The M50 Barrier Free Tolling Thread

Our man in Havana

They had those. They didn't work.

moneymouth77

Well, nonetheless, something that works would be preferable... Any suggestions for a middle-ground here? Maybe a sticker system??

Our man in Havana

Like the Austrian and Hungarian toll roads sticker?

moneymouth77

Yeah, why not? Like the Korridor-Vignette, which is only valid for one bit of the motorway between the German border and... Hohenems? I think? Probably a big undertaking, but cheaper and easier than electronic tagging and other such nonsense.

Our man in Havana

Enforcement would be an issue. Revenue would drop overnight for eflow as many would not bother getting a sticker. Also huge amounts of resources are tied up in enforcement either by the toll authority and or the police.

It is certainly that way in Austria.

moneymouth77

Just use the exisiting camera etc to check for the stickers. And a visible sticker makes policing and enforcement so much easier...

anfear

Hi,

Sorry but this question has probably already been asked before but, does anyone know what the story is with English reg cars?/
If I don't pay is there anyway payzone can fine me???

Our man in Havana

Payzone? I didn't know they were an enforcement authority?

I think you meant eflow. The simple answer is no. Too much hard work when there are easier pickings here.

anfear

I thought as Payzone run the tolling through their payment network they would be the ones doing the chasing!

Thanks!!

Our man in Havana

Payzone only help collect the money on eflows behalf.

Capt'n Midnight

anfear wrote: »

Hi,

Sorry but this question has probably already been asked before but, does anyone know what the story is with English reg cars?/
If I don't pay is there anyway payzone can fine me???

They wait until the fine hits €146 or whatever and then sell the debt to a foreign debt collector. Since you go both ways that's probably €252 + their fees and the threat of ruining your credit rating and taking you to court And having their court costs paid if you loose the case. Legal blackmail.

under the old system the most they could sue you for was the toll itself

Seth Brundle

Capt'n Midnight wrote: »

They wait until the fine hits €146 or whatever and then sell the debt to a foreign debt collector. Since you go both ways that's probably €252 + their fees and the threat of ruining your credit rating and taking you to court And having their court costs paid if you loose the case. Legal blackmail.

under the old system the most they could sue you for was the toll itself

The debt would have no legal standing abroad surely?

Our man in Havana

They would attempt to collect it via their UK mates. See here.
The problem would come down to trying to serve papers on a person in the Uk. I doubt for €146 a court here would allow them to do so. Also it would be hard to prove good service on the accused. Even if they could get a judgement enforcement would be costly and ultimately a waste of time.

Edit: I just found this on a UK motoring forum.

Seth Brundle

very interesting.

moneymouth77

If only that worked over here... Just ignoring it would be a godsend.

anfear

Very interesting indeed.
Thanks for your help guys. based on the above I don't think I'll bother worrying about it too much!

moneymouth77

Although I can't recommend that... with the best will in the world

Sinderella

Hi, I posted this over on the Consumer forum and was directed here.

I have 2 questions really,
I'm trying to understand EFlow's policy that only gives you up to 24hrs to pay your Toll. I'm actually wondering how they have the Law on their side to start sending threatening letters if you pay a few hours late? Does anyone know how or why they are being allowed to do this?

They make it so difficult for people who are not regular users to pay their Toll, surely they should be more lenient in the payment window?

In their threatening letters they quote a Law / Act which only refers to people who "fail, neglect or refuse to pay" a Toll. So why send them to people who paid a day or 2 after they used the road? They still got their €3, right?

I find it so offensive that they're allowed to do this. Does anyone know if they have successfully won a case prosecuting someone for late payment?

Our man in Havana

There have been no court cases to date. I personally doubt there will be any.
They don't seem to be relying on any criminal law but on civil contract law which has a lower burden of proof.

In their threatening letters they quote a Law / Act which only refers to people who "fail, neglect or refuse to pay" a Toll. So why send them to people who paid a day or 2 after they used the road? They still got their €3, right?

Correct if you pay the €3 the debt has been paid and they should feck off.

moneymouth77

Has anyone seen this!

http://money.sky.com/mp/features/news/2009/05/12/Figures-show-property-inquiry-rise.html

It's only a step or two away from speed limiting software in every car, for 'safety'... we're close to the apocalypse

Kotek Besar

moneymouth77 wrote: »

Has anyone seen this!

http://money.sky.com/mp/features/news/2009/05/12/Figures-show-property-inquiry-rise.html

It's only a step or two away from speed limiting software in every car, for 'safety'... we're close to the apocalypse

Figures show property inquiry rise?

Cuddlesworth

benifa wrote: »

Figures show property inquiry rise?

Clearly its one step away from living in speed limited houses with wheels.

moneymouth77

Whoops my bad! Here's the link:

http://motoring.sky.com/news/car-speed-limiter-trials-begin-in-london.aspx

Our man in Havana

How is this relevant to toll collection?

moneymouth77

Just read it this morning and thought it applied to the discussion in a general sense: government controlling motoring heavily, etc.

Bluefoam

moneymouth77 wrote: »

government controlling motoring heavily, etc.

What has this got to do with the increase in property enquiries?

moneymouth77

Can't you forgive a man who copy/pasted the wrong link? Mea culpa.

Kotek Besar

There's no one as Irish as Barack Obama.

moneymouth77

What, now everything goes? I'm lost :S

jenzz

jenzz wrote: »

On 6th March I got my solicitors letters. So I emailed eflow after another 27 minutes of taking double dutch on the phone. This morning I got an email back ( 33 days later) apologies for not replying within 48 hours & can I resubmit my mail as they couldnt open the attachement. Now it was a word attachment so we are not talking rocket science here. So I replied & what do I get back............... sorry you cant send your complaint this way you have to do it another way on the web site. So I resent on the web site. What do I get back.... Sorry we cannot open attachements FULL STOP.! So I have typed the whole bloody thing back out & resent.........

1st prize for incompetency - EFLOW!!!!!!
I wonder since they are a government body did they issue themselves bonus's???????????

Guess what peoples - I still havent received a reply or a call or an anything to their 48 hour return time 2 months & 7 days later lol

Seth Brundle

I finally lost my M50 eflow virginity on Tuesday. In typicall KB fashion, I forgot to pay on time and when I rang this morning I had to pay €6. According to their website, I was only allowed pay via phone which I thought was a bit inconvienent. Anyhow, the menu options on the phone could do with being improved. The "did you know that you can pay online?" chant made my experience a little more irritating but anyhow.
Anyway, following what appeared to be the correct sequence of instructions, I ended up in a cul de sac of please enter your reference number (can't recall the title) which I have none followed by "please wait while we look up your details" followed by the machine telling me that it didn't understand my details andf that i was to re-enter them (you can see where this goes!).
I hung up and redialled and chose a different option and eventually got through to an operator who seemed put out that I didn't make the journey today or yesterday. Anyhow, paid up and got my reference number.

The question is, when will Laurel, Hardy & Partners down in Kerry send me the unpaid fine notice?

Sinderella

yes kbannon, they probably will :rolleyes:

Our man in Havana

The question is, when will Laurel, Hardy & Partners down in Kerry send me the unpaid fine notice?

Eflow will still send you a few trees worth of notices before Sue, Leggit and Run in Kerry will get the case.

msg11

Sorry I retype the whole thing made no sense..

I sold a car on the 17th of December. Got the log book etc.. Sent it off.

They drove SB and back NB on the m50, racked up and toll did not pay.

On the 24th of December 2008.

I got two letters on the 7 or 8th of January 2009, Unpaid toll notice. Took no notice of it as I sold the car.

Few days later I got another letter I now owed 40 something euro x2

Rang them up told them as above, they said they would investigate it.

In March I got another letter back saying, too update with the VRU, so got on the phone, explained again, some time later, but it had been forwarded to the solicitors.

I said look , I don't have the car its sold, I didn't drive it over your bridge.

Told me to ring Shannon saying the car was still in my name.. Did not ring Shannon. As I did not know what to say.

Still waiting on the Solicitors letter's for around a month now.

For one what will I say ringing Shannon about my log book ? And even at that I still don't think I'll be getting off the fines.

Such a mess for something I did not even use, I'll hold my hand up and say I dealt with it very messy.

Just dunno what too do, and it generally has me worried.

Edit:

Looks like I'll be up in court, 7 days to come up with near 300euro. Only get 200 A week in work. Feel like crying here, have me so worried.

cormie

I wouldn't waste time worrying about it. There's a good chance that the car is registered in their name but just the eflow system hasn't been updated for your reg yet. Ring Shannon and just explain what you told us.

Toto Wolfcastle

Well I had my first experience of the e-flow website. I wanted to pay for a trip on the M50 that I made yesterday and that seemed to go through without a problem.

I then decided to register a video account as I will be visiting Dublin every couple of weeks. Everytime I got to the bit where I enter my car make and model I got an error message when I clicked on the dropdown menus.

Stupid website.

Explosive_Cornflake

janeybabe wrote: »

Well I had my first experience of the e-flow website. I wanted to pay for a trip on the M50 that I made yesterday and that seemed to go through without a problem.

I then decided to register a video account as I will be visiting Dublin every couple of weeks. Everytime I got to the bit where I enter my car make and model I got an error message when I clicked on the dropdown menus.

Stupid website.

The reg on my old car did that. Just ring up and get them to do it.

Toto Wolfcastle

Explosive_Cornflake wrote: »

The reg on my old car did that. Just ring up and get them to do it.

You assume I can afford phone calls. I might though. My friend trained in the new e-flow phone monkeys so I'd like to see if she did a good job.

