Pay as you go toll -tolltag.ie

Sandwhich32

Just heard a tolltag.ie ad on the radio Mary Coughlan is doing it - brutal!:p but the tag she's advertising sounds really good for the casual user like myself. Rang up to get some info on the tag and they told me its just like topping up my mobile phone in any newsagents and I don't have to register my bank account details. As I far as I can see the other tags make you pay a minimum of €30 top up by direct debit from your account but this one you can just top up with €10 if you want when you want - dead handy seen as i don't use it all that much.

serfboard

Sandwhich32 wrote: »

Just heard a tolltag.ie ad on the radio Mary Coughlan is doing it - brutal!:p but the tag she's advertising sounds really good for the casual user like myself. Rang up to get some info on the tag and they told me its just like topping up my mobile phone in any newsagents and I don't have to register my bank account details. As I far as I can see the other tags make you pay a minimum of €30 top up by direct debit from your account but this one you can just top up with €10 if you want when you want - dead handy seen as i don't use it all that much.

Have to say, brutal and all as you might think the ad is, it did cause you to ring them up and caused me to check out their website today, so there's 2 proofs of its effectiveness.

For the pay as you go option, for a casual user like me, it certainly seems like the biz. OK, there's a €30 upfront charge, but they do give you €4.40 free credit, which will get you through the M50 twice. After that, the 10% fee on the €2 charge on the M50 will make it cheaper than registering your number plate. Like all other tags, it's useable at all other toll plazas too, and credit on the tag doesn't expire. What's not to like?

Disclaimer: Neither I, nor anyone I know, works directly or indirectly for this crowd.

Heroditas

A 10% fee means that it's only cost effective if you use the toll plaza less than 5 times a month? Pretty good if so.
Also, that would mean you use ALL the plazas less than 5 times a month. The price differential balances out - Kinnegad - 10% of €2.70 is 27c, 10% of the M1 plaza - 18c ....

Steviemak

Yes, thats what I want to know because I use the belfast and cork roads at least once or twice a month. Therefore, if I have this tag do I pay 10% on all of these tolls as well - considering I can just put the money in the bucket and not pay extra.

Would i have to turn the tag off? As far as i know if you a tag on your window currently you can go through the M1 and M8 toll plaza anywhere and it will register. Therefore, the option of paying the cheaper toll is taken out of my hands!

anotherlostie

Steviemak wrote: »

Yes, thats what I want to know because I use the belfast and cork roads at least once or twice a month. Therefore, if I have this tag do I pay 10% on all of these tolls as well - considering I can just put the money in the bucket and not pay extra.

Would i have to turn the tag off? As far as i know if you a tag on your window currently you can go through the M1 and M8 toll plaza anywhere and it will register. Therefore, the option of paying the cheaper toll is taken out of my hands!

If you are going to be using the tag more than 6 times a month then it makes more sense to lease it, at an admin cost of €1.21 - this is the same cost as some of the other providers when made VAT inclusive AFAIK. In this case there is no 10% surcharge, you just pay the standard toll at any of the toll plazas. You do need to keep your account in the black with tolltag.

Steviemak

But I only use the M50 about 3 times a month therefore the Tolltag is the best value for that at €2.20 each time. I want the tolltag for m50 but not other roads.

I just wonder will i be penalised for using the Toll tag at other toll roads when unlike the M50 there is no difference in prices charged to users.

anotherlostie

You just said you use some of the other tolls at least once a month. If you sign up for their lease option you are charged €2 for using the M50 toll and no surcharge for any of the other tolls. Basically if you are spending more than €12 a month on tolls, the 10% surcharge option is not the right one for you.

Steviemak

anotherlostie wrote: »

You just said you use some of the other tolls at least once a month. If you sign up for their lease option you are charged €2 for using the M50 toll and no surcharge for any of the other tolls. Basically if you are spending more than €12 a month on tolls, the 10% surcharge option is not the right one for you.

