About a month ago I received a violation notice from the NJ EzPass for an alleged unpaid toll fee of $3 $25 admin fees. I don't have an ezpass account and always pay cash when using a toll road which is not an often event. The date of the violation does indeed coincides with my travel date and I think the car in the picture does belong to me. But I know i have paid the toll! Cash, as always, to a live booth toll collector! So i disputed the violation.
Today i received the determination notice of my dispute: my explanation and/or documentation does not support dismissal of violation and to submit payment withing ten days. Since the dispute, going through the trash can, by sheer luck, i found a receipt that i asked for from the toll collector by pure coincidence at that time. (My husband never gets receipts! Unless i am next to him and nag him to distraction and then he trashes them quickly, anyway!) However, there are two discrepancies between the receipt and the violation notice: toll line and time. I am puzzled at how is possible to have a picture of my car in one line and my car being physically in a different line, going same direction only 1-3 min apart according to the time on violation notice and my receipt.
I have been told the administrative fee can be deducted since is my first violation and to just pay the $3. But i have already paid the $3, cash, at the time I drove through! And the toll collectors don't even offer receipts unless you remember to ask for them. How can somebody that does not have a paper trail prove they have indeed paid the required toll? I don't know if my miracle receipt will be accepted since there is a couple minutes and a lane number discrepancy.
What NJ EzPass seems not to know, is that this is not my first time with NJ EzPass dispute. Years ago I traveled through a closed booth (literally the the little hole where the money would go in was closed with a piece of metal and screws) and received a violation notice for unpaid toll fee of $0.35 or $0.65 something like that other fees. At that time i have sent a check for the toll fee since i knew the fee was really unpaid but not for the lack of my trying to do so, and disputed the administrative fee.
That experience coupled with my recent one does make me wonder: what in the world is going on? And how can an individual take the big company on that just tries to take money out of innocent people regardless if those people have satisfactory proof or not.
0 comments