MR

I'm so ticked off right now I can't see straight... We don't have toll roads where I live, and they are still pretty foreign to me. The last few rentals I had in Chicago had I-Passes, and at first I thought the one I drove during MR Fest II had one too, but I didn't see a sticker. I ended up blowing thru some of the tolls as a result, probably 7 or 8. No problem I thought, I called the rental company when I got back because I forgot to mention it when I turned the car in. They told me that I would be liable for the tolls, so I mentioned having seen a sign on the freeway that said if you missed tolls, you had 10 days to pay. They said not to worry about that, that the bill would be sent to Alamo anyway and they would just charge me back for it. I asked if there would be fines and how much, and he said $10. I asked if that was per missed toll because I specifically wanted to make sure it was taken care of before anything bad happened, and he said no -- just a fixed $10. So I said ok, fair enough - just send me a bill, and I did nothing else.

A few weeks later I get that letter from Alamo letting me know about the missed tolls and the $10 "administration charge" -- BUT, also letting me know they'd given my contact information over to Illinois to pursue collection directly from me. So the $10 was not to cover the tolls at all! It was just Alamo's fee to pass the buck and let me get shanked afterwards. I've tried to call Alamo's "Violations" dept. about 15 times and all I get is a voicemail saying that I need to leave a message. Also tried to call the Illinois Tollway directly and got them right after hours of something. I'm too busy for that crap.

So today, I get a nice letter from the Illinois Tollway telling me I owe them $164.20 ($20 fine per missed toll), and that if I don't pay or request a hearing within 21 days (from June 4th), that they'll add ANOTHER $50 per freaking violation! You're talking about close to $500 for less than $5.00 in missed tolls! I'm about ready to strangle someone right now, and I just don't have time to deal with this B.S.

To add insult to injury, I placed an order with the Queensryche Store last month and ended up getting double-charged for it -- second charge came 3 weeks later. I left them a voicemail days ago and haven't heard back. If they'd put out a decent album in the last 8 or so, I might cut 'em some slack, but I'm getting pissed off and Geoff Tate does not want to see me when I'm angry!

Anyway, do any of the Chicago folks here have any advice about how to deal with the tolls, or am I screwed and need to cut them a check before it gets worse? The letter seems worded in a way that makes it sound like there aren't any excuses, loopholes, or acts of mercy on this. Any advice would be much appreciated.

They got me for 6 missed tolls about 2 years ago and I had to fork over $120+the cost of the tolls. Pay it. There's no way around it.

Plus some of those tollway exits in Elgin had nothing but automated stations that took coins only -- if you had no change in the car, you had no choice but to run it if you were a tourist without a toll tag. Seems like an effed up system to me. Or a system that produces the desired result -- ginormous fines for the out-of-state chumps.

DrFU wrote:Plus some of those tollway exits in Elgin had nothing but automated stations that took coins only -- if you had no change in the car, you had no choice but to run it if you were a tourist without a toll tag. Seems like an effed up system to me. Or a system that produces the desired result -- ginormous fines for the out-of-state chumps.

... or toll booths that ate your fucking coins and still didn't give you credit!

Saint John wrote:They got me for 6 missed tolls about 2 years ago and I had to fork over $120+the cost of the tolls. Pay it. There's no way around it.

Thanks, I appreciate the advice man. Luckily I still have a few days to bitch about it, and I'm going to give Alamo and Illinois each an $82.10 earful of it.

DrFU wrote:Plus some of those tollway exits in Elgin had nothing but automated stations that took coins only -- if you had no change in the car, you had no choice but to run it if you were a tourist without a toll tag. Seems like an effed up system to me. Or a system that produces the desired result -- ginormous fines for the out-of-state chumps.

Plus they were odd numbers!! Like .65 tolls??? Here we have lots of toll roads, but they are .25, .50 and .75. Some automated too. But easy quarter amounts. No digging for nickels and dimes

DrFU wrote:Plus some of those tollway exits in Elgin had nothing but automated stations that took coins only -- if you had no change in the car, you had no choice but to run it if you were a tourist without a toll tag. Seems like an effed up system to me. Or a system that produces the desired result -- ginormous fines for the out-of-state chumps.

