The M50 Barrier Free Tolling Thread

rustbucket · 28-04-2009 12:28PM

have been on the phone to both Eflow and the solicitors all morning.

Neither are budging. Eflow say its now off their records and they cant access it and the solicitors are well.... just not keen on coming to a compromise.

I offered to pay the initial fine of €40 for my forgetfullnes. I really believe that a further increase of €100 is absolutely scandalous and certainly warrants at least a phone call from eflow before it is escalated to this level.

Granted, it is my fault but what if your letter gets lost in the post, or you move house in the process?

Anyway im already thinking that it will be a painfull process so am gonna bite the bullet and pay it.

boarddotie · 28-04-2009 12:43PM

rustbucket wrote: »

have been on the phone to both Eflow and the solicitors all morning.

Neither are budging. Eflow say its now off their records and they cant access it and the solicitors are well.... just not keen on coming to a compromise.

I offered to pay the initial fine of €40 for my forgetfullnes. I really believe that a further increase of €100 is absolutely scandalous and certainly warrants at least a phone call from eflow before it is escalated to this level.

Granted, it is my fault but what if your letter gets lost in the post, or you move house in the process?

Anyway im already thinking that it will be a painfull process so am gonna bite the bullet and pay it.

They are very Paisley about the whole thing (i.e. No Compromise) but if you had a case whereby it was somehow an e-flow error it would definitely be worth persuing. The €100 addition is steep but its a good deterrant and a warning to us to be so so careful when paying. I know if I ever go through M50 again and when I pay it I will be looking for receipts, getting the names and shoe sizes of the people I speak with, everything in writing, making sure phone calls are logged etc.

Lenny · 28-04-2009 01:02PM

boarddotie wrote: »

Just pay it. I was in a similar situation a while back. Some background:

I have now paid one full €146 that they claim I owe but technically I should just owe a €6 from the start. I felt bullied into it and the only thing that could support my case was an record with the e-flow call centre of me having made the phone call to them and them saying that my account was fine, and it was their error. No such record exists they tell me. So I was willing to take my chances in court if it ever came to court but to have a properly defended case etc would cost me more monetarily and more in trauma and worry. So i just pay the gaddam thing and I think you should do the same. It was your fault and as bad and inefficient as their system is, we have to be realistic here.

This is the exzact same thing that happened me.
I paid the first 6 euro by lazerit was a day late or so
got all the fines, rang up. spoke to an english johnny and told me there was an error in the system and paid another 6 euro.
paid that by visa, then got an appeal rejected in the post. rang up again told the fines still stand there was no record of the last call about the error, was told they'd clear the fines if i setup an acocunt with them.
didn'thave details and called back to set it up, and low and behold it was passed to the solictors the day I was last talking to them about clearing the fines.
expect from the looks of things 146 fine x 2 for non payment.
Now I have went o the bank got the statements reprinted off,
spent about 2.5 hours on the phone in total and time quing up in the bank
after paying 12 quid for at the start was 2 journeys, and now they want a further 146 x 2 ? like I mean, where the hell has my orgional 12quid went?!
I am either going to write to the solictors and refuse to pay anymore with the statements, or else aggree to pay it back but in installments of maybe 5-10 per week which they should not be able to refuse(but this makes me ammit to the fine) so dono what to do yet.

niceirishfella · 28-04-2009 01:03PM

rustbucket wrote: »

Granted, it is my fault but what if your letter gets lost in the post, or you move house in the process?

Anyway im already thinking that it will be a painfull process so am gonna bite the bullet and pay it.

I think OP you've found your answer. Pay the €40 stating you never got any letters and ask where they sent recorded mail?
If they can't prove they were, tell them to go to hell.
The onus is on them to prove it. Simple.
You'll never spend a second in court over it.
and if you do, you'd win anyways.

Lenny · 28-04-2009 01:05PM

niceirishfella wrote: »

I think OP you've found your answer. Pay the €40 stating you never got any letters and ask where they sent recorded mail?
If they can't prove they were, tell them to go to hell.
The onus is on them to prove it. Simple.
You'll never spend a second in court over it.
and if you do, you'd win anyways.

I was going to do this trick (as I have not recieved the solictors letter yet)
But I work in a debt collecting agency and this trick... does not really work at all,
they do have thigns logged on when letters were sent out, fair enough fi the first one got lost, they'll send another reminding letter after the 7 days..

