The M50 Barrier Free Tolling Thread

Carawaystick

Sponge Bob wrote: »

The stupid piece of crap system does not accept Irish Placenames , eg Baile Átha Cliath in the county field . Therefore when they check with Shannon they return no information in the county field even though Shannon accepts Baile Áthat Cliath as a county ....because it is .

BÁC 8 causes similar grief in the Postcode despite being acceptable to Shannon .

An interesting side effect ( I am told) is that the solicitors in Kerry have no idea what to do with serving summonses as they must go to the registered vehicle address .....which of course they cannot get

Guess what I'll be doing in the morning.....
genius!

Sponge Bob

They cannot add something that is not precisely what is on the computer in Shannon and they seem incapable of picking that up properly .

If you had Contae an Lú on your VLC and they sent a letter to Co. Louth after 'investigating' then you would have a strong case with the NRA ( direct) that eFlow were tampering with data from Shannon and that they are not allowed to do so under the terms of their contract with the NRA .

Based on some cases I have heard of the NRA would simply instruct them to drop all charges rather than face a 'misprocurement' rap themselves

But you must contact info@nra.ie and complain to them directly ....not eflow . That is most important .

Also remember that registering for a Video Account requires you to give the precise details on the VLC and if you want to _ahem_ practice then give Irish details and see what the call centre says

simples

Sponge Bob wrote: »

They cannot add something that is not precisely what is on the computer in Shannon and they seem incapable of picking that up properly.

That's an interesting theory.. the people who designed the system are French, and I think they designed it originally for an American company, so it is entirely plausible that it cannot cope with Irish place names. In my time with the system I had never seen an Irish place name on details from Shannon. Even when registering a customer with an account, the drop down menu for 'County' was entirely in English.

Another problem affected credit/debit cards on registered accounts. French and American cards ALWAYS get a new card number when re-issued, whether or not is is lost, stolen, expired or whatever. So when you went to add a new card with the same card number but a different expiry date, you would be told the card already exists. To get around this you had to amend the existing card details and just change the expiry date.

Sponge Bob

simples wrote: »

In my time with the system I had never seen an Irish place name on details from Shannon. Even when registering a customer with an account, the drop down menu for 'County' was entirely in English.

Oh Dear Dear !

First of all everybody is entitled to register their car to the Irish Form of their address ..even if you are Polish The call centre should facilitate registering for a video account that way .

However the lack of such a facility would also make the e-Flow system illegal if you live in a Gaeltacht area where the (N.B. please) official townland name is the Irish one .

The placenames order actually goes back to 2003 and predates the procurement of the e-Flow system by the NRA . I am shocked that the NRA deliberatelly broke the law and procured a system that does not support the placenames order . Shocked I am to the core

However the e-flow system should in all instances Bill to the precise address on the database in Shannon .

Our man in Havana

Are the enforcement notices available in Irish?

Sponge Bob

Not having the correct address for you , as per the Shannon database , voids the enforcement surely . It means they cannot send you any document in a timely manner which exposes you to an invidious level of financial hardship for something that is not your fault. In other words you suffer unduly for being Irish and with no county in the address < sniff > .

Note what I said yesterday evening in this thread . Any muppetry with addresses must be brought up direct with the NRA who procured a system that is illegal ( not with e-Flow) .

Any systemic complaints should be addressed to the NRA not to eFlow . The reason this is important is because the NRA should have taken all this into account when they procured the system in the first place.

You would be amazed at how quickly tolls and fines disappear when you complain to the NRA that 'their' system does not work ...because it is 'their' system

simples

Sponge Bob wrote: »

Oh Dear Dear !

First of all everybody is entitled to register their car to the Irish Form of their address ..even if you are Polish The call centre should facilitate registering for a video account that way .

Just to add to previous comments, the call centre agent can type in the rest of the address whatever way they like, so for example you could type the street address in Irish, it is just the county that cannot be typed manually and makes you choose in English.

Just wanted to make sure I didn't unintentionally mislead anyone

It's so interesting hearing everyone's comments now that I'm on the outside as it were! I'll continue to keep an eye on things and give whatever input I can. It would be very interesting to hear from anyone in Abtran to see how they are finding it, and for any system updates I wouldn't know about :P

bush Baby

And - if you're from the North and forget to make the payment the first contact E-flow makes with you is by solicitor's letter from Listowel.

Do they make it possible to pay in N. Ireland? Not at all. Nor are they able to process a payment if you call offering to pay using your Northern debit card. They have no facility with a payments company in the North. Yet, their call centre is there. Odd, n'est ce pas?