That's exactly what hit me at first, because I'd completely forgotten about them. You're caught off guard digging for change in an automated lane with a bunch of cars behind you, and the smallest thing you have is a $20 in your wallet. Then I remembered the I-Passes and went thru some of the I-Pass lanes until I realized I didn't see any sign in this car mentioning one. From there, I stuck to the coin lanes and made sure I had enough.

Rip Rokken wrote:

Saint John wrote:They got me for 6 missed tolls about 2 years ago and I had to fork over $120+the cost of the tolls. Pay it. There's no way around it.

Thanks, I appreciate the advice man. Luckily I still have a few days to bitch about it, and I'm going to give Alamo and Illinois each an $82.10 earful of it.

It's a very objective system. Your license plate comes up on their screen, you're billed, and you either pay or are sent to collections. There's no fighting and winning. Not ever. Calling them to blow off steam might be fulfilling, but if you're doing so with any hopes of lessening the fines you'd have a better chance of getting Bea Arthur wet.

I had an Ipass in my car, but I paid anyway because it sounded like the Ipass was going to cost more than the tolls and
I was afraid of something like this!! Geez, the Dallas tollway people are nice, they work w/you. I'd be mad too!!
Next time ...Enterprise!!

Saint John wrote:

Rip Rokken wrote:

Saint John wrote:They got me for 6 missed tolls about 2 years ago and I had to fork over $120+the cost of the tolls. Pay it. There's no way around it.

Thanks, I appreciate the advice man. Luckily I still have a few days to bitch about it, and I'm going to give Alamo and Illinois each an $82.10 earful of it.

It's a very objective system. Your license plate comes up on their screen, you're billed, and you either pay or are sent to collections. There's no fighting and winning. Not ever. Calling them to blow off steam might be fulfilling, but if you're doing so with any hopes of lessening the fines you'd have a better chance of getting Bea Arthur wet.

I figure it's a loss there, but I'm hoping maybe I can get something out of Alamo though, like a credit towards my next rental or something. Probably a fat chance, but they do run a business and no one wants pissed off customers.

StevePerryHair wrote:

DrFU wrote:Plus some of those tollway exits in Elgin had nothing but automated stations that took coins only -- if you had no change in the car, you had no choice but to run it if you were a tourist without a toll tag. Seems like an effed up system to me. Or a system that produces the desired result -- ginormous fines for the out-of-state chumps.

Plus they were odd numbers!! Like .65 tolls??? Here we have lots of toll roads, but they are .25, .50 and .75. Some automated too. But easy quarter amounts. No digging for nickels and dimes

They fk you coming and going up here. Get this - some of the tolls are .40, .some are .50, some of the ones on the entrance exit ramps are .35 - if you don't have the i-pass - double it. You all can curse Governor Blago for the open road tolling.

Rip - because yours was a rental car, you're pretty much kinda fucked. Sorry. Alamo is in charge on this one. I don't agree with their fines, though, since you DID try to rectify it right away. In fact, I remember you asked me about that in the parking lot the one day... and I said talk to the rental company right away when you take it back. So if they told you something that they are now changing, I'd at least fight them on THEIR fines.

The open road toll is not that big a deal if you live here AND use the tollway every day... if you're a tourist, or if you live here yet you don't use the toll often (meaning you likely don't have an i-pass) the it's a big epic huge giant pain in the goddamn ass. Before I had the i-pass... omg forget it. Thank god I didn't change my plates to IL for two years. They'd have had me for a couple hundred by now too.

So what happens if you refuse to pay, LOL. Will they take the collection issue to court and get a judgment?

Rip Rokken wrote:So what happens if you refuse to pay, LOL. Will they take the collection issue to court and get a judgment?

Blagojevich comes to your house and rapes your dog.

This is why i am thankful i live in wisconsin

Rip Rokken wrote:So what happens if you refuse to pay, LOL. Will they take the collection issue to court and get a judgment?

Immediately.

Everett wrote:This is why i am thankful i live in wisconsin

So are the rest of us.

Saint John wrote:

Everett wrote:This is why i am thankful i live in wisconsin

So are the rest of us.

I know

Saint John wrote:

Everett wrote:This is why i am thankful i live in wisconsin

So are the rest of us.

Damn it Dan... you keep taking all of my lines!

G.I.Jim wrote:Damn it Dan... you keep taking all of my lines!

Now you sound like Steve Perry.

Saint John wrote:

G.I.Jim wrote:Damn it Dan... you keep taking all of my lines!

Now you sound like Steve Perry.

