In July 2013, I purchased a new vehicle. I currently have an EZ Tag account, so I signed on to put in the new vehicle and the temporary license number. It took five tries for their site to accept the temporary license number (kept saying it was not a State of TX temporary number) but on the fifth try, the site accepted the number. When the EZ tag came in, I signed back on to activate it. The temporary number was gone, so I put the license number back in and the tag number to activate it. Once again, it kept erroring out and after about an hour of trying to get the license number and tag number in to activate, the site accepted it. I put the tag on my windshield and all was good.
I used the toll road to go to work the next day and when I got to the gates, it wouldn't open. I called the customer service line and asked to make sure it was activated, and I was told it was probably where I'd put it on my windshield. So when I get home, I moved the tag. Still would not work on the gates, so I assumed it was where I had my sticker and used the EZ tag lanes without the gates. When I got my permanent license plates in, I went in to their website and updated for the new plates.
About two weeks ago I received a notice of unpaid tolls and charges amounting to $957.50 for the time I used the EZ tag with my temporary plates. If I did not pay immediately, they were taking me to court, additional fines and penalties, no registering my vehicle, etc. until it was paid.
I called Customer Service and asked what it was about, and I was told I'd never activated the tag with the temporary license plate. As I was explaining that I had activated it (which I and my roommate specifically remember because it was so frustrating and I'd asked him to help to see if he could do it), the woman kept talking over me and saying ""you didn't activate your tag."" I tried to tell her again that I had activated it and she talked over me and said ""Let me see what I can do."" She came back and said they would settle for $167, which is the $67 in toll fees and $100 penalty, for my not activating my tag. I tried once more to say that I'd activated it, and she talked over me saying that I had to pay it then or the next day or I would owe the entire $957.50.
At this point I realized that I was screwed - because their system has issues, they will tell you whatever they want and then threaten you until you either pay or keep accruing fees based on their own issues. So I wound up being a victim of $100 of extortion for supposedly failing to do something that I had done. I had no way to prove that I'd activated their tag - I assumed their website telling me that it was activated was enough.
Anyone dealing with HCTRA, make screen prints of everything, keep detailed records, and pray to God you don't fall victime to Harris County's extortion techniques. They use athe Houston law firm of Linebarger Goggan Blair & Sampson to threaten and extract as much money as they can from you. If you have ANY dealings with HCTRA, make certain you have support and CYA before they sue YA. Crooked like this runs deep into the organization from the top down, so don't assume you have someone who wants to help. They want money and they don't care how they get it.
I can not believe the fast on they just pulled on me. Back in May, I paid $15 for a new EZ tag after my current tag conveniently stopped working. I made a phone call to clear any violations that may have occurred due to the faulty tag. I had 8 or so since I use these roads 3-4 times daily... and they applied them to my account. Fast forward to August... I received a notice in the mail from a 3rd party lawyer charging me $80.25 for three tolls violation thats occurred during this time frame. Keep in mind, I never received a single notification from HCTRA in the mail or my online account. Immediately after receiving the notice, I went to their site for details and these three fell in this period. I called the lawyer and they said to call HCTRA. I was on hold for 18 mins prior to reaching a person. After explaining what happened, they said they would waive the admin fee of $35, bringing my total to $45.25. I argued more, then they removed partial 3rd party fee bringing my grand total to $35.25. I did nothing wrong, yet they just received a payment for another "fee" of $35.25. They said my tag was deactivated. Yes it was deactivated because you forced me to deactivate the tag in order to issue a new one, however my account that they charge automatically was not and I was told they would apply them to my account. I even called to take care of any mishaps and they were suppose to take care of it. Conveniently they left out three only to notify me about it three months later via their lawyer. Frustrating.... of course I am not going to fight them over $35 dollars, but how many other people do they scam like this? all because "I didn't activate my tag".... WHICH I DID! However, they were unable to verify and I would need to pay or they would send me to court where I would inevitably lose because the lawyers and County officials are in this together. Such a scam.
HCTRA Reviews
In July 2013, I purchased a new vehicle. I currently have an EZ Tag account, so I signed on to put in the new vehicle and the temporary license number. It took five tries for their site to accept the temporary license number (kept saying it was not a State of TX temporary number) but on the fifth try, the site accepted the number. When the EZ tag came in, I signed back on to activate it. The temporary number was gone, so I put the license number back in and the tag number to activate it. Once again, it kept erroring out and after about an hour of trying to get the license number and tag number in to activate, the site accepted it. I put the tag on my windshield and all was good.
I used the toll road to go to work the next day and when I got to the gates, it wouldn't open. I called the customer service line and asked to make sure it was activated, and I was told it was probably where I'd put it on my windshield. So when I get home, I moved the tag. Still would not work on the gates, so I assumed it was where I had my sticker and used the EZ tag lanes without the gates. When I got my permanent license plates in, I went in to their website and updated for the new plates.
About two weeks ago I received a notice of unpaid tolls and charges amounting to $957.50 for the time I used the EZ tag with my temporary plates. If I did not pay immediately, they were taking me to court, additional fines and penalties, no registering my vehicle, etc. until it was paid.
I called Customer Service and asked what it was about, and I was told I'd never activated the tag with the temporary license plate. As I was explaining that I had activated it (which I and my roommate specifically remember because it was so frustrating and I'd asked him to help to see if he could do it), the woman kept talking over me and saying ""you didn't activate your tag."" I tried to tell her again that I had activated it and she talked over me and said ""Let me see what I can do."" She came back and said they would settle for $167, which is the $67 in toll fees and $100 penalty, for my not activating my tag. I tried once more to say that I'd activated it, and she talked over me saying that I had to pay it then or the next day or I would owe the entire $957.50.
At this point I realized that I was screwed - because their system has issues, they will tell you whatever they want and then threaten you until you either pay or keep accruing fees based on their own issues. So I wound up being a victim of $100 of extortion for supposedly failing to do something that I had done. I had no way to prove that I'd activated their tag - I assumed their website telling me that it was activated was enough.
Anyone dealing with HCTRA, make screen prints of everything, keep detailed records, and pray to God you don't fall victime to Harris County's extortion techniques. They use athe Houston law firm of Linebarger Goggan Blair & Sampson to threaten and extract as much money as they can from you. If you have ANY dealings with HCTRA, make certain you have support and CYA before they sue YA. