Toll road billing continues to take its toll on drivers

In an article today on News 8 Austin, writer Bob Robuck says they've received dozens of emails complaining about toll road billing , poor customer service and varying other problems. So many in fact, that they had the BREAK DOWN the complaints into "recurring themes".

Isn't this a job that should be done by the toll road administrators? I think so. Let another business like AT&T or Sprint try to get away with poor customers service and high fees - oh, wait, they have competition within their industry

Robuck writes, "The complaints most prevalent include: accusations of inaccurate billing, exorbitant administrative fees, inaccurate record keeping and promises made by customer service that were not fulfilled.

To be fair, these claims have yet to be substantiated."

Fair enough - but TxDOT has delayed giving News 8 any records. Several weeks ago News 8 "made an open records request for the total amount currently owed by toll road users, broken down into actual tolls and administrative fees."

News 8 has been told that Turnpike Authority Director Mark Tomlinson is too busy to talk with them and News 8 "wouldn't settle for talking to one of TxDOT's media representatives because, by their own admission, one of them had already given us inaccurate information."

In my opinion this is an obvious case of trying to cover up what this billing agency really likes to do. Force people into giving up thier bank account numbers (getting a TXtag) by charging excessive fees and "offering" to wave them if they get the tags. If people choose not to get the tags, then stick them with fees high enough to force them off the tool roads.

CONTACT NEWS 8 AUSTIN:

"We still want to hear from you if you have issues with Central Texas toll roads. E-mail us at yournews@news8austin.com, call (512) 531-8888 or write to us at News 8 Austin, 1708 Colorado St., Austin, TX 78701."

Full article:

http://www.news8austin.com/content/your_news/default.asp?ArID=234443