E-flow demands 300 euro fine for 2 e-toll trips+ tourist scams

N2017

Hello, I am looking for some advice here in relation to 300euro fine for 2 x 3.10euro trips that were made 9 months ago. I have rented a car from car rental company and must have passed through the M50 toll twice and forgot to pay the toll charge.

I have rented the car a few times with the company last year as i was coming to Ireland back and forward, but apparently the rental company had my old address on their system and it did not get updated. On my last return to Ireland i have moved to another address.

So, earlier this month ( september 2017) i was visiting people at the house where i stayed last year and saw the letters stashed in the corner, some of them had my name on it and I collected the post (residents did not know my full name). There were a few letters from e-flow with penalties and charges for an unpaid toll sent in March this year and a couple of letters from their solicitor Pierse and Fitzgibbon followed in August. Now the total claim escalated to 300 euro!

What shocked me was their attitude towards this situation when i contacted e-flow with explanations about incorrect address and that i did not receive the letters until now. They said that this matter is now transferred to their solicitor and i am to deal with them. When i contacted their solicitors they did not want to know my story and told me to pay the full fine or it will go to court.

I called e-flow again to tell them that i have no problem with paying the toll charge only but the fines they are imposing are outrageous and i can not afford paying them and feel unfairly treated. Their rep said there is nothing they can do about the fines and sending the letters to the wrong address as when they enquired with the car rental company about the toll payment , they received my address from that company and i have issues with it i need to contact my car rental agent in relation to this fines now.

What i do not understand is why neither E-flow nor the rental agent tried to call my phone number to notify me of the outstanding balance.
The rental agent has my phone and credit card details on file which they usually use towards any outstanding charges (usually if there are small damages on the car or petrol tank was not filled they would debit a card accordingly) and could of just charged me for the toll at the end of the day or at least called me in relation to it.

I always use the same agent and am a loyal customer and there was never any issues with my rental or their services before. As far as i was concerned i have refunded the car and there was no issues with my rental or outstanding charges on the car at the time as they refunded my deposit in full ( but the credit card details are still in their system). As I did not rent a car with that agent this year i had no way of knowing about an outstanding debt of 6.20euro to e-flow (Im not sure why the agent just gave them the address rather then paying the toll and charging my card, perhaps because the demands for n outstanding charge chame in months later, but even in this case i should of been contacted by the phone) . I have always paid my e-toll passes on the trips and this one must of just slipped by, but I did not even suspect that such a small matter as a 3 euro toll payment could grow into such a huge issue and 300euro fine. I have came back to the country and although a year later but came across the demand letters and am now trying to deal with the situation- what happens to tourists and short term business visitors who are totally unaware of such a corrupted system that is set up to drain their pockets? I guarantee most of visitors are totally confused about this e-flow paying system and with busy schedules it is very easy to forget about the 3 euro toll payments. Since the rental company does not find out about the toll charges till a good while after the car is refunded how are the customers being notified about an outstanding toll charge and what happens if e-flow is unable to access them by their addresses left on the system in rental company? What if their trips to Ireland are recurring - would those poor people get back here just to be rejected at the customs because of thousands in penalties for non payment of a toll charge? Guys, the whole thing is a total confusion, whats worse is having to deal with unsympathetic customer reps and the solicitors who are there to make a quick buck. Isn't it funny how the system is set up to enrich some co-joint companies (the solicitors in this case, as they are there originally to help their client E-flow recover toll charges, but make no exceptions in an attempt to effortlessly increase their cash balance sheets on taxpayers and tourist's back. This agent in the solicitor office i had to deal with is very pressurative for the payment and now calls me every day with the request of the full pay!

So now i am being ping-ponged between the e-flow, their solicitor and a car rental company with neither of them wanting to know or understand my position although it was a genuine mistake made and the change of the address was not even my fault .
Its either pay 300euro fine and shut up or we press for court.
The thing is i happen to believe in justice only somehow the justice here seem to slip away...

Any advice on what i shall do in this situation? I do not agree that i shall pay 300 but will happily pay the original toll charge for the two trips made which is 6.20 according to their prices at the time.

