- Report: #1238646
Complaint Review: Harris County Toll Road - HCTRA - Houston Texas
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Harris County Toll Road - HCTRA
7701 Wilshire Place Drive Houston, 77040 Texas, USA
Phone:
713-587-7800
Web:
https://www.hctra.org
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Harris County Toll Road Authority - HCTRA Complete Rip Off On Toll Non Violations Houston Texas
We have a TxTag that is supposed to be accepted by all Texas Toll Roads. Unfortunately, either this is not the case or Harris County Toll Road Authority in Houston, TX does not accept the TxTag. My husband had a TxTag on his vehicle when the supposed violation happened. We did not get an invoice from HCTRA until almost a year after this supposed violation. When I received the violation, I immediately contacted HCTRA to see what I should do. They requested that I contact TxTag and have them send proof of our TxTag to HCTRA to get the violation fees waived. I did as asked and TxTag provided HCTRA with the necessary proof. However, I was never contacted by either agency again. I never received another invoice so I assumed this issue had been resolved. Then I received a notice from a collection agency with an additional $42 in fees. This is when I contacted HCTRA and TxTag again to find out what this issue was with the non violation and associated fees. I was told by TxTag that they provided HCTRA with proof of our TxTag and they were going to remove the violation fees and all we would owe was the toll fees. However, again I never received any notice of this and HCTRA said the time had passed and all violation fees and toll fees were owed by us along with a new $42 collection agency fee. This is a complete rip off. I was never contacted by the agency or never received an updated bill, but somehow it is all my fault?! I feel that as a consumer we should have some rights to fight these ridiculous fees. I have absolutley no problem paying the toll fees, but isn't that what TxTag is for?! Please help. Does anyone know what can be done to file a formal complaint about toll roads? We are stuck between a rock and a hard place as a law abiding consumer.
1 Updates & Rebuttals
AGHouston
Houston ,Texas,
USA
Also a TXTag customer with HCTRA headache
#2Consumer Comment
Mon, July 06, 2015
Apparently, the exact same scenario above happened to me, the toll roads didn't catch my tag info and instead of TXTag sending me a bill, HCTRA sent me violations- they all came in June/July of 2014 and some dated back 2 years! I called both agencies immediately to report the billing error and I was told after emailing and providing my TXTag account number to HCTRA, the issue would be resolved. I called several times to follow up, staying on hold for hours at a time and never speaking to anyone who even remotely knew that I had called in before and provided my information. I was shocked when I was pulled over on Hardy and told that I was in violation and could not use the toll roads. The officer stated that I could be arrested but instead issued a ticket with my HCTRA fine amount. A court date was scheduled for August 2014 then I received a letter informing me that HCTRA had filed a formal complaint and my court date would be reset to Jamuary 2015. Once I presented all of my paperwork to the DA, my case was dismissed and I assumed this would also remove any violations preventing me from renewing my registration. It's now July 2015 and I still do not have the ability to renew my registration and HCTRA still says I owe the nearly $1000.00 fine that is mostly comprised of fines and late fees. I refuse to pay these as I feel I could have paid a lesser amount for just the tolls in question if I had been taken care of by their customer service. This is fraud. No ability to resolve matters in a timely fashion, yet they send you to a debt collector who doesn't allow you to reason with them? What government agency sends you to a debt collector for fines you shouldn't owe, then holds you hostage from maintaining your vehicle records and drivers license status. I have talked to several people who had the same issue but they gave in and paid the fines. Is that my only option here? Pay fines I shouldn't have in the first place?