Seth Brundle · 28-04-2009 01:21PM

Lenny wrote: »

Now I have went o the bank got the statements reprinted off,
spent about 2.5 hours on the phone in total and time quing up in the bank
after paying 12 quid for at the start was 2 journeys

Isn't it great how barrier free tolling saved you time

boarddotie · 28-04-2009 01:44PM

Lenny wrote: »

rang up. spoke to an english johnny and told me there was an error in the system and paid another 6 euro.
paid that by visa, then got an appeal rejected in the post. rang up again told the fines still stand there was no record of the last call about the error,

Similar to me then, whereby the record of the call didnt exist even though I had a print out from my Meteor a/c to say I had rang the number on a certain time and day. Without me having the proof from there side I had nothing. I wonder are they conveniently 'losing' records of these calls because in fairness to them when I rang up they handily had records of all the other calls I made (the more recent non-NB ones).

niceirishfella · 28-04-2009 02:03PM

Lenny wrote: »

But I work in a debt collecting agency and this trick... does not really work at all,
they do have thigns logged on when letters were sent out, .

lenny, you're talking Bollix mate. It's not about sending out letters, its about them arriving in the hands of the proper addressee.

Our man in Havana · 28-04-2009 02:18PM

Also debt collectors have no powers in law.

Lenny · 28-04-2009 02:19PM

Its in our own intrest to make sure we get our hands on these letters
as because as the case it works when someone has no intentions of paying back there loan and there letters go "missing" the next call is someone on the door hand delivering a summons,
but this is for ammounts in the thousands and not for this type of relation
still dono what to do with the fine myself..
never thought of the meteor bill too, will be reprinting that

niceirishfella · 28-04-2009 03:34PM

Bond-007 wrote: »

Also debt collectors have no powers in law.

that, and the fact they are scummy spivs.:D

Sizzler · 28-04-2009 09:26PM

rustbucket wrote: »

have been on the phone to both Eflow and the solicitors all morning.

Neither are budging. Eflow say its now off their records and they cant access it and the solicitors are well.... just not keen on coming to a compromise.

I offered to pay the initial fine of €40 for my forgetfullnes. I really believe that a further increase of €100 is absolutely scandalous and certainly warrants at least a phone call from eflow before it is escalated to this level.

Granted, it is my fault but what if your letter gets lost in the post, or you move house in the process?

Anyway im already thinking that it will be a painfull process so am gonna bite the bullet and pay it.

Complain to the NRA and keep a copy of the letter that you are going to send them.:)

boarddotie wrote: »

I had fought my 'case' for 6 weeks now and got one of my €146 cancelled. There was no rolling over by me. It was more of a very very slow flop...

Can't believe you paid these clowns, for NOTHING. What I don't get is you came on here aksing for advice and although you did the toing and froing for a few weeks you still paid them

They are taking joe public to the cleaners. If I were you and felt as strongly as you did about the farcical experience you had I would have went to the newspapers and I bet you it would have been sorted same day.

Seth Brundle · 28-04-2009 11:00PM

saw this link in a thread in the Commuting & Transport forum
http://www.rate-your-solicitor.com/index.php?section=details&id=10364
Pierse & Fitzgibbon come very highly rated. Not!

unkel · 29-04-2009 12:43AM

kbannon wrote: »

saw this link in a thread in the Commuting & Transport forum
http://www.rate-your-solicitor.com/index.php?section=details&id=10364
Pierse & Fitzgibbon come very highly rated. Not!

One of the worst ratings in the country according to that link! :eek:

One could only wonder why the owners decided to go into business with the tolls company. Maybe it is based on very profitable projections of collecting "debts"?

Maybe bullying and threatening people into paying fines works?

None of this is true. I'm only speculating a "what if" situation of course.

How can we make sure the first court case is published on this thread if it ever happens?

Our man in Havana · 29-04-2009 12:52AM

How can we make sure the first court case is published on this thread if it ever happens?

The indo and/or the evening herald will surely oblige with a propaganda report, full of inaccurate information of course.