Seems to me there's a scurrilous, mischievous anti-northern Bias afoot

Kotek Besar

bush Baby wrote: »

Seems to me there's a scurrilous, mischievous anti-northern Bias afoot

I'm not sure about that, more that the entire system, on a whole, is not very well thought out.

jaffa20

My friend used the m50 twice in my car about a week or so ago. Anyway, he forgot to pay the 6euro by 8pm the next day but did pay it a day later. Anyway, i got a letter for late payment fee and didn't ring him so just assumed he forgot. so i paid the 12euro. Anyway, since finding out,i've been on to them with continious emails and they are not getting back to me with a refund. They are quick enough to request money of me but their customer care is atrocious if they can't even answer an email. Gonna give them a few more days and then ring them.They will probably want a receipt and everything so the refund won't be worth the hassle. I even offered to register to avoid this happening again.

Edit: just rang them and my next 2 trips will be free. At least i hope so.:)

simples

bush Baby wrote: »

And - if you're from the North and forget to make the payment the first contact E-flow makes with you is by solicitor's letter from Listowel.

Do they make it possible to pay in N. Ireland? Not at all. Nor are they able to process a payment if you call offering to pay using your Northern debit card. They have no facility with a payments company in the North. Yet, their call centre is there. Odd, n'est ce pas?

Seems to me there's a scurrilous, mischievous anti-northern Bias afoot

If your car is northern or UK reg, the first contact you receive should be from EPCplc who collect on eFlow's behalf. eFlow do not have access to DVLNI or DVLA records, and neither do their solicitors as far as I'm aware. Therefore they must use a UK registered firm who do have authorisation to access these records.

The vast majority of road users are southern registered vehicles, I wouldn't know the exact numbers but only maybe 5% of calls we received would have been for anything other than southern reg cars. I guess it's the responsibility of road users who aren't registered in the south to make sure they have means and method to pay southern tolls. Also, the call centre is, as we know too well, no longer in the North. It's now in Cork.

simples

jaffa20 wrote: »

Edit: just rang them and my next 2 trips will be free. At least i hope so.:)

What would have happened is:
1) Your car was registered as having used the road
2) Payment not received by 8pm
3) Payment made the following day €6, no reference number given to close specific journeys so this sits as a credit
4) You paid the €12 with your reference, closing the journeys
5) Your friend's payment remains as a credit to close 2 future journeys

eFlow don't give anything for free lol, your friend has already paid for the journeys

this was such a common problem, although most people asked for the original €6 credit to be used against the outstanding fines which wasn't possible and more often than not ended in a row or complaint. what do eFlow do? move the call centre. newsflash for eFlow - the system still sucks!

newmills

simples wrote: »

If your car is northern or UK reg, the first contact you receive should be from EPCplc who collect on eFlow's behalf. eFlow do not have access to DVLNI or DVLA records, and neither do their solicitors as far as I'm aware. Therefore they must use a UK registered firm who do have authorisation to access these records.

The vast majority of road users are southern registered vehicles, I wouldn't know the exact numbers but only maybe 5% of calls we received would have been for anything other than southern reg cars. I guess it's the responsibility of road users who aren't registered in the south to make sure they have means and method to pay southern tolls. Also, the call centre is, as we know too well, no longer in the North. It's now in Cork.

Mum and Dad have been down to visit me from the north and have went through the toll at least 20-30 times over the last year - they have never received anything from anyone about payment, fines etc - and they are driving a northern reg vehicle!!

Our man in Havana

Indeed. It is all a load of bullocks. They can trace very few UK/NI cars. Even then you can simply ignore them.

cianclarke

OK folks, heres one. 3 toll journies unpaid (Not working on my iPhone? you're joking? But what's this?Not in Google Chrome either? Safari? Course not.. Joke tbh)
So, I think grand I'll just take the €6 * 3 =€18, i'm a tool, whatcha gonna do..
BUT - the notices went to the previous owner. Crap system needs some STR number from the letter which I didn't have, so now they want €150 or so. For 3 trips.
Any advice as to argue this one? Didn't have much luck first time but couldn't get a supervisor, they promised me a callback which never came.

simples

newmills wrote: »

Mum and Dad have been down to visit me from the north and have went through the toll at least 20-30 times over the last year - they have never received anything from anyone about payment, fines etc - and they are driving a northern reg vehicle!!