For example (i know its not much money but the M50 tolls do my nut and i refuse to give them anymore of my money)

Option 1

No tag (yes video reg)

3 M50 = 7.50
4 M8 = 7.20
4 M1 = 7.20

Total = 21.90

Option 2

Tag

3 M50 = 6.00
4 M8 = 7.20
4 M1 = 7.20

Charge 1.21

Total = 21.61

Option 3

TollTag

3 M50 = 6.60
4 M8 = 7.20 (assuming I use bucket)
4 M1 = 7.20 (assuming I use bucket)


Total = 21.00

Therefore, if toll tag don't charge me extra for m8 and m1 it is the cheapest option.

I think i'll just go for the eflow tag!! The tolltag is a scam if they over charge on other toll booths

anotherlostie

I think that a tag takes preference over cash at any booth (have seen signs at one of the plazas stating that any booth can accept a tag), in which case the tolltag will always kick in, with its extra charge, so you would be paying an extra €2.88 in the scenario you give below, making this the most expensive option.

jimmycrackcorm

anotherlostie wrote: »

I think that a tag takes preference over cash at any booth (have seen signs at one of the plazas stating that any booth can accept a tag), in which case the tolltag will always kick in, with its extra charge, so you would be paying an extra €2.88 in the scenario you give below, making this the most expensive option.

Keep a tin foil wrapper handy for those occasions.

iwudluvit

Does the eazypass still work?

if it does, why don't people sign up to that instead?

jimmycrackcorm

jimmycrackcorm wrote: »

Keep a tin foil wrapper handy for those occasions.

I believe that the original packaging is RF proof as well, otherwise it may register as it is being delivered to you, via a toll road!

Mayo Exile

Originally posted by Steviemak: Therefore, if toll tag don't charge me extra for m8 and m1 it is the cheapest option.

Unlikely. I'd say you will be charged the 10% surcharge for all tolls with the Tolltag pay as you go option.

E.g. M1 and M8 Tolls: €1.80 + 10% (€1.98). M4 Toll: €2.70 + 10% (€2.97).

egan007

Here is a good article on the various options:

http://www.moneyguideireland.com/m50-toll-comparison-of-prices-and-options.html

They need a price comparison site like the comreg callcost.ie

L1011

Steviemak wrote: »

Therefore, if toll tag don't charge me extra for m8 and m1 it is the cheapest option.

I think i'll just go for the eflow tag!! The tolltag is a scam if they over charge on other toll booths

How is it a scam? They make their money off the commission, did you seriously think they were going to charge it on just one road?

Alun

What is really needed is a website where you can just put in what your expected annual usage of the M50 toll and other tolls is and let it calculate the cheapest options for you.

Can't be too difficult .. you could probably even make a spreadsheet for it.

philiph

Scam? ouch!!

You can 'upgrade' the account without penalty to lease option, so you have the option to pay less if you are just an occasional user and the option to put a ceiling on it (move to lease) if you are not.

We put tolltag out there because in our view there was no really usable option out there for light medium users, either lease it and pay whether you use it or not or just run around looking for a shop to pay a 25-50% surcharge in. That in my view is punitive in the extreme.

Yes we have to make a living but who doesn't huh?

/P

philiph

www.tagcompare.ie

Alun

philiph wrote: »

www.tagcompare.ie

13 different options! It's worse than trying to order a pizza in the USA with 8 different crusts, 5 different kinds of cheese, 3 different kinds of sauce etc. .. I just want a damn pizza for God's sake!

I know that the modern perception is that lots of consumer choice is a 'good thing' but why on earth someone thought having 6 different providers for something as mundane as a toll tag was actually a good idea is a mystery to me.

philiph

Alun wrote: »

13 different options! It's worse than trying to order a pizza in the USA with 8 different crusts, 5 different kinds of cheese, 3 different kinds of sauce etc. .. I just want a damn pizza for God's sake!

