can you advise on eflow bill

nlpete

Hi all

I drove a friend to dublin to sort issue with green card at US embassy on 22-05-2012. All went well on the way up, passed through toll and paid 2.80 euro, got to dublin and sorted out issue at embassy.

Sorted out some other biz in finglas and headed south toward home aided by our satnav and pretty soon came across an overhead sign with loads of cammeras which stated there was a toll ahead.

My mate pulled out a fiver to pay but there were no toll booths so we carried on down the road untill we came to the same toll booth that we had passed on the way up.

we paid the toll, got our change and carried on toward home.

Yesterday I got a letter telling me I had not paid the apprpriate toll and gave instructions to pay 3.00 toll + 3.00 penalty or else...you know the story!

I recieved no receipt at the booth as far as I can remember and cannot figure out whats going on.

There were no booths where we saw the first sign and cammeras after leaving finglas and we paid at the toll further on when we got to it.

Can anyone help me to figure this out please.

Im a law abiding citizen and although I dont like the idea of a toll I was hardly going to bust through the barrier for the sake of three euro.

Pete

Heroditas

Where was the toll booth you paid at on the way up?

corktina

you could google eflow of course...

nlpete

Wow quick reply!!

Thanks

The letter says :- please be advised that vehicle reg No ---- has been recorded using the M50 toll road on the following date without paying....

Honestly lads, we saw no signage explaining anything... My first time driving up there in years and I was more focused on traffic and being in the correct lane etc

So Im supposed to read the sign and then get off the road to find a shop to pay the toll and then get back on the road again.

I dont use credit cards etc and I have never heard of eflow before getting this letter.

Nissan doctor

nlpete wrote: »

Hi all

I drove a friend to dublin to sort issue with green card at US embassy on 22-05-2012. All went well on the way up, passed through toll and paid 2.80 euro, got to dublin and sorted out issue at embassy.

Sorted out some other biz in finglas and headed south toward home aided by our satnav and pretty soon came across an overhead sign with loads of cammeras which stated there was a toll ahead.

My mate pulled out a fiver to pay but there were no toll booths so we carried on down the road untill we came to the same toll booth that we had passed on the way up.

we paid the toll, got our change and carried on toward home.

Yesterday I got a letter telling me I had not paid the apprpriate toll and gave instructions to pay 3.00 toll + 3.00 penalty or else...you know the story!

I recieved no receipt at the booth as far as I can remember and cannot figure out whats going on.

There were no booths where we saw the first sign and cammeras after leaving finglas and we paid at the toll further on when we got to it.

Can anyone help me to figure this out please.

Im a law abiding citizen and although I dont like the idea of a toll I was hardly going to bust through the barrier for the sake of three euro.

Pete

If you noticed that then surely you'd have noticed the numerous enormous blue signs along the motorway telling you how to pay the toll?

nlpete

My buddy noticed the overhead sign with the cammeras but thats all he saw and I was busy making sure we got around safe.

We did pay at the M50 toll with the barrier when we got to it.

Nissan doctor

nlpete wrote: »

My buddy noticed the overhead sign with the cammeras but thats all he saw and I was busy making sure we got around safe.

We did pay at the M50 toll with the barrier when we got to it.

The M50 doesn't have a toll barrier.

Jimbob 83

Sounds like a stupid way of charging a toll tbh

Big Nasty

It's €6 man - €3 toll fee plus €3 fine for late payment.

Just pay it and be done with it before it goes up to €30.

L1011

nlpete wrote: »

My buddy noticed the overhead sign with the cammeras but thats all he saw and I was busy making sure we got around safe.

We did pay at the M50 toll with the barrier when we got to it.

If you paid 2.80, you paid the M4 toll which is about 30km away from the M50.

There are no toll booths on the western section of the M50 and you *might* have noticed the massive tunnel beside the toll booths to the East.

nlpete

I'll have to look at some road map or somthing, Im not aware of the roads up there and we were using satnav. we traveled north from limerick to the red cow area and on into the city and re joined the road south via finglas.

I see they have a low call payment number so I'll see if I can sort it out.

Guy:Incognito

Theres huge signs that tell you the toll is coming (which you saw) that also tell you you have to pay by 8pm the next day and gives a phone number.

omb0wyn5ehpij9

nlpete wrote: »

I see they have a low call payment number so I'll see if I can sort it out.

There will be no sorting it out over the phone. You have to pay it. The only sorting out over the phone that you can do is actually paying it over the phone! You obviously drove through the M50 toll so you have to pay it. By the sounds of things, you might have also gone through and paid at the M4 toll

L1011

nlpete wrote: »

I'll have to look at some road map or somthing, Im not aware of the roads up there and we were using satnav. we traveled north from limerick to the red cow area and on into the city and re joined the road south via finglas.

I see they have a low call payment number so I'll see if I can sort it out.

You passed through the M50 barrier-free toll southbound from Finglas to the the Red Cow in that case.

There are MASSIVE signs detailing how to pay, if you missed these you will have to pay the €6 rather than the €3

guil

if you missed those signs aswell you may need glasses:eek:

sentient_6

nlpete wrote: »

I'll have to look at some road map or somthing, Im not aware of the roads up there and we were using satnav. we traveled north from limerick to the red cow area and on into the city and re joined the road south via finglas.

I see they have a low call payment number so I'll see if I can sort it out.

