m50 eflow....

Ardennes1944

Now i may show some of my 'boggerness' or whatever here but i arrived back from hols last night to see 2 letters with my name on them and under my address i saw "your first points notice" so obviously i thought shiiiiiit!
turns out i didnt pay an eflow toll for the m50 and my reg. was taken by video camera using the road. my journey took me from cork to bangor and back again and i paid the toll on both the m7/m8 , and then paid another toll between dublin and the north, my parents (who were ready to knife me expecting 4 points) never knew your reg. is taken on the m50 so i thought id ask ye what the story is?
thanks

MagicSean

What the story is? You didn't pay the toll for the M50 and you've gotten a notice and probably a fine. Simples. There are signs all along the road about it.

Ardennes1944

i believed when i paid the toll that i had like the m7/m8 and that the eflow signs were for the car tags etc.

colm_c

There's overhead cameras on the M50 betweem the N4 and N3 junctions, which you can either pay by 8pm the next day, or use an electronic tag.

If you don't pay they double the cost of the toll after a few days, and keep increasing it until you pay.

http://www.eflow.ie/

On a side note, you must have been blind, driving on the M50 and not noticing all the signs about the toll?

Ardennes1944

i have until the 9th to pay the €6 it says. and tbh theres so many eflow signs i didnt even take notice as they are usually about the electronic tags. my father made a trip up the m50 about 5months ago, never paid the eflow and didnt get a letter either, just paid the usual €1.80 at the toll booth as down here.

mfceiling

What toll booth did your father pay the 1.80 on the m50?
It's been toll booth free for a couple of years now...

whyulittle

The toll booth at Drogheda!

bladebrew

Ardennes1944 wrote: »

i have until the 9th to pay the €6 it says. and tbh theres so many eflow signs i didnt even take notice as they are usually about the electronic tags. my father made a trip up the m50 about 5months ago, never paid the eflow and didnt get a letter either, just paid the usual €1.80 at the toll booth as down here.

if you are going to pay the €6 bring the letters with you, they have to scan the barcode on the top of the page,

bring both letters to the garage in douglas, they will scan both and ask for €12 simples, although some staff in that garage dont understand how the machine works!

Ardennes1944

it doesnt make sense though, why not just up the toll to €3 or just do away with the toll booth. why have both and why is the m50 different to the m7/m8?

bladebrew, which garage in douglas? topaz by the cinema?

whyulittle

What doesn't make sense?

You went through the M50 toll and didn't pay for it. The signs tell you to pay the toll by 8pm the following day. If you have a tag, you get a discount and it's paid from your account. The booths were removed to avoid congestion.

The next toll you paid was on the M1 near Drogheda, nothing to do with the M50.

Your dad just got lucky that his reg wasn't picked up on the M50 for whatever reason.

bladebrew

Ardennes1944 wrote: »

it doesnt make sense though, why not just up the toll to €3 or just do away with the toll booth. why have both and why is the m50 different to the m7/m8?

bladebrew, which garage in douglas? topaz by the cinema?

yep the topaz garage definetly do it, i forgot to pay it once and brought the letter there, they scan the top corner of it and charge you €6,

it was causing traffic chaos thats why they removed it

Ardennes1944

i thought it was all one motorway from dublin to belfast , now i know

Marcusm

Ardennes1944 wrote: »

i thought it was all one motorway from dublin to belfast , now i know

M50 is the orbital around Dublin, M1 is the road to Belfast (or more properly, the border). If you're a taxpayer you should also have contributed to the buyout of the Westlink bridge!

Ardennes1944

i am a taxpayer

eFlow: Ciaran

Hi Aredennes1944,

There is a barrier free toll road on the M50, the way the system works is that you drive through the toll it takes a picture of your licence plate and a charge of €3(for a car is applied), this has until 8 PM the following day to be paid. If its not paid then a late penalty of €3 is applied.

Payment can be made on-line at www.eflow.ie or by calling us on lo-call 1890-50-10-50 (INT +800-50-10-50-11) between 7am and 11pm or by the automatic payment system outside these hours. Payment can also be made at a Payzone outlet (see www.payzone.ie for your nearest outlet). Or alternatively you can register your vehicle with us for automatic payment, reduced tolls on the M50 and no late penalties.

If you would like to PM me your details(the name address that the vehicle is registered and the license plate number of the vehicle) I can look into this for you, or alternatively you can call us 1890-50-10-50(7am to 11pm) and we can look into the matter for you.

Just to let you know we also that we have a "talk to" section on boards where you can contact us too if you have any further queries.

Hope this helps,
Ciaran

Mr Magners

To the OP...