I know that the modern perception is that lots of consumer choice is a 'good thing' but why on earth someone thought having 6 different providers for something as mundane as a toll tag was actually a good idea is a mystery to me.

Yup, would you like fries with that? regular or large? someone did ask for a compare site, that is the NRA's one. I fully agree with you, we have three options and thats it, like you say it's just a tolltag

Patrickof

The tolltag.ie purchase charge of €30 is not listed on that moneyguide website. That is prohibitive for someone like me who only uses the M50 (and other toll booths) maybe 10 times a year.

Video reg looks good for very infrequent users. BUT, will video reg only work on the M50? ie. we'll then need cash on the other toll booths.

AlekSmart

If it looks like a duck and quacks like a duck...chances are it`s a duck.

The same logic can be applied to scams...and this particular area of West Dublin has been a veritable Area 51 for them !!!

Ogham

Patrickof wrote: »

The tolltag.ie purchase charge of €30 is not listed on that moneyguide website. That is prohibitive for someone like me who only uses the M50 (and other toll booths) maybe 10 times a year.

Video reg looks good for very infrequent users. BUT, will video reg only work on the M50? ie. we'll then need cash on the other toll booths.

The www.moneyguideireland site doesn't mention the 30 euro purchase fee because there isn't one on the account they are talking about. Tolltag have 3 options - one of which is a free tag and 10% admin fee. That is the best option for lower volume users of the M50.

Steviemak

philiph wrote: »

Scam? ouch!!

You can 'upgrade' the account without penalty to lease option, so you have the option to pay less if you are just an occasional user and the option to put a ceiling on it (move to lease) if you are not.

We put tolltag out there because in our view there was no really usable option out there for light medium users, either lease it and pay whether you use it or not or just run around looking for a shop to pay a 25-50% surcharge in. That in my view is punitive in the extreme.

Yes we have to make a living but who doesn't huh?

/P

Why do toll tag over charge on M1, M4, M8 toll booths? You can use cash to pay on these so why would I pay more to use the tolltag? Tolltag gets its commission by over charging by 20c on the M50, a option that people will use only because without a tag it costs more. I would use tolltag if it didn't penalise me for using other tolls. I think people should beware. Tolltag is only good value if you don't plan on using ANY toll road more than 5 - 6 times a month.

So commuters that use M1, M4, M8 and east link should avoid Tolltag if they don't want to be ripped off.

L1011

They charge commission on those roads because they make their money off commission rather than a service fee. ALL other tag operators charge a service fee no matter what roads you use.

Why the hell do Irish people have this attitude that everyones on the take? (admittedly, our ruling party hasn't helped this...)

anotherlostie

Steviemak wrote: »

Why do toll tag over charge on M1, M4, M8 toll booths? You can use cash to pay on these so why would I pay more to use the tolltag? Tolltag gets its commission by over charging by 20c on the M50, a option that people will use only because without a tag it costs more. I would use tolltag if it didn't penalise me for using other tolls. I think people should beware. Tolltag is only good value if you don't plan on using ANY toll road more than 5 - 6 times a month.

So commuters that use M1, M4, M8 and east link should avoid Tolltag if they don't want to be ripped off.

As I told you about a page back in this thread.:rolleyes:

serfboard

MYOB wrote: »

They charge commission on those roads because they make their money off commission rather than a service fee. ALL other tag operators charge a service fee no matter what roads you use.

Exactly. If you want to use and tag and if you don't want to pay a service fee, then you'll have to pay commission. It's as simple as that. If you don't want to use a tag, then, for the M50, you'll have to register your number plate and pay a commission of 25% for the privilege.

So, for Tag use it's a simple comparison. Service charge or commission. If you're only an occassional user then it seems to me that commission is better (why pay a service charge for a service you're not using?). And I don't think that 10% is excessive. Of course, if there's an opportunity there, it is up to another provider to use the commission model and charge a lower percentage.

