See this post for the resolution to our problems: We fought the Illinois Tollway and won
SCROLL DOWN FOR SECTIONS THAT HAVE BEEN UPDATED
I received a letter the other day from the Illinois Tollway claiming I owe them $2,322.40 in tollway fines.
Let’s just say I was slightly shocked.
At first I thought I would just settle it for the $112.40 they offered me to avoid the hassle, but the more I realized how WRONG it is, the more I know I have to fight it. Not just for me but for some little old lady out there who, like me, did nothing wrong and doesn’t have the courage or the resources to fight it.
And for those of you who read this and wonder what I-pass is, it is a wireless transponder that allows for open-road tolling so you don’t have to put money in the toll, it comes off your account which is linked to a credit card as you go through it.
I wrote a letter to Pam Zekman who is a local news reporter CBS. I don’t watch the news but my husband said that if anyone can help me bring this to light and make change, she can.
I’d appreciate it if you all could go over to Pam’s bio on the CBS 2 page and click the link to “send Pam a tip” and then just send her the link to this story (under message category just change it to her name) in the message. If you want to write more, that’s great, I’ll appreciate any help you can give me to push this to the front of her news radar!
UPDATE:
I will also be emailing other Chicago and Northwest Indiana news outlets to try and find someone willing to expose this. We are not the only ones who are experiencing this and someone needs to stand up and fight.
Here is a news story from ABC from last year: Taking on the Tollway. I’m not sure it gives me hope because in the end it was settled for $300 even though this woman had nothing to do with the tolls since someone stole her old license plates but it is just more proof that something needs to be done.
Here is the letter I am sending to everyone:
I’m having trouble with the Illinois Tollway trying to charge me $2,300 for violations that are not violations but errors either with my I-pass transponder or their computers or both.
I lived in Illinois all my life and we have had I-pass since 9-15-04. We always used it, always kept it replenished and never seemed to have a problem.
At the beginning of 2008 we had moved to Indiana and changed our vehicle registrations and drivers licenses to Indiana. The Illinois Tollway has a record of this change from March 31, 2008 since we were retaining our I-pass because we frequently travel in Illinois – so I updated it with them.
Last Friday on 3-27-09 I received a Notice of Impending Suspension from the Illinois Tollway. I received this notice through my in-laws. They got it through an old neighbor of ours who dropped off some mail they had received in error. Please note that we had a forwarding address on file with the post office and the Illinois Tollway had our corrected address for almost a year now. This notice claimed I had toll violations and the amount due is $2,322.40 and that my license was about to be suspended (which I no longer hold an Illinois license but they claim my Indiana license can be taken). The account has been sent to a collection agency as well. They claim they sent 3 previous notices. I never received them.
Here are the details broken down so you see the major problems:
- They claim we had over 33 violations, and that our vehicle went through the toll booth but was not registered on an I-pass during these dates: 4-26-07 thru 11-14-07. I have PROOF from the I-pass website under “usage history” of at least 1 instance where the vehicle/license plate in question went through a toll booth during that time period and it registered as a video toll and was linked to my account and they debited my I-pass for that toll. The vehicle had always been linked to that I-pass. We never removed it. Why would we?
- In talking with the Illinois Tollway on the phone they confirmed that on the dates in question when my alleged violations occurred, they have some successful transactions with the unit and some within a short time frame later that same day that are coming up as violations. They all but admitted over the phone that there obviously was an equipment error of some sort.
- They agreed to settle my account for $112.40. But I don’t owe $112.40, I owe the amount of 33 tolls which is around $13 considering some of those tolls were .15 cents.
- When I asked to just pay the amount of the tolls they asked me why I didn’t respond to the 3 previous letters. The first letter they claimed to have sent in September 2008, almost a year after the last alleged violation. Our vehicle was no longer registered with the State of Illinois – it had been transferred to Indiana, nor was the drivers license they reference in the letter a valid drivers license. It was shown as surrendered to Indiana. Indiana has my current address. The Illinois Tollway claimed that they use records from the Secretary of State’s office AT THE TIME OF THE VIOLATION. Considering the first letter was sent almost a year after the last violation, wouldn’t it have made more sense for them to check the current records or at least compare it with their own (and they admit they had our address change at the time)? Yet they hold me responsible for not responding to the first 3 letters they claim to have sent. By the time they bothered to send out a letter, that vehicle was no longer registered in Illinois but my Illinois Tollway records were up to date.