You drove on several different motorways and each of them had a toll.

You paid at Fermoy toll booths to use the M8 as far as Portlaoise
You paid at Portlaoise tolls to use the M7 as far as Dublin
You were then charged to use the M50, the only difference is there are no toll booths and you were sent the charge in the post, €6 each way. It would have been only €3 if you'd paid before 8 the next evening.
Finally you were charged at Drogheda tolls to use the M1.

4 different motorways, 4 different tolls.

Hope that helps:)

Seasoft

A bit off topic, but are there many other boothless tolls about in Europe/States/ anywhere? Are we ahead of the rest with the M50? My experience in Italy and France is similar to the old M50 system - tailbacks and delays in places at peak times. Never mattered much as I was on hols, but no joy for people in a hurry.

eFlow: Una

Hi Seasoft,

There are currently just six barrier-free toll operations worldwide, meaning Ireland is at the forefront of this innovation.

Users of the M50 toll can register with eFlow - there is the electronic tag option, and the tag can be used on all the tolls in the Republic of Ireland. There is also the M50-only option, which has no registration fee and is suitable for infrequent users.

Registering reduces the cost of the toll and eliminates penalties/deadlines, as payment is taken automatically by agreed direct debit or automated card payment.

For more info: www.eflow.ie

eFlow also has a dedicated forum here on Boards.ie.

Regards
Una

dr.fuzzenstein

eFlow: Una wrote: »

There are currently just six barrier-free toll operations worldwide, meaning Ireland is at the forefront of this innovation.

No surprise to me that Ireland, regardless of being 20 years behind in many things, is at the global cutting of of the forefront of technology when it comes to taking people's money.
Not just M50 specific, car tax is another fine example, no matter how slow, inefficient and careless most of the civil service is, when it comes to paying your car tax online it is a well-oiled machine and model of efficiency that makes Germans look like (just insert your own lazy national stereotype in here).
Just an observation.

listermint

dr.fuzzenstein wrote: »

No surprise to me that Ireland, regardless of being 20 years behind in many things, is at the global cutting of of the forefront of technology when it comes to taking people's money.
Not just M50 specific, car tax is another fine example, no matter how slow, inefficient and careless most of the civil service is, when it comes to paying your car tax online it is a well-oiled machine and model of efficiency that makes Germans look like (just insert your own lazy national stereotype in here).
Just an observation.

True, but maybe if we instilled these sort of efficiencies elsewhere in the sector we would ALL be better off dont you think?

So would you prefer barrier tolling to be back on the M50? Because from extensive experience that was a joke.

YourName

Ardennes1944 wrote: »

Now i may show some of my 'boggerness' or whatever here but i arrived back from hols last night to see 2 letters with my name on them and under my address i saw "your first points notice" so obviously i thought shiiiiiit!
turns out i didnt pay an eflow toll for the m50 and my reg. was taken by video camera using the road. my journey took me from cork to bangor and back again and i paid the toll on both the m7/m8 , and then paid another toll between dublin and the north, my parents (who were ready to knife me expecting 4 points) never knew your reg. is taken on the m50 so i thought id ask ye what the story is?
thanks

Just to clarify, because nobody else picked up on this point, you are not going to receive any penalty points on your licence, as you seem to think you are, penalty points have nothing to do with paying tolls. You have been fined for not paying the toll in one of hundreds of shops around the country that you can pay your toll in for the M50, now that you havn't paid it you will still have to go to one of these shops and pay the fine, however another poster has allready enlightened you on a shop that may be near you that you can do this in.

So to finish, you will not be receiving any penalty points for not paying your toll, just pay the fine and avoid the hassle that inevitably comes with eFlow. Also keep all the letters + receipts etc. because eFlow are infamous for customer service issues and if any issues do arise you will need all of the above.

Hope that clears things up.

Guy:Incognito

Ardennes1944 wrote: »

i thought it was all one motorway from dublin to belfast , now i know

You really should be payign attention to road signs when driving. It's a fairly basic part.

You turned off the M50 just before the airport. The signs were directing you to the M1.

dr.fuzzenstein

listermint wrote: »

True, but maybe if we instilled these sort of efficiencies elsewhere in the sector we would ALL be better off dont you think?

So would you prefer barrier tolling to be back on the M50? Because from extensive experience that was a joke.

Don't expect any distilled efficiencies in anything that costs money.
Of course no one wants the barriers back on the M50, but some might argue that the current super-efficient system will be in effect along the entire M50 in the future and any other motorway.
Whatever toll we pay now per mile, expect it to double in the future.
Sure, we will ALL be better off once we earn 25% less, but pay 25% more taxes.