Steviemak

Its the charging commission for a service that is cheaper if you didn't have the tag in the 1st place that I have a problem with.


Eg. Who would use a Clubcard if the following applied

Buy Milk in Tesco's with out clubcard 70c

Buy Milk in Tesco's with Clubcard 77c

Why have a clubcard?

anotherlostie - I agree. I was just spelling it out to people in case users of other toll roads other than the M50 were considering TollTag.

TollTag is only good value for occassional m50 users who never want to use any other toll road. And as toll roads increase in number it becomes a very poor option.

If I used the port tunnell it could cost €13.20 with TollTag

philiph

That is correct for our Pay As You Toll options. It is not however correct and a complete generalisation to say TollTag as a whole is only good for the occasional M50 user. We also offer a regular lease option tolltag so it seems to me we are guilty of providing a wider choice than our competitors.

You could equally apply the generalisation to, say, video tolling if it worked on roads other than the M50 (which it doesnt). Because eflow operate it you could then generalise that eflow is only good for the M50 at a 25-50% premium. Not true since eflow also offer lease only tags.

Tolltag are simply a payment company that offers a facility to people to have a payment option that suits them and is more convenient for them, We don't make people pay the toll or set the toll or have anything to do with that (thankfully:)). If our options "pay as you toll" don't suit someone, and I don't expect they suit everyone, then there are choices, lease (only) a tag from us or indeed elsewhere or go video. In every case there is a choice for the consumer to make. For us we tried to provide an option to suit most pricepoints and distilled it down to three options.

For these options whichever one you choose, there is, as with every other payment provider, and indeed every other business a price for the service.

Of course I can accept that the Pay As you Toll option is not for everyone, thats why we have three products and we allow customer to move as their needs change.

Cant say straighter than that really, I'm all for healthy debate but ...balance!

Steviemak

Fair enough I was referring to your products that charge 10% commission on every toll.

Those products are totally unsuitable for cars that use other toll roads and customers may not realise they are paying more. Its not clear from your website. All examples you have refer to the m50. Why not have a m8 example?

Toll Tag have a very clever strategy with the 10% commission that on average will probably generate a lot more than €1.20 per user monthly.

Why don't you produce a M50 tag only. This would be a much more beneficial product for everybody as it stops consumers being over charged at other tolls.

L1011

ALL tags add a fee to the cost of your toll. It may be 61c after VAT divided across 10+ toll journeys a month like me - e.g. 6c a toll, or it may be 10%. So your argument about having to pay for the service is pretty much null and void - you have to pay for the advantage of not faffing with change - or getting a 33% discount on the M50.

All tolltags must work on all tolls. Complain to the NRA about this if you want, because its their rule.

To add - the tolltag.ie transponder appears to be identical to the eTrip one (the unit, that is). This is easily, very easily removable from its holder and is also highly unidirectional. If its in your glovebox it will NOT set off the M1/M4/M8 gates - in fact, if its facing in to the car on the rearview it won't set off the M4 despite this being the way most people fit them... you could just take it off and throw it in the glovebox; put it back on for the M50 if you're *that* worried about 27c.

Tarabuses

MYOB wrote: »

ALL tags add a fee to the cost of your toll. It may be 61c after VAT divided across 10+ toll journeys a month like me - e.g. 6c a toll, or it may be 10%. So your argument about having to pay for the service is pretty much null and void - you have to pay for the advantage of not faffing with change - or getting a 33% discount on the M50.

What 33% discount is this?

AlekSmart

I`m befuddled by all of this rush to get in line to pay tolls business.....:)

Can somebody remind me what exactly a car owner pays Road Tax for...as in what service(s) are provided by the State (inter alia,it`s Local Authorities and agencies such as....the NRA..) for that sum of money...

I could well add the Vehicle Registration Tax to the same question....but I`m becomin fatigued ...I need some anti-scam medication...:eek:

weehamster

I`m befuddled by all of this rush to get in line to pay tolls business.....

