The M50 Barrier Free Tolling Thread

gary the great

Can anyone advise me on my problem?

I use the toll bridge a few times a month but pay for it as pay as you go.
Anyway about 5 weeks ago I got a letter in the post saying i have an outstanding 3euro unpaid toll. No i dont says me, im pretty certain i paid that, always pay that day. So rang up eflow.

Told the guy i was pretty sure I paid it and it must be an error, asked did i keep a reciept and no i didnt. Fair enough says me. Then he says he can send it of for a dispute where they can further look into it. He also said I wont be fined or anything while its off getting disputed or whatever they do. I thought ive nothing to lose and im sure i paid that toll so ive nothing to lose.

Then today i get a 40quid fine in the post.

So I ring them up and explain that I was told i wouldnt be fined until eflow were certain i never paid the toll and that i would be notifed of the outcome, if it showed that i definetly didnt pay the toll i would have the option to pay it. But today i got the fine.

The bloke says theres nothing he can do and to give him my number and somebody will ring me back in 15 days to discuss it.

What a feckin pain in the ass this whole eflow ****e is, why didnt they leave one toll booth open to pay in cash. its ridiculous.

Anyne able to offer me some advice? I am never using the toll bridge again, going through the city centre from now on...

DonJose

gary the great wrote: »

What a feckin pain in the ass this whole eflow ****e is, why didnt they leave one toll booth open to pay in cash. its ridiculous.

I know how you feel I was raging last week when I got a €40 fine, the whole system is fukked up, thanks to our fukked up government who came up with the great idea. The bloody thing costs €25m to collect €80m, what a pack of fukkheads we have in government, add a cent or two onto fuel and tear down all the fukking tolls. Brian Cowen you ******* **** of **** :mad:

Neil_Sedaka

gary the great wrote: »

Anyne able to offer me some advice?

Well my advice to everyone is, pay for the trips that you know you took and ignore any and everything else that's posted through your letterbox.

Our man in Havana

+1

craiginireland

The tax man wrote: »

Well €3.80 is the charge for a non-registered bus\coach or a non-registered goods vehicle under 2,000kgs. So for a start it looks like eflow and etrip ain't talking to each other re your tag. Does your vehicle fall into one of the above classes?

Have you gone through the notice cancellation process??

Yup I've been there, I've also just noticed on my easypass statement that they are charging me 2.80 per toll now. My car is a 978cc Corsa, How the F**k can that be confused with a minibus???????

Omcd

craiginireland wrote: »

Yup I've been there, I've also just noticed on my easypass statement that they are charging me 2.80 per toll now. My car is a 978cc Corsa, How the F**k can that be confused with a minibus???????

Is there anything amiss with your front reg plate ? AFAIK, they take the number read off the plate and compare it with the national vehicle database to determine the type of vehicle and from that the applicable charge (presumably they dont do this from the vehicle type stated on the toll account as someone could state that wrongly to avoid paying the correct charge). A while ago, one figure on the metal top surface of my front plate came unstuck from the backing and started curling back, and suddenly I started to get charged 2.80 as it was presumably reading the plate wrong, until I tackled it with a few blobs of araldite (which worked surprising well). Maybe in your case the system is confusing a bolt head for a 1 (which I know can happen with plate reading systems) or something silly like that. If you (manage to) contact eflow, they should be able to see a photo of the car with the registration visible, and be able to compare it to the reg read. Also, from exasperating experience, make sure you keep to the centre of your lane going under the thing, or anything could happen.

Regarding the notice cancellation process mentioned above, I've been through that online to dispute a fine and it comes to an apparant dead end - "Please submit appropriate documentation" - No further options or info. Last time I took the time and expense to ring them about a tag failure to read, they had no idea about any resolution process.

Our man in Havana

If they are reading the plate wrong how are they managing to send you a bill?

the_syco

Omcd wrote: »

Also, from exasperating experience, make sure you keep to the centre of your lane going under the thing, or anything could happen.

Interesting. Wonder has anyone tried going along the road, so that your number plate goes over the white line? :P

Omcd

the_syco wrote: »

Interesting. Wonder has anyone tried going along the road, so that your number plate goes over the white line? :P

Yea Yea, I wasn't trying it on, just changing from one lane to another to get by a crawler, only when I got to the N3 realised the thing hadn't beeped, and then thought - did I...? right there ? oh ! Actually, it might be because the car was at angle the system was foxed, if I had been going straight down the line it probably would have read, but what's the point in anyone trying to defeat the system in this way when someone can read the reg off the image taken ?? You could probably also defeat the reg reader with a jap format front number plate (which is not illegal), but some human will always be able to read the plate from the image.