- I have read numerous complaints about this across the web, many of these problems caused by the Illinois Tollway waiting so long to catch up with old violations.
- In my case, however, since the violations are not valid or not my fault, why won’t they just debit my I-pass account, which is now current and has always been current on an automatic replenishment with my credit card for the actual amount of the missed tolls?
They claim that if I don’t pay the $112.40 now (actually they “found” another $1.40 in missed tolls from that same time period so make it $113.80) they will be suspending my Indiana driver’s license, not to mention what the collection is doing to my credit. I can’t help but think of the word extortion to describe what they are doing. I have 2 children, one who goes to preschool. I do need to drive but I will certainly not risk driving on a suspended license. At first I thought I should just pay the $112.40 but what about all the other people that may be going through this same thing who really NEED to drive to their jobs to support their families or take elderly parents to the doctor, or whatever? They might just pay the $112.40 to avoid the hassle. All that will do is lead the Illinois Tollway to think they can continue to get away with this. They were rude to me on the phone. They didn’t care what I had to say. My life is affected but taxpayer money is at stake here too. Not only coming from their own pockets in the form of violation extortion but in the form of wasting time and manpower. I waited on hold with them for 15 minutes before I could talk to a person. How many other people are calling in daily getting the same responses I did?
I didn’t blow through tolls hoping to avoid having to pay them. I followed the law, I did everything right. I kept my account current. And now I’m mad. But I’m just a little person here on my own. I can blog about it on my website and will get a sympathetic ear from my wonderful readers but it will not bring action. Please help me bring action and help protect those of us who are doing everything right yet are being put through a lot of grief and trouble from an organization that is big enough to use scare tactics to get money.
Thank you for your time and I look forward to hearing from you.
I am mad about this. And I’m not backing down. No way, no how.
Hopefully one of these will come through, otherwise where’s Oprah’s email address? I need Oprah! Or Ellen. Or Bonnie Hunt! Bonnie Hunt is from Chicago, maybe she will help me fight the Illinois Tollway!
BRING IT ON!
UPDATE:
I tried once more last night to try and talk to someone with some common sense at the tollway (yeah, I know…). I got to talk to the Queen Tollway Witch (make the witch with a capital “B”) who pretty much told me to just file a complaint. She was rude and actually told me that my old license plates were still registered to me even though the registration has lapsed. “Those plates will always be registered to you.” I tried to tell her that there was no way I could have updated my address with the Secretary of State because the vehicle was no longer registered with Illinois. They do not have a current record of that vehicle or license plate therefore they cannot update it with a current address. All they can do is tell you who the plate was registered with when it was registered with Illinois. What kind of idiot organization sends out a notice a year later and doesn’t bother to CHECK THE CURRENT ADDRESS WITH THEIR OWN RECORDS especially considering there is no current registration on the vehicle.
But that isn’t even the point. The charges are not valid because I have proof the vehicle was on the I-pass account at the time and the account is, was and always has been current and in good standing.
And if you watched the news story I posted above, you will see that I am not the only one who did not get their alleged notices in the mail.
About Kim
Same story with me, but I don’t have an I-pass. I hardly ever use the toll way but I decided to get an I-pass to make it easier when I go to the airport. While activating my transponder I was told I could not because of a violation from 2008 for $2.40. To make a long story short my address was wrong in their computer which they say they get form the state. They would not work with me and said I had to call the collection agency which said I owe $200.
To end this fiasco I told them that my address was wrong and that I never received any letter regarding the matter, mind you, this is from 2008, its 2012 now. She tried to verify my address and I said, no that’s not it and that I never lived at that address. She put me on hold for about 30 seconds and came back telling me that there was a correction on my registration that was corrected in the end of 2008 to my correct address, which she had (I didn’t give it to her); but this means that the collection agency Harris and Harris was sitting on this for three years even after knowing the mistake. This is total B.S. But what can you do but pay the fine, deal with your credit rating, possible plate or license suspension.