-Chris-

dr.fuzzenstein wrote: »

Don't expect any distilled efficiencies in anything that costs money.
Of course no one wants the barriers back on the M50, but some might argue that the current super-efficient system will be in effect along the entire M50 in the future and any other motorway.
Whatever toll we pay now per mile, expect it to double in the future.
Sure, we will ALL be better off once we earn 25% less, but pay 25% more taxes.

Sure, why not expect it to triple or quadruple while you're at it?

And is that actually a decision for eFlow, or is it dictated to them? I ask because I'm not sure if this discussion is on-topic for the thread.

msg11

On a side note , I have always thought that there is not enoght time to pay the 3.00. The deadline of 8pm the following day is ridiculous. People forget things, fining or doubling the payment because you honestly forgot.

I have found myself in situations where it's just before or after the deadline of paying and going, ****.

They should give 2-3 days to pay it, after that this 'fine' non sense would make sense.

Ardennes1944

YourName wrote: »

Just to clarify, because nobody else picked up on this point, you are not going to receive any penalty points on your licence, as you seem to think you are, penalty points have nothing to do with paying tolls. You have been fined for not paying the toll in one of hundreds of shops around the country that you can pay your toll in for the M50, now that you havn't paid it you will still have to go to one of these shops and pay the fine, however another poster has allready enlightened you on a shop that may be near you that you can do this in.

So to finish, you will not be receiving any penalty points for not paying your toll, just pay the fine and avoid the hassle that inevitably comes with eFlow. Also keep all the letters + receipts etc. because eFlow are infamous for customer service issues and if any issues do arise you will need all of the above.

Hope that clears things up.

i know i wont be getting penalty points i just thought i had gotten points when i saw something about points on the envelope. but thank you

theteal

msg11 wrote: »

On a side note , I have always thought that there is not enoght time to pay the 3.00. The deadline of 8pm the following day is ridiculous. People forget things, fining or doubling the payment because you honestly forgot.

I have found myself in situations where it's just before or after the deadline of paying and going, ****.

They should give 2-3 days to pay it, after that this 'fine' non sense would make sense.

Why not just register on the eflow website? It costs nothing whether you use the M50 a lot or a little and iirc it's €0.50 cheaper per trip. You get an invoice at the end of the month and it's paid by DD - no brainer

Just remember to let them know immediately if you sell your registered car

fletch

LIGHTNING wrote: »

As a person who never used the tolls during peak times I never had an issues with the barriers. Now with the barrier free it costs 50% more to use it and most of the time I forget to pay and a journey costs me 12e. Didnt a statistic come out a while ago about how much money they made from fines being a huge amount of there income?

I despise paying the toll and avoid the bridge at all costs but it only costs 50% more if you don't register for a video/tag account. I rarely use the bridge, so I opted for a tolltag.ie account. There are no monthly fees and it only costs me €2.20 to cross the M50.

ants09

fletch wrote: »

I despise paying the toll and avoid the bridge at all costs but it only costs 50% more if you don't register for a video/tag account. I rarely use the bridge, so I opted for a tolltag.ie account. There are no monthly fees and it only costs me €2.20 to cross the M50.

i despise paying these tolls also and find it unjust and unfair if you forget to pay then the bill rises 100%

i went thought the toll once and paid it and to my surprise i got a letter thought the post saying i hadnt, long story short i got a letter from there solictors saying i owned quite a few shillings :pac: well i told the solictor were i paid it and told them to throwl thought there records and find me payment and if they cant then take me to court.

good and behold i got a phone call saying they found me payment :eek: well i think they were trying to pull a fast one and in my opinion i sure i aint the first one this happen too and sure i wont be the last one either !

Wolverine_1999

I received a notice letter for this as well to my address, to a name of a person and car reg who doesn't even live here.

What do I do with this? Ignore it?

eFlow: John

eFlow customers can prepay for tolls, therefore avoiding the 8pm deadline and penalties. The payment options are on-line at www.eflow.ie, a payzone outlet (go to www.payzone.ie to find the outlet nearest to you) or lo-call 1890-50-10-50.


Registering for an account (Video for M50 only or Tag for all tolls) is still the best option as discounts apply and no payment deadline are applicable.
Register on line at www.eflow.ie or call us from 7am to 11pm any day of the week.