Anyways, it seems in my case the plate didn't read either according to eflows less than adequate notice cancellation/fine dispute online effort, so someone obviously did look at the photograph to get the registration. So why, given the tag was also visible in the photograph, and its obviously a flaw in the system that they should by now be well aware of that neither plate nor tag reads if crossing a lane, did that person not cross reference the reg against the registered accounts instead of issuing a penalty notice ?? As Eazypass have said to me on several occassions they should do - 'Oh its not a problem if the tag does not read, they can use the registration to match the account and you will not have to do anything' Yea..
I'm begining to think actually the only link eflow has to non eflow tag accounts is the tag number and not the reg at all - might explain the discrepency between what Eazypass says should happen and what eflow actually does (or doesn't).

Is craiginireland getting payment notices for €3.80 charges ? I assumed (possibly wrongly looking closer at his posts) he was saying sometimes when the payment goes through to his statement (ie hes paid, so notice applicable in that instance) that it's €3.80, and other times when the automatic thing fails hes getting a notice. In the case of a successful tag read and an incorrect plate read and no notice I can see how that results in an incorrect charge, but a notice has photographs on it from which the reg is humanly readable, and it should also be very obvious from the photographs its a Corsa not a minibus, so yes, in that case, wtf ?

rferguson, your predicament might have something to do with the credit card you are using to top up your account (assuming you are). It happened to me a while before this eflaw thing (I'm being polite and restrained by using the word thing) started, I suddenly got an email saying my Eazypass account was suspended due to non payment. When I rang up it was explained to me that every now again credit card companies do a random automatic security check on payments requested and fail them if the card holder is not present at the time of transaction (or something like that), so if the payment fails obviously the toll account is automatically suspended. It's a bit of a pain, cos (I my case at least) you dont get any notice to give you a chance to do something about it before the toll account is suspended even though AFAIK you still have low balance credit in your toll account that would cover you for a few more tolls. In my case the person I was talking to just put through a top up request again which was successful and that was that sorted. Nearly had a heart attack though when I was first told it was 'a problem with your credit card sir' I thought for a moment some f**ker had got hold of it and maxed it out.

Hope something in this waffle helps someone.

leon8v

Am having more problems with my personal account now. I have a tag with a post paid account. The date of the direct debit is completely random. They only took my October charges on Dec 5th and then took my November charges 10 days later. However, the payment they took from me on Dec 5th hadnt been processed by their "system" by the time they took the next payment so they took it again!!! So in total they took €91 too much from my account. When I queried it the supervisor said " well your account is now in credit, but I realise that you might not have wanted that!!!" No S**T I might not have wanted it. I told him that if it wasnt returned to my account immediately I would be cancelling the direct debit and throwing the tag in the bin.
I advise anyone with direct debits to closely watch whats going on.

Heroditas

Anyone else having issues reviewing their transactions online? Maybe it's the PC I'm using ut it appears nigh on impossible to view my transaction history back before December. I preferred it when the Eazypass website wasn't linked to the Etrip one. :mad:

tech77

DonJose wrote: »

I know how you feel I was raging last week when I got a €40 fine, the whole system is fukked up, thanks to our fukked up government who came up with the great idea. The bloody thing costs €25m to collect €80m, what a pack of fukkheads we have in government, add a cent or two onto fuel and tear down all the fukking tolls. Brian Cowen you ******* **** of **** :mad:

I think that's a fair comment.
And no i'm not being sarcastic.

Useless, wasteful, incompetent, arrogant, out-of-touch, bungling, pathetic, spineless, hypocritical (Greens anybody?), self-serving clowns.

tech77

Bond-007 wrote: »

Also by ringing them up you are paying them more by having to call a 1890 number. Talk about adding insult to injury.

I deffo agree never bother calling them.

Apart from the shameful shambles of the tolling itself, i can't believe people are putting up with being doubly fleeced by that 1890 number (for up to an hour at a time as well apparently).
It boggles the mind.

I've stopped using AIB's telephone banking to check my balance etc since they sneakily changed their 1850 number (which was a decent set price per call) to the exorbitant 1890 sh1te (30c per minute or somesuch...).
Just on that aspect alone, i can't believe people are actually putting up with this.


EDIT: Just saw that saynoto1890 website now.
Yay, i can ring AIB and Hibernian (among others) from my mobile again without worrying about a massive bill.
This is why i love Boards.

BobbyD10

Evening,

Now I only go through the M50 once a month if even that, and I recently passed through at the weekend and just remebered I never paid for it.

I have missed their 8pm deadly, so whats the next step, I wait for their letter...and pay that and a penalty fee on receipt.?

The tax man

BobbyD10 wrote: »

Evening,

Now I only go through the M50 once a month if even that, and I recently passed through at the weekend and just remebered I never paid for it.

I have missed their 8pm deadly, so whats the next step, I wait for their letter...and pay that and a penalty fee on receipt.?