I just paid the $200! The way they operate is clearly by law, the definition of extortion. I have sent a letter to the States Attorney General, but I doubt that will go anywhere. How can this happen in a society with so many laws? By the way, the violations were from using my parent’s transponder in my car to drive them to O’Hair. I paid the tolls.
I was recently passing through Illinois and racked up nearly $300 in violations because they applied my payment to the wrong license plate.
I am contacting some people I know in Congress to try and shut this operation down. I encourage everyone to write to their local representative.
Does anyone have any advice for me?
I have a simular situation, I do not live in Illnois and I do not travel very much. I was going to school in wheeling, IL and I seen the sign that said open road tolls so I went thru them, I live in Indiana and we do not have tolls like this. I got a letter July of this year stating that I owed 7,508.40 in tolls I called them and told them that I did not miss any tolls. They then explained to me that I needed an I pass to go on my car to use for the open road tolls. Now I had been going that way all year why did they wait until the the year was up to tell me about this. I called and explain to them that I do not live in IL and didn’t know, I wrote to the courts they denied me just to pay the tolls and not the fees. They stated if I didn’t pay it will double in two weeks. I don’t have this kind of money I need help so they won’t suspend my license any suggestions.
I have a similar situation in that THEY WILL NOT WORK WITH YOU. There is no resolution. I have been an I-Pass holder since 2004 but incurred violations that I was nor aware of since 2002….The bills just tripled almost every month. Who can do this?….Long story short, I never got anywhere with the toll authority until the story was featured on the front page of the newspaper about the woman who owed $50,000. ……..that is why they came up with the forgiveness program. My bill was $40,000. So I was so excited that there was actually hope for me. Especially because my plates and liscense have been suspended for 5 years. It has been a nitemare. I have never had a ticket in my life until now…….driving without a liscence. I’m a healthcare professional, never had a DUI or speeding ticket. My dad has cancer treatment appointments and I have been off work for 3 years due to a neck injury. I walked into the tollway and said…..” What ever it takes…I will pay it’ I took a loan at 71% interest to pay it. The settlement figure they gave me was $600.00 and some change. I was told to go to the DMV after 30 days, and pay a $75.00 re-instatement fee and that was it. The forgiveness program ended June 30th 2009. When I went for Dept of Motor Vechicles they said there was still a hold. Back to Tolway…..RUDE>>>RUDE>>>RUDE Never treated so bad in all my life. I was told I owe $27,000. more and it is not covered under the forgiveness program. I was not told by the first person who assisted me that I need to know every plate number I ever owned. I was assuming it all fell under my drivers liscence and they would know all my plates. Not the case. So here I am….SICK….just Sick that there is no recourse for me. I have been in the back of a squadcar 6 times in the past year in handcuffs for driving without a liscense but they let me go when they saw I had a clean driving record and only tollway violations. These were incidence where there was a seatbelt check roadblock, not a traffic stop. It is embarrasing to say the least. I’m 52 years old and have a teenage daughter that has just started driving and I have not been able to be a part of teaching her to drive because of all this..I realize a portion of the toll violations were my fault, but miscommunication and outright lying that notices were sent or whether they were sent to an old address, it all adds up to disaster. My disaster. It has taken over my life. I pray that someone shuts them down on the barbaric tactics and total incompetence that has had a catastrophic effect on my life.
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I just got a call from a law firm. Collecting over $200 for unpaid tolls. I clearly remember not paying a couple of times because I was distracted and moving to the right lane at that point. I have to point out that I rarely use tollways too, therefore the mistake. Turns out I owe it from 2 years ago! I never got any notice. They used an old address to send me notices. I think they sent nothing because I had the post office forward me the incoming mail once I moved. That is ridiculous!
I drove to Toronto, where they don’t have toll booths, there are signs that tell you they will send you a bill. They did! and I paid the toll by mail (about $20), fair enough. How can the canadians find me and the administrators of the state I live in, can’t!
I think they are doing it “on purpose” to collect all the extra fees and penalties. Even the collection agency might be involved because they obviously get work. I didn’t pay on the phone the “settlement” they offered because at one point I thought it was a scam. It is unreal.