Can somebody remind me what exactly a car owner pays Road Tax for...as in what service(s) are provided by the State (inter alia,it`s Local Authorities and agencies such as....the NRA..) for that sum of money...

I could well add the Vehicle Registration Tax to the same question....but I`m becomin fatigued ...I need some anti-scam medication...

Your car tax ,the VRT as well as every other tax go into the cash pool of the Dept. of Finance where it is then redistributed to the various other departments etc... as seen fit by the Minister of Finance.

The Government has stated many times before that part of the funding for Transport 21 programme (DART expansion, Metro Tram, Luas, WRC etc...) will come from Tolls. (Approx €2b)

So pretty please, with sugar on top, kill that ancient and dead argument. Its a bit tiring.

So to sum it up, your car tax helps run the Health, Education etc... as well as;

• Pay the Government's wages which includes their expensive suits.
• It also pays the wages for the highly efficient public sector.
• It pays for the minister's to be chauffeur driven down bus lanes in a new Mercedes.
• It pays for Minister's to be air lifted to a pub opening by the Air Corps.
• It also pays for a first class airline ticket for a minister to go see the Beijing Olympics when the Irish athletes go economy.
• It also pays for the Taoiseach to live in a grand house and grounds which was fully restored with the help of your car tax.
• It helps multi millionaires to pay either very little of no tax

I think I can go for ever here. :rolleyes:

L1011

Tarabuses wrote: »

What 33% discount is this?

20%, sorry, calculated the percentage backwards. 50c off €2.50.

Tarabuses

MYOB wrote: »

20%, sorry, calculated the percentage backwards. 50c off €2.50.

But the current toll IS €2. The €2.50 or €3 tolls are premium charges to encourage us to use tags. Even with a tag there is an additional cost on top of the €2 - there is no way of crossing the Westlink at today's price once the barrier free system commences.

There is no dicount

L1011

The cheapest toll available if you use an M50-specific method of payment is €2.50. The tag is €2. How is that not a discount off the M50-specific toll?

Alun

MYOB wrote: »

The cheapest toll available if you use an M50-specific method of payment is €2.50. The tag is €2. How is that not a discount off the M50-specific toll?

But it's not €2 is it .. it's €2 plus the %age account fee or the monthly fee / cost of tag divided by however many trips you make (per month). For very occasional users such as myself, it's impossible to get that down to anywhere near €2.

Tarabuses

MYOB wrote: »

The cheapest toll available if you use an M50-specific method of payment is €2.50. The tag is €2. How is that not a discount off the M50-specific toll?

Because the toll today is €2 not €2.50. For you to be asked to pay any more at the end of the month is an increase.

L1011

Its an increase in the price of the toll for those who are paying by M50-specific methods, hence it is a discount off this price for those that pay by tags.

AlekSmart

It`s interesting that this "Discount" principle can be grasped so firmly by all subscribers to this "Toll Frenzy" yet the same Government sponsored agencies are totally discombobulated when it comes to applying the same principle to pre-paid Bus Travel. :eek:

The Department of Transport forces Dublin Bus to cling to an antedeluvian Cash Fare transaction regeime which is causing far more delays than any other single outside influence....Offer a subatantial discount for Pre-Paid Smart Card tickets..NEVER !! Introduce a Flat or Zonal Fare....NO !!!

Smells funny to me....... :P

L1011

I wouldn't see myself as a 'subscriber to a toll frenzy' based on having had a tag for as long as I've been driving due to being an impatient fecker more than anything. 5 seconds at a toll is 5 seconds of my life I'll not have back...

Tarabuses

MYOB wrote: »

Its an increase in the price of the toll for those who are paying by M50-specific methods, hence it is a discount off this price for those that pay by tags.

Well I'm sorry MYOB but I cannot accept that paying the current price in the future is a discount. Are you saying that the M50 toll has been increased to €2.50? If so, why isn't there an outcry about the second increase this year?