Eflow site....

For unregistered users, if you don't pay your toll before 8pm on the day following your journey, a penalty of €3 is added to the outstanding amount.

If you fail to pay the toll and this €3 penalty within the next 14 days, a further penalty of €40 will be levied.

Failure to pay the full amount due within a further 56 days will result in an additional €100 penalty. Then if you still have not paid the total amount due, legal proceedings will be initiated.

You should get something in the post over the next few days looking for €6 per crossing.

Rainman1

Neil_Sedaka wrote: »

Well my advice to everyone is, pay for the trips that you know you took and ignore any and everything else that's posted through your letterbox.

I'm glad to see I'm not the only one that's getting screwed over by these idiots, I've just got a fine for €40 for a crossing that I paid for on the same day that I crossed, rang them and got what I can only describe as an arrogant bitch telling me that I could avoid all of this confusion if I register and pay the 1 euro per month charge on the account, I explained that I only use the M50 about once every two months and guess what she says "That's YOUR problem", what the **** kind of extortion is going on here, thankfully I have my receipt and I think I'll just take the above advice, and ignore them from now on, has anyone done this to the point of being taken to court ?.

thebman

They'd never take you to court over 40 quid anyway. Everyone should just refuse to pay IMO.

If they can't build a reliable system then thats their problem.

I've never had to use it but it seems like more hassle than its worth TBH.

Drax

As I rarely use the toll bridge I was paying the €3.00 toll each time. Over the past two months I have been using it a bit more and as such forgot once to pay so ended up with the 6 euro fine. Paid it anyway. So I have been trying to signup for the video account for the last couple of days but each time, the web page craps out - it seems to be when I enter the reg it does some sort of auto-refresh and give me an error (see pic) and tells me to to call them. I tried that and was on hold for 10 mins at which point I gave up.
What a bunch of useless, incompetent and unprofessional c*nts.

Rainman1

This doesn't surprise me, they told me they don't want you to use the video system, the want you to subscribe to the tag, which makes no sense if you're not a regular user, it's just straightforward extortion, why they couldn't just leave one toll booth open where you can throw your coins in for non regular users is beyond me, but as one poster said earlier, typical of the screw ups that this govenment excels at.

ART6

Rainman1 wrote: »

This doesn't surprise me, they told me they don't want you to use the video system, the want you to subscribe to the tag, which makes no sense if you're not a regular user, it's just straightforward extortion, why they couldn't just leave one toll booth open where you can throw your coins in for non regular users is beyond me, but as one poster said earlier, typical of the screw ups that this govenment excels at.

Hand it back to NTR, write off the €600 millions paid and the €100 million or so annual income, store the cameras with the electronic voting machines for the next twenty years at €350k a year, reintroduce the tailbacks. Problem solved:D

donal.hunt

I've been attempting to get a refund from eFlow for being billed multiple times for the same journey for ~ 2 months (the only time I've ever used the barrier-free tolling). This was after they claimed they couldn't process my payment (both online and on the phone) and had sent me a letter telling me the issue was resolved.

Today would have been my 5th or 6th call to try and resolve the issue. I've decided that the only way to get any real answer out of any company these days is to put everything in writing and use the small claims court to recover funds from companies who treat customers badly.

Timed saved by using the M50 toll section: ~ 15-20mins
Time wasted trying to get a refund: hours!

I am avoiding all toll booths now as a result...

Sizzler

Thankfully I don't have to use the M50 that often but when I do its just hassle, I do my absolute best to avoid this because its a pure shambles. At this stage there really is no more excuses.

I used it last week and paid my €3 online and now they are looking for €6, not my f**king fault if they cant find my payment. I disputed it online and also entered the details into their "customer service" GUI and still waiting for a reply. No doubt they will keep my green bin busy by sending me a rake of junk in the next few days telling me I havent paid :rolleyes:

What a farce.

Cant wait to see the first case make court, as if it will. Judge will throw it out and that will be the end of that.

RecessionHead

I have now got over 40 pages of documentation from the toll people, after I had forgotten on several occasions to pay them.
They have sent me their ridiculous list of demands!
I have made four long phone calls to eflow to pay my toll bills.
I offered cash. They would not accept. Only credit cards or debit cards. Fascinating.
Even then, they would not accept the basic tolls outstanding, but must get the full fee , including fines they told me.
I told them I refuse to pay the ridiculous demands for extra cash, whether 6 euros instead of 3, or 40 euros… They told me they would raise a dispute to head-office.
I rang them 4 weeks later and was told my dispute was rejected.
I refuse to pay 40 euro fines if I forget to pay my toll within a month – I have a life! This means I will have a tendency to forget to pay on time. My life will always take priority over toll fines!
I refuse to pay additional charges – 6 euros if I fail to pay before 8pm the next day. I have a Life! I may not get to the shop to pay it for a million different reasons!!!
I refuse to pay these idiotic fines and charges because I had the bloody money in my pocket on each of those trips. But eflow doesn’t want the money!
The last time I checked, the euro was the legal tender of this country.
The last time I checked, the coins I have in my pocket are the legal token for this currency in this country.