I guess he doesn't feel apart of cold heart....

Rip Rokken wrote:So what happens if you refuse to pay, LOL. Will they take the collection issue to court and get a judgment?

They can probably get your license suspended, although I am not sure about out of state. I have had some minor issues with my I=Pass and suprisingly they were actually very helpful on the phone, I would just explain your whole story to them never know maybe youll get out of this mess.

Everett wrote:

Saint John wrote:

G.I.Jim wrote:Damn it Dan... you keep taking all of my lines!

Now you sound like Steve Perry.

I guess he doesn't feel apart of cold heart....

The funny thing here, is that I actually don't! It's turning into a nightmare that I just don't wake up from...

G.I.Jim wrote:

Everett wrote:

Saint John wrote:

G.I.Jim wrote:Damn it Dan... you keep taking all of my lines!

Now you sound like Steve Perry.

I guess he doesn't feel apart of cold heart....

The funny thing here, is that I actually don't! It's turning into a nightmare that I just don't wake up from...

Quit biting the pillow.

Saint John wrote:

G.I.Jim wrote:

Everett wrote:

Saint John wrote:

G.I.Jim wrote:Damn it Dan... you keep taking all of my lines!

Now you sound like Steve Perry.

I guess he doesn't feel apart of cold heart....

The funny thing here, is that I actually don't! It's turning into a nightmare that I just don't wake up from...

Quit biting the pillow.

Is your garter belt on too tight again?

My daughter & her family live in Elgin. We never had any problems with the toll booths when visiting. We knew to bring coins. The real problem is Illinois politics and their taxation tactics. Now, the peoples republic of Illnois has moved to the White House.

LtVanish wrote:

Rip Rokken wrote:So what happens if you refuse to pay, LOL. Will they take the collection issue to court and get a judgment?

They can probably get your license suspended, although I am not sure about out of state. I have had some minor issues with my I=Pass and suprisingly they were actually very helpful on the phone, I would just explain your whole story to them never know maybe youll get out of this mess.

I'll try anyway. If anyone could find a way out of this crap situation, it has to be me, lol. If I can't, I guarantee I will abso-damn-lutely find some way to get it back out of Chicago or Alamo, in whatever form I can, on my next trip.

Rip Rokken wrote:

LtVanish wrote:

Rip Rokken wrote:So what happens if you refuse to pay, LOL. Will they take the collection issue to court and get a judgment?

They can probably get your license suspended, although I am not sure about out of state. I have had some minor issues with my I=Pass and suprisingly they were actually very helpful on the phone, I would just explain your whole story to them never know maybe youll get out of this mess.

I'll try anyway. If anyone could find a way out of this crap situation, it has to be me, lol. If I can't, I guarantee I will abso-damn-lutely find some way to get it back out of Chicago or Alamo, in whatever form I can, on my next trip.

WWDD.

Saint John wrote:

Rip Rokken wrote:

LtVanish wrote:

Rip Rokken wrote:So what happens if you refuse to pay, LOL. Will they take the collection issue to court and get a judgment?

They can probably get your license suspended, although I am not sure about out of state. I have had some minor issues with my I=Pass and suprisingly they were actually very helpful on the phone, I would just explain your whole story to them never know maybe youll get out of this mess.

I'll try anyway. If anyone could find a way out of this crap situation, it has to be me, lol. If I can't, I guarantee I will abso-damn-lutely find some way to get it back out of Chicago or Alamo, in whatever form I can, on my next trip.

WWDD.

Don Dokken would rip them both a new one from the stage at a sold-out Dokken show, then stiff them on the tab.

Rip Rokken wrote:

LtVanish wrote:They can probably get your license suspended, although I am not sure about out of state. I have had some minor issues with my I=Pass and suprisingly they were actually very helpful on the phone, I would just explain your whole story to them never know maybe youll get out of this mess.

I'll try anyway. If anyone could find a way out of this crap situation, it has to be me, lol. If I can't, I guarantee I will abso-damn-lutely find some way to get it back out of Chicago or Alamo, in whatever form I can, on my next trip.