:rolleyes:

https://maps.google.ie/maps?q=dublin&ll=53.345838,-6.382027&spn=0.133427,0.363579&oe=utf-8&client=firefox-a&hnear=Dublin,+County+Dublin&gl=ie&t=m&z=12

You were on the M50 which is the ring road motorway around dublin. There are cameras on the stretch between the N4 & N3. Your supposed to pay within a day by ringing them, online or at any shop that has a payzone sign(same system that issues those 3V pre pay credit cards).

The toll you paid at a barrier was a completly seperate road.

homingbird

Should have covered your number plate over if you were worried about paying the toll.

Nissan doctor

nlpete wrote: »

I'll have to look at some road map or somthing, Im not aware of the roads up there and we were using satnav. we traveled north from limerick to the red cow area and on into the city and re joined the road south via finglas.

I see they have a low call payment number so I'll see if I can sort it out.

I think you'd be better served by looking out your window at the roads and signage around you.

Your sat nav would even have told you that you were on a different motorway.

nlpete

Thats it sorted so!

I'll pay it no problem, I just couldnt figure what was going on. this all happened at about 2pm and I had been on the go since 4am that morning and still had to get my mate back to kerry and myself home.

I think what happened was I didnt realize that there were other tolls and stuff and thought it was just the one on the M4 that I had to deal with.

Thanks for all your help.

Next time he can take the train LoL

corktina

just for completeness, you dont have to get off the road immediately to pay and then get back on, there are numerous options.

Big Nasty

corktina wrote: »

just for completeness, you dont have to get off the road immediately to pay and then get back on, there are numerous options.

Adding to that you don't have to pay in Dublin either. You could have paid in any shop in the country that has Payzone, i.e. pretty much any branded convenience store.

Duiske

nlpete wrote: »

we were using satnav. we traveled north from limerick to the red cow area and on into the city and re joined the road south via finglas.

So your route was into Dublin city via the Naas Rd, then out of the city via Finglas and south on the M50 back to the N7. How did you end up at the nearest pay booth, which is about 20 miles north of Finglas on the M1 ? By any chance did you buy that sat-nav from a guy called Del-Boy ?

Edit.. ah, get it now. M4 toll booth, not M1.

Big Nasty

To be fair a lot of sat nav systems can be set up to help you avoid tolls. Last year I drove the PCH from Santa Monia to San Fran and wanted to drive across the Golden Gate. The sat nav wanted to send me the whole way around the bay area (110 miles) rather than direct me back across the bridge.

Pkiernan

nlpete wrote: »

...
Honestly lads, we saw no signage explaining anything... My first time driving up there in years and I was more focused on traffic and being in the correct lane etc

So Im supposed to read the sign and then get off the road to find a shop to pay the toll and then get back on the road again.

I dont use credit cards etc and I have never heard of eflow before getting this letter.

eFlow: John

Hi nlpete,

If you would like some assistance, PM me (Ciaran and Una) your car registration number and I can look into it for you.

Standing by,

John

markpb

I know it's not what most people who are unfamiliar with the M50 are expecting when they hear it's a toll road but there's no shortage of signs - one of them spans half the motorway!

blackwhite

Just curious, you said you were bringing your friend to the US Embassy...

Why were you coming in the Finglas exit from the M50? The US Embassy is in Ballsbridge, the complete opposite side of the city.

biko

They first sorted the embassy stuff and then took a trip up to Finglas.

OP, I know what you mean, first time I went through there after the barrier-less toll I got stung too for 6€. Had to fly out and was pretty stressed as I was late.
Just pay at the eflow website and remember it for next time.

ProudDUB

Jimbob 83 wrote: »

Sounds like a stupid way of charging a toll tbh

It's not. The old toll barriers caused terrible traffic back ups. At busy peak periods, the back up could start a mile or more away from the toll barrier. When they were removed, it made a huge difference to the flow of traffic. Toll barriers are grand out in rural areas. They are not in the middle of a city.

OP, the toll signs on the M50 are pretty obvious. They are very hard to miss. However, if you were relying on your sat nav to tell you where to go, maybe you were not paying as much attention to the overhead & roadside signage that you would have been doing if you didn't have the sat nav. Perhaps if you bear that in mind, this will cut down on the liklihood of this happening again?

As others have said, you don't have to get off the road and pay the toll. You have until 8pm the next day to do it. You can do it at most newsagents, petrol stations, over the phone or online. If you are going to be doing the trip again, or doing any more consistent driving on roads with tolls, you can set up an account on the eflow website with your bank details. They send you a do-dad to stick on your windscreen. It tracks your passage thru tolls and the amount that you owe is deducted from your bank account each month. You don't have to stop at the tolls to pay. You just zip on thru, and the do-dad on your windscreen takes care of business for you.

djimi

Im still confused as to why your sat nav took you anywhere near a toll booth when it should have taken you up the N7 if travelling from Limerick to the Red Cow...

ProudDUB

I think that the OP would have gotten off the motorway to head towards town/Ballsbridge south of where the toll actually is. Isn't it between the Castleknock and Lucan exits? The OP would have exited the N7 south of there.

But if they then got back on the M50 to head towards Finglas, they would have gone thru the toll once going north, and then once more going south. Using the M50 motorway to get from Ballsbridge to Finglas seems a bit mad to me, but if the OP is not familiar with driving in Dublin, perhaps it was just easier to do what the sat nav said.

OSI wrote: »

Does that sign on the far right of the photo say "Lazy Ass". That's brilliant !:D

maximoose

^I'd imagine it's Eazy Pass :pac:

granturismo

djimi wrote: »

Im still confused as to why your sat nav took you anywhere near a toll booth when it should have taken you up the N7 if travelling from Limerick to the Red Cow...

M7/M8 toll !!!!!!!!!!!!