll roads around Denver and thought it was nice that they weren't making me stop and pay the tolls. A few weeks later at home, the bill showed up in the mail and it was legitimate!

They obviously had taken photographs of my car, got the license number and tracked me down. I paid the bill.

Contact them.

[Bruce Page]

I got same kind of bills from Italy many years ago - for sure it was a scam. For you -better to call them and ask. But find phone number on internet, not from your bill.
Ed.

Good advice.

[Matt Meiser]

Could be an error reading the plate and a call should clear it up.

You do NOT want to go on one of those in a rental without a transponder. The rental companies charge the toll plus a collection fee. National was charging $25 per toll charge! I got 8 bills from one in Dallas. Luckily they waved them as employees at DFW were telling people that route didn't need them and there were lots of complaints.

[Myk Rian]

We try to avoid E470 if possible. But it is a nice way to get around Denver and the burbs.

Call the Co. DMV and check into it.

[Scott Shepherd]

They are on the news all the time around here. It's really disgusting what their tactic is. They fine you and it might be $80 for the fine. If you want to dispute it, it's a $50 charge to dispute it. The local talk radio have run a number of shows on it and people call in. One guy said he had a truck and they sent him the photo and it was a car with a different license plate on it. Didn't matter, $50 to dispute it. Also, if their readers malfunction, you get the bill for the fine. The local talk show host had plenty of money on his ezpass, had the statements that proved his account wasn't low on balance, and they billed him for not having enough money on his ezpass when he went through them. It was something like $7 worth of missed tolls for them and his fines were over $400. He decided to fight it and he said to fight each offense, it was a 16 page document that had to be filled out. For him to dispute it, it was over 200 pages of forms he would have to fill out.

People called in story after story for hours.

[Steve Rozmiarek]

Thanks for the insight guys. I'm wondering what the eventual ramifications of ignoring it are? Am I going to be arrested next time I'm in Colorado, hate mail for the rest of my life, or???

[roger wiegand]

On the other hand I've had several bogus charges in Massachusetts that were removed with a two minute phone call, including an apology for the inconvenience of having to report the errors.

[Pat Barry]

Thanks for the insight guys. I'm wondering what the eventual ramifications of ignoring it are? Am I going to be arrested next time I'm in Colorado, hate mail for the rest of my life, or???
Funny, my brother was in Italy and took his rental car the wrong way down a one-way street. When he got back home, about two months later he had a bill from the city in Italy for a ticket / fine for going the wrong way down the street. He paid the fine. I wondered why. He said he never knew if he would be back in Italy and didn't want it on his record over there. He figured he might not get another car rental or something..

[Bill Huber]

Here in the Dallas area if you do not have a tag they send you a bill and on the bill is a picture of your plate.

I guess my question is did the bill have your plate picture on it?

[Randy Red Bemont]

You do NOT want to go on one of those in a rental without a transponder. The rental companies charge the toll plus a collection fee. National was charging $25 per toll charge!

My wife had this once when she visited family in Florida. She got a bill for several missed tolls for cities on the east coast of Florida. Too bad she was visiting on the west coast the entire time and never was on the east coast. It was the rental car company looking to make some extra money. She called them and they cancelled the charges quickly.

Red

[Steve Rozmiarek]

No, no pictures ever. The email has a zipped file that in hesitant to open.

[Matt Meiser]

The email is definitely a scam--how would they have even gotten it? But the letters--that's a lot of work for a scammer. Probably just coincidence.

[Jerome Stanek]

I rented a truck in NC and got a parking ticket that I disputed as the meter only gave me 1/2 hour even though I kept putting in coins to try to get 2 hours of time as that was supposed to be the max for the meter. It was like 25 cents for each 1/2 hour and I put in 10 quarters but only got 1/2 hr. I was only gone for 35 minutes and came back to a ticket. I went to the parking division and filed a dispute and they had to send some one out and check the meter. I was home when I a was notified the Meter was broken and didn't have to pay. About 2 years later I got a notice that the truck was caught on camera running a stop light. I had to explain that it was a rental and I wasn't there but check with Enterprise for who had rented it.

[John Sanford]

They are on the news all the time around here. It's really disgusting what their tactic is. They fine you and it might be $80 for the fine. If you want to dispute it, it's a $50 charge to dispute it. The local talk radio have run a number of shows on it and people call in. One guy said he had a truck and they sent him the photo and it was a car with a different license plate on it. Didn't matter, $50 to dispute it. Also, if their readers malfunction, you get the bill for the fine. The local talk show host had plenty of money on his ezpass, had the statements that proved his account wasn't low on balance, and they billed him for not having enough money on his ezpass when he went through them. It was something like $7 worth of missed tolls for them and his fines were over $400. He decided to fight it and he said to fight each offense, it was a 16 page document that had to be filled out. For him to dispute it, it was over 200 pages of forms he would have to fill out.

People called in story after story for hours.

Who is "they"? Sounds to me like someone has a fine opportunity for a RICO suit, 'cause this certainly sounds like racketeering.

[Dan Hintz]

No, no pictures ever. The email has a zipped file that in hesitant to open.

ZIP files in an email... the best way to infect a computer with a virus. Do NOT open that ZIP file.

[glenn bradley]

I suppose there are all sorts of ways to turn a buck. What proof do they provide that it was your car? How did they get your address? If it was from your DMV info I guarantee your name would be right. Was it a "toll by plate" service? Most toll road operators have a website with FAQ's and contact information. Just because it sounds crazy doesn't mean that they don't think it is legit. Confirm for yourself by contacting someone but, I would source contact info from somewhere besides the letter ;-)

[Scott Shepherd]

Who is "they"? Sounds to me like someone has a fine opportunity for a RICO suit, 'cause this certainly sounds like racketeering.

"They" is the company that is contracted to handle the EZPass transactions and violations. When you hear the stories, you can't help but think "this is illegal", but nothing ever seems to get done about it. How in the world can someone send you a bill that's not lawfully your debt, and then tell you it'll cost you $50, or whatever they charge, to dispute it. If that was legal, I'd open a new business tomorrow, sending notices out to everyone in the phone book that they owed $100 and if they wanted to dispute it, they'd have to spend $50 to dispute it. However, it all gets by, day after day. It's one of those things, that if I did it, I'd be in jail, but someone the state governments signed contracts that gave them the okie dokie to do it.

[Chris Padilla]

Crossing the Golden Gate bridge is an auto-toll as well. I don't have the EZ Pass (no reason...it is rare that I cross that bridge) so I pay an extra dollar over those that have the Pass. It takes them about 6 weeks to send the bill and I just pay it online no muss, no fuss.

What I'm wondering now is that I sold a car that I used on the bridge and only 3 days separated both events. I'm thinking the new driver will be getting the bill! I haven't heard from her yet but I half expect to. I did send in the forms right away to release liability on the car so....