ExoduS 18.11

Hello all,
Just giving my experience with e-flow and "Pierse and Fitzgibbon Solicitors". Went through the toll in January, paid the 6 euro late fine. Thought all was well until i got a solicitors note stating i owed them €156. Rang solicitors to query this. They said i recieved two notices, one for the 6 euros, which is correct. The other how ever is a 47.50 fine for not paying the 6 euros, which i paid. I most definately did not recieve a bill for 47.50 , but the solicitors for e-flow say that e-flow are not obliged to send any notices! So this would mean after 14 days , you are automatically meant to assume you owe 47.50? They even said they're not obliged to send the €6 charge! I now have a bill for €156 which if i dont pay, I'm told i will be in stubs, and my credit rating will be shattered. At this stage it is not a matter of money its a matter of principle. Wrote and rang the solicitors, both e-flow and them are playing off each other as to who, is responsible for what. Any advice ?

Our man in Havana

but the solicitors for e-flow say that e-flow are not obliged to send any notices!

Bollox, they must send the notices.

I now have a bill for €156 which if i dont pay, I'm told i will be in stubs, and my credit rating will be shattered.

None of that can happen until they have taken you to court, the judge has heard both sides and you then lost and you didn't pay up. The threat of stubs is bogus as you won't see anyone in there for anything less than 1000 Euro.

Personally I would ignore them and let them make the next move. They have to date taken no one to court. I believe the legal difficulties for them are massive and they are simply not prepared to take a chance yet. I see the solicitors in Kerry as nothing more than debt collectors i.e. there to frighten the masses into paying by making threats. It is obvious that they are not prepared to make good on those threats.

niceirishfella

Sorry for your troubles....read back a few pages in this thread for more ideas on what to do........there was similar posts/people with your scenario and its was all discussed there.
Best of luck and take no sh1t.

Seth Brundle

ExoduS 18.11 wrote: »

Hello all,
Just giving my experience with e-flow and "Pierse and Fitzgibbon Solicitors". Went through the toll in January, paid the 6 euro late fine. Thought all was well until i got a solicitors note stating i owed them €156. Rang solicitors to query this. They said i recieved two notices, one for the 6 euros, which is correct. The other how ever is a 47.50 fine for not paying the 6 euros, which i paid. I most definately did not recieve a bill for 47.50 , but the solicitors for e-flow say that e-flow are not obliged to send any notices! So this would mean after 14 days , you are automatically meant to assume you owe 47.50? They even said they're not obliged to send the €6 charge! I now have a bill for €156 which if i dont pay, I'm told i will be in stubs, and my credit rating will be shattered. At this stage it is not a matter of money its a matter of principle. Wrote and rang the solicitors, both e-flow and them are playing off each other as to who, is responsible for what. Any advice ?

Like the others said, ignore it!
Out of curiosity, how did you pay the €6 and how many other trips did you make around that period? If you paid using credit card or laser then it would appear on your statement.
Did you get a reference number when you paid?

I mentioned on a previous page how I recently paid €6 for forgetting to pay (what was my first trip) on time. I honestly expect to receive a letter from Pratt and Fúckwit Solrs. On the strong assumption that they do, I will do my best to end up in court to make a point.

Our man in Havana

I will do my best to end up in court to make a point.

You will be waiting a long time.

Seth Brundle

yeah I know!

Gumbo

guys, quick question :

my brother has an eflow account tag and were driving through the west link on sat morning but in my car.

if i take his tag thingy and go through it, will it cause problems because of the conflicting reg plates or just beep as normal and go onto his account?

thanks.

L1011

kceire wrote: »

guys, quick question :

my brother has an eflow account tag and were driving through the west link on sat morning but in my car.

if i take his tag thingy and go through it, will it cause problems because of the conflicting reg plates or just beep as normal and go onto his account?

thanks.

Most likely he'll get charged as if he went through, and you'll get a letter demanding payment seperately. It requires the plates to tell for certain which car the tag was in.

Gumbo

MYOB wrote: »

Most likely he'll get charged as if he went through, and you'll get a letter demanding payment seperately. It requires the plates to tell for certain which car the tag was in.

thanks, i suppose i could pay in advance if possible.

L1011

kceire wrote: »

thanks, i suppose i could pay in advance if possible.

Gonna take a leap and guess you're going to the airport here if you can't pay after the fact? Theres payzone terminals there where you can pay it...

Far as I know theres no way to prepay.

Gumbo

MYOB wrote: »

Gonna take a leap and guess you're going to the airport here if you can't pay after the fact? Theres payzone terminals there where you can pay it...

Far as I know theres no way to prepay.

thanks man!

cormie

I got an email the other day saying payment request from etrip had been declined, I ignored it as the card is fine, there is money in the account the card is from etc etc and presumed they'd just retry the card. I went through the M50 toll 4 times today and my tag beeped twice each time

I then got home to see that my etrip account has been suspended :mad:

Also, going through the m8 toll the other day, the tag didn't beep and the barrier didn't rise, the guy in the booth said it was a problem at their end and nothing to do with the tag. Suppose I'll have to phone tomorrow