From the point of view of someone who used to work in a call centre dealing with similar sorts of stuff, before you get on the phone, have something to eat, grab a cup of coffee, tea or non-alcoholic poison of choice and a book or something else to do while on hold. The idea is that when you get through to someone, you're calm and *not* liable to blow your top or get irritated. The objective is to get out of the fine if you can. You explain to them that you didn't understand the toll system properly and assumed your rental car had the I-pass, a Chicago native explained the situation to you *on the day* and you *immediately* called your rental company to ask what you needed to do to fix the problem straight away; the rental company told you **insert details of bullshit here** and you believed that they would sort it. Be polite, and if the call operative says they can't fix it for you, it means that person cannot personally fix it; explain you understand they don't personally have the authority to change it, and ask if there is a customer relations department or ombudsman you can speak to. If they give you the 'they will tell you the same thing' routine, thank them and explain that you would like to discuss the impracticality of the situation, and would like to speak to someone who is authorised to make changes to give them feedback on the system.

There is always someone who can remove the charge. The trick is to nicey-nice your way into getting to them, and then being so reasonable in the face of an arseholish situation that they accomodate you. Works a damn sight better than yelling (although it doesn't make you feel as relieved afterwards ) The other thing to do is to email the rental company's office, cc'ing their head office, the I-pass people, the Chicago tourism people, whoever booked your flights if you didn't do it yourself, and the customer relations department of the airline you flew in on. People in tourism get MUCH more accomodating when the people they rely on for forwarded trade are seeing them at their dickyest.

Good luck with it. For you, I waive my advisor's commission

Rip Rokken wrote:I'm so ticked off right now I can't see straight... We don't have toll roads where I live, and they are still pretty foreign to me. The last few rentals I had in Chicago had I-Passes, and at first I thought the one I drove during MR Fest II had one too, but I didn't see a sticker. I ended up blowing thru some of the tolls as a result, probably 7 or 8. No problem I thought, I called the rental company when I got back because I forgot to mention it when I turned the car in. They told me that I would be liable for the tolls, so I mentioned having seen a sign on the freeway that said if you missed tolls, you had 10 days to pay. They said not to worry about that, that the bill would be sent to Alamo anyway and they would just charge me back for it. I asked if there would be fines and how much, and he said $10. I asked if that was per missed toll because I specifically wanted to make sure it was taken care of before anything bad happened, and he said no -- just a fixed $10. So I said ok, fair enough - just send me a bill, and I did nothing else.

A few weeks later I get that letter from Alamo letting me know about the missed tolls and the $10 "administration charge" -- BUT, also letting me know they'd given my contact information over to Illinois to pursue collection directly from me. So the $10 was not to cover the tolls at all! It was just Alamo's fee to pass the buck and let me get shanked afterwards. I've tried to call Alamo's "Violations" dept. about 15 times and all I get is a voicemail saying that I need to leave a message. Also tried to call the Illinois Tollway directly and got them right after hours of something. I'm too busy for that crap.

So today, I get a nice letter from the Illinois Tollway telling me I owe them $164.20 ($20 fine per missed toll), and that if I don't pay or request a hearing within 21 days (from June 4th), that they'll add ANOTHER $50 per freaking violation! You're talking about close to $500 for less than $5.00 in missed tolls! I'm about ready to strangle someone right now, and I just don't have time to deal with this B.S.

To add insult to injury, I placed an order with the Queensryche Store last month and ended up getting double-charged for it -- second charge came 3 weeks later. I left them a voicemail days ago and haven't heard back. If they'd put out a decent album in the last 8 or so, I might cut 'em some slack, but I'm getting pissed off and Geoff Tate does not want to see me when I'm angry!

Anyway, do any of the Chicago folks here have any advice about how to deal with the tolls, or am I screwed and need to cut them a check before it gets worse? The letter seems worded in a way that makes it sound like there aren't any excuses, loopholes, or acts of mercy on this. Any advice would be much appreciated.

If I were you, I'd pay it already, don't monkey with these fuckers, it will only cost you more and more. Add it to the lessons learned knowlege base and carry on. You should have known better then to be blowing through those things, because the entire country is in trouble right now and local government agencies are out to try and survive through this recession. Right now is not the time to be getting moving violations or any other revenue generating infractions.

Glad I don't live over there where there are tolls on the roads. That completely blows. I'd almost rather walk. Last time I really saw a ton of tolls on the roads was back in the Philippines, which is somewhat scary cause you really don't know the guards from Adam over there, they could be NPA's and just blow your ass away when you drive up to the toll in the middle of the night. It's happened before over there in the 80's and 90's.