Am I the only one here who has a problem with EZ Pass? I got a letter in the mail stating I owed EZ Pass money because I used an EZ Pass lane without an EZ Pass. Now, they were right that I didn't have an EZ Pass, but I also hadn't driven on that road and I no longer had that license plate number. I hadn't had it in over 2 years.
So, I was on the phone, long distance, on hold for at least 15 minutes. I explained the problem to the operator and she told me I would need to get documented proof from NYS department of motor vehicles that I no longer had that plate. My response was "uhhhh, no, I don't need to do anything. The EZ Pass system screwed up and EZ Pass NEEDS to fix it." She said she was sorry and couldn't help me, that I would need to do what she said to clear myself of the fine. Now, this is a private company so they can take your drivers license or ticket you, but they can ruin your credit rating if you don't pay. After writing to my state representative and the governors office, I was informed that it would be taken care of.
About 6 months later one of the Buffalo TV channels had a spot on the news about this. It was becoming a major issue. Even a sidewalk plow in the town of Tonawanda (which had never left the town) got a fine for blowing through an EZ Pass in New York City. I guess the main problem was that the EZ Pass computer only worries about the plate number and it didn't consider that there can be multiple vehicles with the same number from different states. NY took this one step beyond and issued identical plate numbers to different vehicles depending on the use. It just happened that my plate number (4H22) was also issued to a taxi cab in New York City. The only difference was that the plate in NYC had a small "TAXI" below the number.
I am all for subcontracting government jobs to private companies, but who is there to oversee them and make sure they are doing it right?