As i have read online before the it goes to court they will continue to increase the fine, second to 700, then it could be 1000 or 1400? What if the judge will make me pay the full sum in court? Plus i travel, and am not even sure if i will be here for the court day, or i may not be able to take out the whole day to go into courts- God knows when it is even going to take place if it comes to that. I feel this is totally unfair and the whole system is set up to get you.

Any suggestions would be much appreciated.

Thank you for your time reading this long letter.

L1011

There are gigantic signs telling you to pay, the law is very well tested by now and they do go to court with effectively 100% success. It would be cheaper to settle with the solicitors than go to court.

The rental company would have been asked to provide address details; there is little reason to expect them to call you. eFlow would not have asked for phone numbers, they work by post.

whippet

The system is simple ... many ways to pay and plenty of signage and warning.

You seem to feel that the whole system should be adjusted to your unique circumstances even though you know very well how the system works.

As mentioned before the have a near perfect success rate when taking this to court.

You slipped up and have to face the consequences now or at a future court date

AndyBoBandy

Also, I know it's no use to you in the above case, but Hertz will pay the toll for you and just charge it back to your payment card.

Avis (and I'd say the others as well) expect you to pay it.

I've been caught a few times with Avis as I've an eFlow tag in my own car, and for the most part would rent from Hertz!

Xterminator

Hi Op

just to say i dont work for eflow, etc.

do you think your position of only being willing to pay 6.20 is reasonable given your failure to pay on time? do you accept the cost should be higher for people who 'forget to pay' for 9 months?

It seems to be your position you should not have to pay more than the tolls & that is unreasonable.

do you think eflow should have behaved differently in this case? You didn't pay, and they mailed the address that was on file with the rental car company to advise it was outstanding. when this was ignored they passed it to their solicitors/debt collectors. Is it their fault if the address was not valid?

Again their actions seem reasonable to me.

I think you need to look in the mirror in this case OP.

Sam Kade

Just pay the fine and that will be the end of it.

HurlingRanker

I've twice been caught out by the M50 toll (100% my fault, not blaming eFlow!)

Both times I realised I had forgotten to pay about a week later, and on both occasions I contacted eFlow via twitter and they agreed to waive the fines upon payment of the original toll fees. They're generally excellent to deal with in my experience providing you're not taking the piss.

And I'm sorry, but 9 months is kind of taking the piss...

return guide

N2017 wrote: »

but apparently the rental company had my old address on their system and it did not get updated.
the change of the address was not even my fault .
.

You would have signed a contract for the car hire and your details would have printed on this including your address. This you failed to correct.

So you failed to pay the toll and failed to put the correct address on your car hire contract but you feel you are being scammed ?

Sam Kade

HurlingRanker wrote: »

I've twice been caught out by the M50 toll (100% my fault, not blaming eFlow!)

Both times I realised I had forgotten to pay about a week later, and on both occasions I contacted eFlow via twitter and they agreed to waive the fines upon payment of the original toll fees. They're generally excellent to deal with in my experience providing you're not taking the piss.

And I'm sorry, but 9 months is kind of taking the piss...

I call bs, if you forget to pay by the deadline you have to wait for the letter and pay with penalties.

https://www.eflow.ie/help-guidance/faqs/penalties/im-not-sure-if-ive-missed/

dudara

Sam Kade wrote: »

I call bs, if you forget to pay by the deadline you have to wait for the letter and pay with penalties.

https://www.eflow.ie/help-guidance/faqs/penalties/im-not-sure-if-ive-missed/

I've received solicitors letters from eFlow twice in past, both times were when I had bought new cars but the letters belonged to the previous owner. In both cases, I contacted eFlow and they arranged for the fees to be cancelled with no fuss.

I've also had to contact them in the past with other questions and issues, and I've always found their customer service to be excellent. They have rules and procedures, but they're also pragmatic.

ytpe2r5bxkn0c1

Sam Kade wrote: »

I call bs, if you forget to pay by the deadline you have to wait for the letter and pay with penalties.

https://www.eflow.ie/help-guidance/faqs/penalties/im-not-sure-if-ive-missed/

Not at all, I know a couple of people who phoned up weeks later and got the same arrangement. I have always found them excellent to deal with.