L1011

The M50 toll for those that pay by M50-specific methods will be (at least) €2.50. Take from that what you want.

AlekSmart

Yup MYOB,and what I am taking from it is quite simple...

A desire to teach a lesson to those who dared raise a voice against what the original M50-Westlink project actually turned into which was little more than a barely disguised piece of pillaging and plundering in the style of Captain Blackbeard.

With perhaps only Senator Shane Ross as the only public representative to do a bit of digging on the entire NRA/NTR collusive contract,the "ordinary" citizen has been coralled into paying this Political Levy since the West Link "Facility" opened (lovely descriptive term.....it certainly "facilitated" NTR and its beneficial owners).

Now as we progress into C21 it has become obvious that oul gates,barriers and expensive human operators are gettin in the way of PROFIT and some new way has to be found to shiv the general public..and boy is it a good one !!!

The manner in which this project gets off the ground is being watched closely by the portly men-in-suits with the sound of hands rubbing together with glee in the background....:)

No talk of a % rebate of Motor Taxation for the heavy Toll-Payer..? Hmmmm no of course not..,silly me that would be SO difficult to administer would`nt it....?

These rebate things would be overly complex...and inefficient etc etc...?

You can indeed fool all of the people all of the time......the only thing required is one very HARD neck....:eek:

D'Peoples Voice

AlekSmart wrote: »

You can indeed fool all of the people all of the time......the only thing required is one very HARD neck....:eek:

Anything that raises more funds from the motorist to fund public transport projects is to be welcomed from my opinion. Personally I would have preferred an increase in fuel levies but we're getting some of that increase already thanks to international wholesale prices.
I've said it again and again on this forum, spending over 70cent of in EVERY euro raised on health, education, social welfare and justice is slowly crippling us:mad:
Transport expenditure accounts for only five cent approx in every euro paid in your taxes.

Run_to_da_hills

Expect the law to be very strict on number plates in the near future. One of the teething problems mentioned by the NRA was the legibility of plates, some have mounting bolts between numbers and letters that could give a false reading. The NCT and DOE will no doubt be handed out a mandate on how these plates should be mounted (probably over looked in the past) and will be an extra thing to have to sort out at the next test.

Capt'n Midnight

Tarabuses wrote: »

Because the toll today is €2 not €2.50. For you to be asked to pay any more at the end of the month is an increase.

At present commercial users can claim the VAT back.

If this is not possible later then it will represent another increase of 21% for commercial users, and let's not forget that the price was rounded up for the euro change over and rounded up when VAT was added.

Capt'n Midnight

Tarabuses wrote: »

But the current toll IS €2. The €2.50 or €3 tolls are premium charges to encourage us to use tags. Even with a tag there is an additional cost on top of the €2 - there is no way of crossing the Westlink at today's price once the barrier free system commences.

There is no dicount

Why can't we cut out the middle man and pay the government directly ??

L1011

Run_to_da_hills wrote: »

Expect the law to be very strict on number plates in the near future. One of the teething problems mentioned by the NRA was the legibility of plates, some have mounting bolts between numbers and letters that could give a false reading. The NCT and DOE will no doubt be handed out a mandate on how these plates should be mounted (probably over looked in the past) and will be an extra thing to have to sort out at the next test.

NCT has *always* had rules on plates - I had to change mine for it as I had "donegal standard" (you try getting plates up there that aren't bold with no dashes, I dare ya...) and these would have been a test failure. Mounting is included, the bolt heads must not detract from the readability (e.g. white on backgrounds, black on text).

Run_to_da_hills

MYOB wrote: »

NCT has *always* had rules on plates - I had to change mine for it as I had "donegal standard" (you try getting plates up there that aren't bold with no dashes, I dare ya...) and these would have been a test failure. Mounting is included, the bolt heads must not detract from the readability (e.g. white on backgrounds, black on text).

More so now, particularly in some country DOE centres that have a reputation for overlooking problems.