More information is available in our Boards.ie forum: Biz>Talk to>eFlow

dbagman

so what happens with a uk reg car??i ask purely because i have recently purchased one and am waiting for my vrt test in a couple of weeks so am still on yellow plates.i havnt and never do use the m50 toll as living in leixlip i can use back roads across to blanch to avoid it if going north and can join the motorway at liffey valley if going south so can easily avoid it.just wondering if i can take a couple of hundred spins through it in the meantime and get away with it? :P

dr.fuzzenstein

I know people with German reg cars who regularly blow through the M50 toll and so far have heard nothing of it.
Of course the UPC position is "we will hunt you down and gut you like a trout", but so far I have heard nothing of the sort.
I don't know what would happen if you drove through it 27 times a day for several months.

eFlow: Una

Hi dbagman and dr.fuzzenstein,

Every vehicle’s registration plate is read by the camera going through the M50, and then manually checked to ensure the correct characters have been picked up, but letters for unpaid tolls take longer to get to non Republic of Ireland addresses.

Tolls for any licence plate can be paid online at www.eflow.ie or over the phone on 1890501050 (before 8pm the night after each trip to avoid the initial €3 penalty) – tolls can be pre-paid on that phone number also (two tolls at a time).

For a cheaper toll rate, and the elimination of penalties, users of the M50 toll can register with eFlow. If they are not frequent users of the toll, there is the Video Registration option, which does not have any administrative fee (the tag account is the one with the monthly fee of €1.21 per tag per vehicle, and is suitable for frequent users of the toll/those who use other tolls, as the tag works on all tolls in the Republic of Ireland).

Regards
Una

YouTookMyName

I'm leaving my house in Mayo tomorrow night about 11pm i'll be on the M50 about 2-3am.

Can i prepay the toll even though on the site it says only for use yesterday and today.

eFlow: Una

Hi YouTookMyName,

If you wish to pre-pay, it would need to be done by telephone on 1890 50 10 50 – the agent can leave a note emphasising it is a pre-payment. Our customer service line is open between 7am and 11pm seven days a week, and the agent can provide you with a payment reference number (like a receipt number) or have a receipt issued to you by email or post.

You can pre-pay up to two toll journeys, and up to a fortnight before the second toll journey.

Regards
Una

pf85

Is there no way to type in your reg to see if there is any outstanding fees due or what is the best way to find out?

milltown

msg11 wrote: »

On a side note , I have always thought that there is not enoght time to pay the 3.00. The deadline of 8pm the following day is ridiculous. People forget things, fining or doubling the payment because you honestly forgot.

I have found myself in situations where it's just before or after the deadline of paying and going, ****.

They should give 2-3 days to pay it, after that this 'fine' non sense would make sense.

Realistically, if you don't remember it the next day, surely you're even less likely the following day, or the day after.

eFlow: Ciaran

pf85 wrote: »

Is there no way to type in your reg to see if there is any outstanding fees due or what is the best way to find out?

Hi pf85,

There is no way to type in a license plate number online and see what is outstanding on it, you can however give us a call on 1890-50-10-50(7am till 11PM) and an agent can advise you if there is a balance outstanding. Also if you have received a penalty notice you can enter in the journey reference number for it here and it will tell you the balance owing against that specific journey.

However if you register your vehicle with us we can send you out a monthly statement which details the dates and times of all your journeys. Also you can access your registered account online and view dates and times of any journeys you've made, plus you have the benefit of cheaper tolls and automatic payment with a registered account. To register for an account call us on 1890-50-10-50(7am till 11PM) or go online to www.eflow.ie.

Hope that helps,
Ciaran.

dr.fuzzenstein

eFlow: Una wrote: »

If they are not frequent users of the toll, there is the Video Registration option, which does not have any administrative fee

Regards
Una

I do have a video account, since I live in the wesht, it's never let me down so far. It does take a lot of hassle out of the M50 toll and I wish it was available for the rest of the country.
I dislike the idea of having a tag and having to pay for the privilege of being relieved of my money more efficiently.

Gophur

eFlow: Una wrote: »

Hi Seasoft,

There are currently just six barrier-free toll operations worldwide, meaning Ireland is at the forefront of this innovation.

.............

Ireland at the forefront of charging to use a road that has already been paid for multiple times? Call it what you like, it's a tax.

eFlow: Ciaran

dr.fuzzenstein wrote: »

I do have a video account, since I live in the wesht, it's never let me down so far. It does take a lot of hassle out of the M50 toll and I wish it was available for the rest of the country.
I dislike the idea of having a tag and having to pay for the privilege of being relieved of my money more efficiently.

Hi Dr.Fuzzenstein,

The eFlow video account only works on the m50, the only way to be covered for all the toll roads is to get the tag.
The tag has the added benefit of giving you an additional 50c off you your journeys so trips are €1 cheaper for you on the m50 and you can use the express lanes on the other toll roads. However as you know we do have the monthly administration €1.21, so you do need a tag to be cover on the other toll roads.