HurlingRanker

Sam Kade wrote: »

I call bs, if you forget to pay by the deadline you have to wait for the letter and pay with penalties.

https://www.eflow.ie/help-guidance/faqs/penalties/im-not-sure-if-ive-missed/

Edit: Ah sure feck it, I'll post proof. Happy to retract your statement now? Or do you want to try and make out I went to the bother of photoshopping this or something? :rolleyes: eFlow email screenshot

Seriously, the cynicism on the Consumer Issues forum is mind boggling at times.

Cabaal

Amusing to actually read the OP, the fault is the op's and rather than own up and admit that paying even a percentage of the fine would be reasonable...nope, they should only pay 6.20.
You ignored the MASSIVE signs, you didn't update your address to the correct address...this isn't anyone else's fault. neither is eflow not calling you as they do not operate like this if you don't pay the toll by 8pm.

Cabaal

Sam Kade wrote: »

I call bs, if you forget to pay by the deadline you have to wait for the letter and pay with penalties.

https://www.eflow.ie/help-guidance/faqs/penalties/im-not-sure-if-ive-missed/

I've missed the 8pm deadline at least 4-5 times, (I've since setup a video account)

Every single time I just went online and paid it like a normal toll payment without any penalty. No issues :pac:

cms88

Where's the issue here?

Sam Kade

HurlingRanker wrote: »

Edit: Ah sure feck it, I'll post proof. Happy to retract your statement now? Or do you want to try and make out I went to the bother of photoshopping this or something? :rolleyes: eFlow email screenshot

Seriously, the cynicism on the Consumer Issues forum is mind boggling at times.

Fair enough, no need to get your knickers in a twist over it.

HurlingRanker

Sam Kade wrote: »

Fair enough, no need to get your knickers in a twist over it.

You were wrong, get over it. Don't accuse people of lying if you're not willing to accept being challenged on it, simple as that.

Snotty

It's not a nice bill to be left with, but pay it and move on.

etolls have been very good in the past when I forgot to pay, I've done it 3 or 4 times and if I contact them within a week or two, they have waved the extra fines.

Vic_08

Sam Kade wrote: »

Fair enough, no need to get your knickers in a twist over it.

Pathetic.

You called the guy a liar and when proved wrong instead of just admitting it like any decent person would you post this crap.

dudara

Posters - enough. You know what they say about arguing on the internet. Focus on addressing the topic on hand instead of fighting with each other

dudara

Ultimate Seduction

Ignore it. You won't go to court. I ignored all the letters including solicitors ones 2 years ago, nothing came of it.

cms88

Ultimate Seduction wrote: »

Ignore it. You won't go to court. I ignored all the letters including solicitors ones 2 years ago, nothing came of it.

Good to see boards still turns a blind eye this sort of ''advice''

Ultimate Seduction

cms88 wrote:

Good to see boards still turns a blind eye this sort of ''advice''

No need for the scaremongering when nothing will come of it. You'd like boards to be censored?

cms88

Ultimate Seduction wrote: »

No need for the scaremongering when nothing will come of it. You'd like boards to be censored?

You're encouraging someone not to pay a fine that they're at fault for.

Ultimate Seduction

cms88 wrote:

You're encouraging someone not to pay a fine that they're at fault for.

The OP has already decided they're not going to pay for it! I'm just letting them know that nothing will come of it. They won't take you to court over it.

GhostyMcGhost

Ultimate Seduction wrote: »

The OP has already decided they're not going to pay for it! I'm just letting them know that nothing will come of it. They won't take you to court over it.

no, they didn't take you to court over it. That does not mean its safe to say they will not take anyone to court for it

BTW 2 years is a short time frame if the courts are pretty backlogged (which they often are) so i'd be expecting the postman soon

If you dont pay or go to court they will get a judgement and they will get the sheriff to enforce
https://www.irishtimes.com/news/ireland/irish-news/more-than-170-vehicles-seized-due-to-unpaid-m50-tolls-1.3145373

Wabbit Ears

I got a fine in the post to my company and I didnt get the first letter forwarded to me (fleet car). I got the second letter with the increased fine and argued with our facilities girl that I never got the first fine.