I use the M50 rarely. During the Christmas season, I used it a fair bit. 15 journeys. The end result – 40 pages of pain.
During these long phone calls to eflow, it became quickly apparent that I will need to setup my own tracking system to record my trips, when, where etc. so that I can answer their questions and also be able to be sure I am or not being charged correctly.
I refuse to continue to store these letters carefully, in case legal proceedings ensue. I really have much better things to do!
I refuse to organise myself in a way that I can recite to helpdesk staff when I travelled, what time, what my reg number is. It’s not worth it folks!
I refuse to spend any more time on the phone, paying more money on low call numbers, to helpdesk staff talking about car trips. I have much better things to do!

It’s just a road. A road around Dublin. No more.
It’s not an investment account. Not a current account. Not a flight to foreign climes. It’s not worth becoming a criminal over. Travelling on this road is not an event in my life that is worth recording in anyway.
It’s just a road.
I refuse to have any more dealings with this idiotic system and this joke of a road.
So I will put all my 40 pages of letters, my receipts from the payments in newsagents, my tolltag dial up account topup receipt, my website addresses for help, my phone bill for the locall calls, my little tiny bleepy thingy from the windscreen of my car into a big brown envelope and send it to the NRA.
I’m sure they have plenty of staff there with the time sort the entire mess out. I certainly don’t.
And I’ll put a cheque in for any outstanding toll fees. (not the idiotic charges or fines mind, just the fees). I’m sure they know where this cheque should go…coz I cant figure it out.
And I am done with the M50.
And I suggest you all do the same.

ottostreet

i rarely go through the toll area, but since it started, ive had a toll tag on my cars. these were linked to my bank account, so never had to worry about paying the tolls, one lump sum just taken out at the end of the month. bought a new car a while back, and dont have it linked. KEEP forgetting to pay the tolls! ive already disputed two 40 euro fines, and recieved another two today, which im going to have to dispute tomorrow. its my own fault for forgetting about it, but a more efficient system is needed. once i drive through that area, all the signs are part of the scenery, since i know it well, and nothing will remind me of the tolls. so ive racked up over 200 euro in total of fines in the last two months, through...two trips to blanchardstown, from ballyfermot. bollocks to that.

Drax

Why the f*ck dont they put one of those backlit information displays on the gantry where the cameras as located with the web address and a Payzone reminder, instead of a single blue sign on the left hand side of the road. I have a number of friends not from dublin who have used this road recently and every time I ask them "did you pay the toll", their response is .."toll? what toll?... I didnt see any toll" I know there is some sort of patronising cloth banner on one the gantries but it should be made clearer....

Turty3

I also recently went through the toll and forgot about paying the same evening. I went on hols the day after so it was 13 days or so before I thought of it again.

I went online to the web site and tried to pay - the site advised that because it wasn't today or yesterday, because I hadn't yet received a notice AND because I was late paying that I had to ring the 1890 number. I rang the number THREE times and tried all the various menu options but nothing seemed to work and eventually I gave up.

I submitted an online query in the hope they might email me but so far nothing (six days later).

I have been back onto the 1890 number today (now 19 days after passing through the toll) but still can't speak to an agent. I've left my details on their automated system but I hold no hope in them contacting me or helping me out.

What a joke!!!!!

Qprmeath

Battery gone in my Eazypass toll tag. Only a few months old. No response on phone or email. Any ideas what I should do?

leon8v

Qprmeath wrote: »

Battery gone in my Eazypass toll tag. Only a few months old. No response on phone or email. Any ideas what I should do?

If your reg is correctly allocated against the tag I would do nothing as it will just pick up your reg and charge it to your account. Effectively giving you a video account for the price of a tag account!!!!

TripleAce

I got screwed too over Christmas....feckers. I traveled motorways all across Europe, never seen bull**** like this! How the f**** am I supposed to know this if I come from outside Dublin? Surely was on the news months ago, but I have better things in my mind to think about than remembering how the new toll system on the M50 (that I use 1-2 times/year) works!

thecommander

TripleAce wrote: »

I got screwed too over Christmas....feckers. I traveled motorways all across Europe, never seen bull**** like this! How the f**** am I supposed to know this if I come from outside Dublin? Surely was on the news months ago, but I have better things in my mind to think about than remembering how the new toll system on the M50 (that I use 1-2 times/year) works!

The big signs are a giveaway.