EPCplc take the info from eFlow and they take the decision of whether or not to chase payment. I don't believe they chase every single case, but I am surprised your parents have been through so often without hearing anything! Fair play to them for getting away with it

simples

cianclarke wrote: »

OK folks, heres one. 3 toll journies unpaid (Not working on my iPhone? you're joking? But what's this?Not in Google Chrome either? Safari? Course not.. Joke tbh)
So, I think grand I'll just take the €6 * 3 =€18, i'm a tool, whatcha gonna do..
BUT - the notices went to the previous owner. Crap system needs some STR number from the letter which I didn't have, so now they want €150 or so. For 3 trips.
Any advice as to argue this one? Didn't have much luck first time but couldn't get a supervisor, they promised me a callback which never came.

In my experience you probably won't get too far with the call centre. This isn't a great situation.. the line the call centre will probably take will be: "You failed to pay within the time limit so the fees have been applied correctly. As the legal owner at the time it is your responsibility to pay the tolls within time limits."

Hopefully the system has changed since I was involved, God knows we got updates from BEF every week cos they modified things one way or another. Other than that, you could try complaining to BEF, or moreso to the NRA? Cite the ****ty online payments as a problem?
Do it quickly though, before the TVNs start kicking in.

If you have paid any amount so far it may help you. Maybe if there are other drivers who have received the fines and had them removed in this situation, they may be able to offer more advice from their side.

jmck87

If you have knowledge of the legal contracts you will never have to pay for the toll. Read up on Bill of Exchange Act. Request proof of claim. Send them a notice (like they send you) that you are billing them for any time they require you in court. Then send a notice to the Dept of Transport saying you will bill them x amount for every week you have to be extorted into paying an illegal toll on the road.

But dont take any of the above advice without extensive research.

celticbest

What is the story with the Toll full stop it completely divides the city in 2 widening the North - South Divide.

Make the M50 toll free.

It's the same on the M1 at Drogheda all local traffic is forced through the town or else they have to Pay a toll for a 5 minute trip to get from one side of Drogheda to the other. I believe the government plan the positioning of Tolls to ensure that the maxinmum revenue possible is collect on each particular road not to ease traffic in towns or stress on people.

mcwhirter

mcwhirter wrote: »

I called Eflow as had no response from 2 emails I sent. The customer service representative said he can not update direct debit details and that the credit department of eflow have to call me but he could not give me a date or time when they would call. He could only pass on my request to them.
Also he could not delete my old bank details on the website so they are still showing.
I am wondering when they will call as they haven't had any money from me since april, they must be doing well if they don't need my cash is all I can say
This company operates differently to any other I have used before, I am surprised they are still operating with the mess of their customer services.

Ten days later, I'm still waiting for a call from Eflow.:mad:

Fighting Irish

kbannon wrote: »

Incidentally, I went through the gantrys twice on Friday and yet again forgot to pay and now I'm fupped if I'm paying the fine.

Anyway, seeing as this bee has been in my bonnet for a while, I called the NRA and raised the issue with someone in the PPP department. They claim that they or a colleague will call me back. Should they do so, I'll let you know.

:rolleyes:

Fighting Irish

I went through 6 times yesterday and fuck them if they think i'm gonna pay the toll or the fine.

Has anyone ever robbed a car and just drove through the toll a few times? Any stories?

thecommander

Fighting Irish wrote: »

I went through 6 times yesterday and fuck them if they think i'm gonna pay the toll or the fine.

why?

Fighting Irish

thecommander wrote: »

why?

it was a joke, taking the piss outta people who are saying pretty much the same thing in this thread

simples

Fighting Irish wrote: »

Has anyone ever robbed a car and just drove through the toll a few times? Any stories?

If someone's car is stolen and is used on the M50 then the owner will get letters for unpaid journeys (assuming the thieves didn't pay - why would they?). What the owner needs to do is supply eFlow with a crime reference number that they got from the Gardai when they reported the theft, and eFlow should then remove the fines/tolls.

Our man in Havana

should

We are talking about eflow here, so I would take nothing for granted.

simples

Bond-007 wrote: »

We are talking about eflow here, so I would take nothing for granted.

lol i was very careful with my choice of words there.. i originally had "will" then thought the better of it

mcwhirter

mcwhirter wrote: »

Ten days later, I'm still waiting for a call from Eflow.:mad:

I don't think Eflow want my money, I owe them a few months worth now, still no call from to take my correct bank details.
I wish they would just go ****ing bust, the ****.

Sizzler

jmck87 wrote: »

If you have knowledge of the legal contracts you will never have to pay for the toll. Read up on Bill of Exchange Act. Request proof of claim. Send them a notice (like they send you) that you are billing them for any time they require you in court. Then send a notice to the Dept of Transport saying you will bill them x amount for every week you have to be extorted into paying an illegal toll on the road.

But dont take any of the above advice without extensive research.

Probably one of the most interesting posts on this thread, would love to know more about this

browner85

lets just blow it up!!!!!! hummmm???