Long story short she rang Eflow, Said I'd never recieved the first late payment notice and they waived the second fine so I only had to pay for the first one.

Theyre very nice to deal with and very reasonable.

Ultimate Seduction

GhostyMcGhost wrote:

BTW 2 years is a short time frame if the courts are pretty backlogged (which they often are) so i'd be expecting the postman soon

No, I won't be expecting it anytime soon. I also drove through it twice in 2011. What pleasure do you get from scaremongering? Trying to scare me now saying the postman will be on. The laugh is on the fools that pay it.

L1011

Ultimate Seduction wrote: »

No, I won't be expecting it anytime soon. I also drove through it twice in 2011. What pleasure do you get from scaremongering? Trying to scare me now saying the postman will be on. The laugh is on the fools that pay it.

The number of people who have been taken to court is quite large.

There is every chance that you will find yourself there soon.

You are giving dangerous, inaccurate "advice". Stop.

Ultimate Seduction

L1011 wrote:

You are giving dangerous, inaccurate "advice". Stop.

I'm simply telling the op my experience. I didn't pay it and nothing Did, or will come of it. Maybe using it multiple times will result in court, but not for 2 unpaid tolls. Not a hope

L1011

Ultimate Seduction wrote: »

I'm simply telling the op my experience. I didn't pay it and nothing Did, or will come of it. Maybe using it multiple times will result in court, but not for 2 unpaid tolls. Not a hope

Your experience is not borne out by the vast number of people who have been taken to court.

Do not post this "advice" again.

Ultimate Seduction

And ghosty, the link you showed proves my point. SERIAL offenders, one of them drive though it 1600 times. Me and op did it twice! Stop with the scaremongering!

L1011

Ultimate Seduction wrote: »

And ghosty, the link you showed proves my point. SERIAL offenders, one of them drive though it 1600 times. Me and op did it twice! Stop with the scaremongering!

Stop posting on this thread.

donegal.

the opening post is quite long so i might have missed it, But where is the scam?

cms88

Ultimate Seduction wrote: »

I'm simply telling the op my experience. I didn't pay it and nothing Did, or will come of it. Maybe using it multiple times will result in court, but not for 2 unpaid tolls. Not a hope

Seeing as you can tell the future, why don't you tell us the numbers for the lotto?

cms88

donegal. wrote: »

the opening post is quite long so i might have missed it, But where is the scam?

There's none. Just another person trying to get out of paying something

redcup342

300 euro fine for not paying 6.20 ?

Bloody hell and you people in Ireland put up with that ?

Seems a bit excessive for a small error, especially with barrier free tolling.

What about all the people that visit Ireland that don't speak or understand written English ?

dudara

@Ultimate Seduction - warned for ignoring mod instruction

@cms88 - if you have a problem with a post, please report it using the Report Post functionality so that a mod can deal with it

dudara

N2017

Cabaal, i had the car rented till mid of November then i refunded it and took the same car a few days later for another few weeks till beginning of December. I was never notified by car rental company about the outstanding charge on e- flow. Then i was abroad and came back in the new year and rented a place at a different address so my address has changed. I did not rent the car with this company after so why would i need to update my address with them? When i gave the car back they did not raise any issues and refunded the deposit.

Dates on letters from e-flow were for months later, so obviously they have contacted the company after a while. I could of not known that there were demands for payments because i had a different address and no-one has personally tried to contact me by phone to let me know of it. I came across all the letters 9 months later only because i visited people at the old address and they have kept some of the old the post from people who lived there before? otherwise i wouldn't even find out about the fines, etc...I called e-flow and their solicitor as soon as i found out.
I i knew there were charges for e-flow from the beginning i would of paid them straight away, and even with a penalty of 40 quid, but e-flow have passed it on to their solicitors and their are not that all open to negotiations.

