LAKE COUNTY, Fla. – One Lake County couple says they were billed for hundreds of dollars in tolls for a vehicle they say is not theirs.
Amanda Fulks, Sorrento, said she rarely drives far from home, so the toll bills did not make sense. The couple got charged for running tolls in the southeast Orlando area.
“Honestly, I don’t even know where Conway is.”
Fulks and her fiancé drive a red Volkswagen SUV, which appears on a ticket that lists more than $500 in unpaid tolls, but the photograph attached to the same toll notice shows a different car.
“Looks to me gold, four door,” said Fulks, “that is a Toyota Camry.”
The charges are toll-by-plate fees. When a vehicle without a transponder goes through a toll plaza, a camera records the license plate and a bill is sent to the registered owner.
However, according to Fulks, the license plate number on the bills is not the one on the couple’s Volkswagen. They bought the SUV last March with a temporary tag, and Fulks said that temporary tag number is appearing on bills for another vehicle.
Toll-by-plate charges typically cost more than Sunpass or E-PASS charges. According to the Central Florida Expressway Authority, E-PASS rates are 50% lower than the Pay by Plate rate. Meantime, Florida’s Turnpike, which is under the Florida Department of Transportation, stated drivers who have SunPass can save an average of 25% on tolls when compared to toll-by-plate.
“They’ve racked up hundreds and hundreds of dollars of tolls” Fulks said, “we’re going to be on the hook financially and financially obligated to pay something that we had no knowledge of until we get these bills.”
Fulks said she has tried for months to resolve the problem. She said the Central Florida Expressway Authority removed the more than $500 in charges on its roads, but she could not reach anyone at the Florida Department of Transportation to clear the records.
“You either get a call recording that says, ‘we’re sorry, all of our representatives are busy assisting other callers, please try calling in later,’ and it automatically disconnects your call,” Fulks told News 6, “or there was one instance where I did call, I wanted on hold for an hour, and then at the hour mark it just disconnected my call.”
News 6 emailed the Florida Department of Transportation and the Florida Department of Highway Safety and Motor Vehicles. After we contacted the agencies, each said it is now looking into our request.
If you receive a toll bill you believe is incorrect, contact the tolling agency that issued the notice.
SunPass Customer Service Center: 1-888-865-5352
Central Florida Expressway Customer Service: 407-690-5200
You also can contest charges through a form on the Florida Department of Highway Safety and Motor Vehicles website.