There is a website www.tagcompare.ie its a comparison website for all the tag providers in Ireland, you may find something in there that would suit you a bit better.


Give us a call on 1890-50-10-50 if you would like us to upgrade you to a tag account or else you can contact us through our talk to forum on boards.

Hope that helps,
Ciaran.

Alan b.

eFlow: Ciaran wrote: »

Hi pf85,

There is no way to type in a license plate number online and see what is outstanding on it, you can however give us a call on 1890-50-10-50(7am till 11PM) and an agent can advise you if there is a balance outstanding. Also if you have received a penalty notice you can enter in the journey reference number for it here and it will tell you the balance owing against that specific journey.

However if you register your vehicle with us we can send you out a monthly statement which details the dates and times of all your journeys. Also you can access your registered account online and view dates and times of any journeys you've made, plus you have the benefit of cheaper tolls and automatic payment with a registered account. To register for an account call us on 1890-50-10-50(7am till 11PM) or go online to www.eflow.ie.

Hope that helps,
Ciaran.

i have this system of monthly bill being sent out that i get with all the crossings listed on it that i then pay all at once, only got it set up a month or so ago, and never got the first statement, but then got a load of letters saying i owe 6 euro per trip, then got a letter saying i hadnt paid.

the entire e flow system is a pain in the hole and hasnt been consistantly reliable since it started.

ive seen letters for cars that never leave the islands in galway,
people being told to pay toll bridge fees for cars that they rang eflow to tell them they where stolen.

its a joke.

eFlow: Una

Hi Alan b.

A customer receives notices for unpaid tolls when they have a registered account due to the following factors:

- Change of vehicle to the one that was originally put on the account
- Change of bank details

Would any of these be applicable to you? We can have a look at the account if you like, and go about rectifying this - if you drop me or one of the other reps a private message.

In the past, letters were occasionally issued in error to people who had not travelled through the M50 toll, due to another licence plate being picked up incorrectly by the camera (e.g. a "0" with a bolt in the middle of it being misread as an "8"). We appreciate this is not acceptable and we addressed it in 2009 by introducing a system of manual viewing of each image captured by the camera, resulting in such errors being gradually eliminated.

If someone receives penalty notices for a vehicle that was stolen and subsequently driven through the M50 toll, it is because the letters are automatically generated and addressed to whomever the registered owner of the vehicle is, and unfortunately we do not have the power to change the ownership details/prevent this happening - change of ownership is done via the Driver and Vehicle Licensing Computer Services Division in Shannon.
Once there is documentation from An Garda Siochána that the vehicle has been stolen though, the owner would not be held liable for the toll/penalty charges.

Regards,
Una

Esel

eFlow: Ciaran wrote: »

There is a website www.tagcompare.ie its a comparison website for all the tag providers in Ireland, you may find something in there that would suit you a bit better

Duff link.... this one works http://www.tagcompare.ie/

dr.fuzzenstein

Has to be said, no one can accuse eflow of not engaging with their customers!:D

Ardennes1944

anytime i come on this thread seems to be bumped up again! i paid the charge about a week ago

eFlow: Ciaran

dr.fuzzenstein wrote: »

Has to be said, no one can accuse eflow of not engaging with their customers!:D

Thanks Dr. Fuzzenstein,



If anybody would like to contact us we have a "talk to" forum on boards or if you want to get us when you are on the move you can contact us through twitter just send your tweets to @eflow_freeflow and we can answer any queries you may have.



Regards,

Ciaran.

seanpearse

I just got one of these first penalty notices as well and am currently awaiting receipt of 8 rapid snap digital cameras to set up my own little toll somewhere lol. Cheap website......check! Shoddy customer testimonials (lol).......check! Couple of high quality cameras and four or five admin staff and I'm heading for retirement baby

blackbelted

I had a penalty came to my address from eflow and I paid it straightaway. afterwards even registered online with my credit card to pay automatically. once I saw a transaction from a date which I didn't drive my car on M50. I called to ask what's the story. I found out that I have some unpaid penalties from previous years and they didn't contact me until I called them !!!

Such a wierd company, they have sent the penalty notices to my old address and never called me etc !
Now I am faced to own them over € 1K for 8 penalties. is this fair I am asking you guys?
When I am paying for my first penalty, they didnt even mention about the previous penalties etc. I never knew until last week !
I have talked to the motor tax office, it seems like they didnt update my address info on time and it cost me a fortune !

any recommendations??

eFlow: Reps

Hi blackbelted

I can have a look into this for you if you like. For security purposes can you PM me, your account number and you will need to confirm the name and address on the account and confirm you are the account holder.

All the Best,
Ciaran.