I do not disagree with people that e-flow could of retracted their penalty fines and let them pay the original charge. In my case because i rang them 9 months later they have already passed it onto their solicitors and solicitors are looking for their fees and charges including of e-flow penalties. The thing is what if i have never received those letters? And I am sure in some cases with tourists or business visitors to this country this does take place. People's circumstances change all the time. A person may supply their work address and then move job or department and never receive those letters. So the client unknowingly would rack up the bills in fines to thousands and then the court order, and then get a criminal offence record in this country? That would of been some expensive trip!
The reason im raising this issue here is that this situations do happen! And the attitude of e-flows solicitors ( and they are by the way are supposed to represent the client to recover original money for the services provided ) can be very distressing. What i was trying to show is that the system is somewhere broken. You guys live in Ireland, almost 9 mln tourists came to the country this year ( that's what i ve heard on the radio so don't beat me up here if the figure is incorrect), surely at least half of them passed the toll. And things do happen, looking for a foreigner to pay 300 fine over a 3 euro charge a few months later and purely by their postal address does not seem very fair to me. If i found out years later by a chance that i had a traffic offender record and thousands in penalties just from a 3 euro toll charge this would probably leave a very bitter taste in my mouth and bad impression about the country.

I posted here to get some advice, and thank you all for your replies as i see from the them that e-flow's solicitors always succeed in courts and i guess by the time it gets to courts this whole issue could escalate to thousands, so, yes, i am better off paying the charges off now, before it got any worse and just put this bad experience behind me. Thanks all.

I will try Hertz next time, thank you for that advice too.

N2017

donegal. wrote: »

the opening post is quite long so i might have missed it, But where is the scam?

Donegal read my post for 29th of september. This barrier free system for e-flow although is convenient but can make tourists very confused, and the way they try to recover their toll charges together with penalties and solicitors fees by threatening people with courts ( trying to get more money playing on client's fear ) is a scam to me. The solicitors and e-flow make more money on fines and charges rather than the barrier itself.
I am not a regular offender and made a genuine small error, as im sure most of tourists do - I have been coming to Ireland back and forward for quiet a bit and previously lived here to happened to know the country a bit better than occasional tourists do.

I previously worked in construction sector and we were owed large amounts of money by our main contractors, in some instances up to 100K and would not get paid for months, and on occasion for over a year! (doesn't matter how hard you pursued them for payment they always found a way to delay it) and our solicitor was there to purely recover the money. We paid the solicitor for their service to recover the money owed -it never got to courts (well, one of the contractors filed for bankruptcy and never paid for services provided, and it was a very large sum of money too - the court thing was little too late, but at the time most of subcontractors got done) but neither did we ever charge solicitors fees and penalties for delay of the payments to our clients. Because this was part of the way things were done in Ireland at the time - it was hard to get the money from the builders, but you also had to be there either way and work if you wanted to continue getting future contracts and keep your job( they would of easily get another company to do the work and come up with the reason to skim the payment). So we had to just put up with the late payments and slowly recover our money. Thats the way things were done before the recession and probably are still done now because this is the game of this business. Neither the less nobody complained.

In the instance with e-flow things are set up pretty nicely to make hefty collections, same as with clamping system by the way, is it because it is tied in to the Road Authority that people have to put up with it without no exceptions... in my case : pay up or go to court and then pay 10 times more feels a bit bureaucratic really.

java

N2017 wrote: »

In the instance with e-flow things are set up pretty nicely to make hefty collections, same as with clamping system by the way, is it because it is tied in to the Road Authority that people have to put up with it without no exceptions... in my case : pay up or go to court and then pay 10 times more feels a bit bureaucratic really.

It is unfortunate at this point that the amount you owe is so large, however, this is all your own doing. There is no 'tourist scam' here. You didn't pay for 2 journeys and also provided an incorrect address. Eflow, and any other provider, are entitled to get paid for a service they provide. The harsh reality is you should pay up and move on.

N2017

java wrote: »

It is unfortunate at this point that the amount you owe is so large, however, this is all your own doing. There is no 'tourist scam' here. You didn't pay for 2 journeys and also provided an incorrect address. Eflow, and any other provider, are entitled to get paid for a service they provide. The harsh reality is you should pay up and move on.

Java, you must be e-flow's agent...

How is it my own doing? It just does not make sense what you are saying.

1. I provided address i used at the time of my car rental, but e-flow must of contacted rental company in a couple of months, my address has changed at that stage.