Capt'n Midnight · 29-04-2009 01:48AM

kbannon wrote: »

When threatened, its easy to believe that solicitors are in the right!

it's also the economics trying to fight a €149 bill would probably cost as much especially if you add in the grief and stress

it's paramount to emotional blackmail, don't forget the politicians used our money to pay for this :mad:

briana7214 · 30-04-2009 03:08AM

buddy of mine has gotten two bills from these guys and he's never been to Dublin !

never even left Munster (not by car anyway:D)

Capt'n Midnight · 30-04-2009 02:09PM

Out of curiousity, are we now seeing people driving on fake plates ?
In the UK the practice of using the license number of a car similar to your make and model was so common that you need proof of ownership of the car to get a plate made up. Over here it's a little easier.

How would you prove you didn't use the M50 on that day, especially since 1 in 4 cars in the country are only a short distance from it ?

All too easy to check the marks car for the absence of a fob.

Our man in Havana · 30-04-2009 02:20PM

Capt'n Midnight wrote: »

Out of curiousity, are we now seeing people driving on fake plates ?
In the UK the practice of using the license number of a car similar to your make and model was so common that you need proof of ownership of the car to get a plate made up. Over here it's a little easier.

How would you prove you didn't use the M50 on that day, especially since 1 in 4 cars in the country are only a short distance from it ?

All too easy to check the marks car for the absence of a fob.

What started happening in the UK was the people started stealing the actual plates. The UK police now advise people who have had their plates stolen to apply to the DVLA for a new number.

Here, anyone can walk into a motor factors and get any plate they like made up without proof they own the number concerned.

As regarding comparing the dents etc, how much detail do the photos held by the NRA show? Would they be good enough? I doubt it.

Lenny · 30-04-2009 02:30PM

Bond-007 wrote: »

What started happening in the UK was the people started stealing the actual plates. The UK police now advise people who have had their plates stolen to apply to the DVLA for a new number.

Here, anyone can walk into a motor factors and get any plate they like made up without proof they own the number concerned.

As regarding comparing the dents etc, how much detail do the photos held by the NRA show? Would they be good enough? I doubt it.

I surely doubt any motor factors would make up plate for anyone over the counter without the logbook..
its a law over here too, and also the machines that make the reg plates store all the plates its ever made.. but no body ever checks up on them..

Our man in Havana · 30-04-2009 02:34PM

I surely doubt any motor factors would make up plate for anyone over the counter without the logbook..

You most certainly can.
Maybe some plate makers are now being responsible and ask for proof and keep records?

niceirishfella · 30-04-2009 03:00PM

Lenny wrote: »

I surely doubt any motor factors would make up plate for anyone over the counter without the logbook..

yeah.............right.:rolleyes::pac:

Lenny · 30-04-2009 03:42PM

Well the garage I work in, I'd never make any plates for anyone without proof

Our man in Havana · 30-04-2009 03:57PM

Good for you.

Seth Brundle · 01-05-2009 10:52PM

Capt'n Midnight wrote: »

How would you prove you didn't use the M50 on that day, especially since 1 in 4 cars in the country are only a short distance from it ?

Surely the onus is on them to prove that you did use the bridge? Otherwise, they could send letters out to anyone and everyone claiming that they used the bridge.
Oh wait!

Our man in Havana · 01-05-2009 11:01PM

The AA have an opinion here.

Court cases pending

With the system now up and running for eight months there are quite a number of motorists who have reached the stage of receiving solicitors’ letters threatening court action. Unfair as it is on those people part of me hopes that they wind up being taken to court. The NRA and the various subcontractors are likely to find themselves seriously embarrassed and chastised by the process.

But it is better still to get the problem fixed. I will be bringing the matter directly to the attention of Transport Minister Noel Dempsey and I hope that he can compel the parties involved to get it sorted as a matter of urgency.

Even the AA reckons they are on a hiding to nothing.

moneymouth77 · 06-05-2009 10:20AM

and that's what you get for it, a stupid system that is unproven and a little too clever for its own good. what was wrong with the good, old fashioned toll booth?

R.O.R · 06-05-2009 10:27AM

moneymouth77 wrote: »

and that's what you get for it, a stupid system that is unproven and a little too clever for its own good. what was wrong with the good, old fashioned toll booth?

30 - 45 minute delays to get through.

niceirishfella · 06-05-2009 10:44AM

Lenny wrote: »

Well the garage I work in, I'd never make any plates for anyone without proof

You're an exeption:D

moneymouth77 · 06-05-2009 11:26AM

R.O.R wrote: »

30 - 45 minute delays to get through.

There must be some middle ground though

what about those flip-a-coin bucket thingies...

The M50 Barrier Free Tolling Thread

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