2. I rented a car good few times last year every time i refunded the car there was no issue with my rental.
The same, I refunded the car in mid November. E-flow letter clearly states that the trip was made sometime between 1st and 11th of November ( they do not say exact date and time but it does not matter as i had the rental car during that period of time, i have no issue with that). The thing is when i was in car rental company office i gave the car back and they run all their usual checks on the system and had no problem with my rental, and prolonged the renting contract again, I think I had the same car with the same reg. but am not sure (i have a slip somewhere i can check) for another 2-3 weeks so i still was around for a while and they could of notified me at that stage there was a toll charge. When i gave the car back in december i did not use renting service after but they had my details, phone number and credit card on file.
This shows that e-flow contacted car rental company a good while after my rental contract was finished, perhaps, some months after ( letters i have start from 4th of March) The point here is that obviously it took e-flow good while to look for the toll charge and contact car rental company, and the car rental company instead of covering the charge or getting back to me on it just gave them the address they had on file.
The thing is -i have move on to a new address since then. So how would i know that there was a toll charge outstanding and all those letters being sent to the address.

So there was timing issue and also lack of proper communication with the client.

Someone have previously mentioned that i should of contacted the car rental company and updated my address. But since i gave the car back in december 2016 i did not use their service, when they took it back they did not bring up any issues (if they did i would of course pay any amount outstanding, do you honestly anyone would want to have problems over a charge that is equivalent to a price for a cup of coffee?).
When you buy something on e-bay or amazon and provide your address for delivery, or, even, say, avail of the service ( call in a builder to fix something in the house), than receive your delivery or service and after a while, say, you move your address - do you go call back all your suppliers, or shops, or whichever companies you have used or bought goods from to let them know of your new address (in case if you do not need to use their service or re-order any more) ? Or if you do decide to avail of the same service in the future again, do you go in and THEN use your new address or update it on the system?

Now, think about how many people could of run into the same problem with e-flow that i happen to run into? Especially , those living abroad?

N2017

This is not about THE AMOUNT, it is about HOW we are being treated! People, hello, Im banging my head against the wall here...

L1011

N2017 wrote: »

Java, you must be e-flow's agent...

Do not accuse posters of working for companies. If you have concerns, report them. In this case there is nothing to back up your assumption.

N2017 wrote: »

How is it my own doing?

You ignored massive, massive signage about a toll.

There is a personal responsibility to be taken when driving, anywhere. You didn't do research in advance and didn't pay attention when driving.

If you really do want to go to court, the address change after the incident may work in your favour; but you are going to need a solicitor (you won't get costs for this) and will realistically still have to pay the first level fine of ~50 a toll.

N2017

L1011 wrote: »

Do not accuse posters of working for companies. If you have concerns, report them. In this case there is nothing to back up your assumption.



You ignored massive, massive signage about a toll.

There is a personal responsibility to be taken when driving, anywhere. You didn't do research in advance and didn't pay attention when driving.

If you really do want to go to court, the address change after the incident may work in your favour; but you are going to need a solicitor (you won't get costs for this) and will realistically still have to pay the first level fine of ~50 a toll.

Are you telling me that tourists coming to this country shall do hours or days of research about the implications and legal matters for non-payment of a "toll" existence of which they are not even aware of?

What are " massive, massive signage" exactly ? demanding
letters with penalties and threats with courts for non payment of 2 toll trips (e are talking about 6 euro here, could of been as well 5 cent) that were released months after car rental took place and went to wrong address?

and who do you work for L1011? e flows solicitors? you repeating posts ring bells
Are there any ordinary non- related to e-flow participants on this forum?

L1011

N2017 wrote: »

Are you telling me that tourists coming to this country shall do hours or days of research about the implications and legal matters for non-payment of a "toll" existence of which they are not even aware of?

What are " massive, massive signage" exactly ? demanding
letters with penalties and threats with courts for non payment of 2 toll trips (e are talking about 6 euro here, could of been as well 5 cent) that were released months after car rental took place and went to wrong address?

and who do you work for L1011? e flows solicitors? you repeating posts ring bells
Are there any ordinary non- related to e-flow participants on this forum?

Tourists need to make themselves aware of the laws of where they are driving.

If you have driven the M50 and paid attention you will see the signage about the tolls. They are huge - if you didn't see them, you shouldn't be driving as you are clearly inattentive. They give clear instruction on how to pay.

Speculation or accusations about potential employers is not allowed here. You were warned already.


You may want to consider how implausible a situation it is that every single poster who disagrees with you could possibly work for what is not a particularly large company before making such an accusation again. Also, such an accusation again will result in further moderation action.

Tom Mann Centuria

N2017 wrote: »

Are you telling me that tourists coming to this country shall do hours or days of research about the implications and legal matters for non-payment of a "toll" existence of which they are not even aware of?

What are " massive, massive signage" exactly ? demanding
letters with penalties and threats with courts for non payment of 2 toll trips (e are talking about 6 euro here, could of been as well 5 cent) that were released months after car rental took place and went to wrong address?

and who do you work for L1011? e flows solicitors? you repeating posts ring bells
Are there any ordinary non- related to e-flow participants on this forum?

If the tourists have come from a first world country they will understand the notion of tolls, also the implications of non payment penalties forthcoming if they don't pay. Toll roads are not an Irish thing, so I'd give tourists more credit.

I think there could be better signage, or at least a couple of reminder signs further along the road.

Sorry you have a big bill but no one here ran it up, or is chasing you for it, so I think your anger is misplaced.

The only relations I have with e flow are paying my tolls.

endacl

N2017 wrote: »

What are " massive, massive signage" exactly ?

N2017

Look guys, i agree that the signage on m50 is quite visible. People have busy lives and may just get distracted and forget about ringing up and paying the toll ( as in my case- it was just a small unintentional error and can happen to anyone). And i have no problem with paying for toll trips either. You are talking about me now as if i was a regular offender and refused to pay the toll. I was not hiding or ignoring the letters either and contacted e flow and their solicitor straight away, and i did give them my new address and phone number (so i am not hiding or trying to avoid them). It is just happened that i went into my old place of address and recovered that post that was there, perhaps i was lucky to find out about toll charges at this still early stage ( this thing could of expanded into thousands?), or as i guess, if i have never found out i would of gotten a judgement against me and an offence on the system + all penalties and charges , solicitors and court expenses.
As was already advised above in earlier posts, even finding out about the toll charges and penalties incurred is not much use to me either if i did decide to go to court and argue my case as I would stand a very slim chance in winning this matter. This system seems bureaucratic as it is based on scaring "so called offenders" into paying huge charges regardless of their circumstances and what's right or wrong because people would be afraid to test it as no one wants to end up with thousands in fines over such a small initial charge, so to me it feels unjust.

And perhaps car rental companies and the road authority could liaise with their customers a bit better and come up with a better and more fair system in recovering their toll charges.

Regards

joeysoap

N2017 wrote: »

And perhaps car rental companies and the road authority could liaise with their customers a bit better and come up with a better and more fair system in recovering their toll charges.

Regards

I rent a car in the Algarve maybe twice a year. Different companies have different policies but the basics are the same for motorway tolls. Some charge €5 for the 'transponder' and the actual tolls incurred. Some charge €15 which includes €10 in tolls and if you exceed this they charge in €5/€10 bands and not as you actually incurred. The company I usually rent from take a deposit of €20 and if you use the motorway at all they keep the €20. (If you don't use it they refund the €20 on return of the car. It's an honour system, they take your word for it and return the credit card slip at the same time).

* There could be up to 4/5 gantrys on on the motorway between the airport and resort. Some as low as .50c some over a Euro. They are generally every 10/15 Kms.

Would that work here?

redcup342

L1011 wrote: »

Tourists need to make themselves aware of the laws of where they are driving.

If you have driven the M50 and paid attention you will see the signage about the tolls. They are huge - if you didn't see them, you shouldn't be driving as you are clearly inattentive. They give clear instruction on how to pay.

Speculation or accusations about potential employers is not allowed here. You were warned already.


You may want to consider how implausible a situation it is that every single poster who disagrees with you could possibly work for what is not a particularly large company before making such an accusation again. Also, such an accusation again will result in further moderation action.

Yeah but the fine is completely disproportionate.

I mean come on ... 300 euros !! that's crazy!!

It's almost the same cost as running a red light in Germany !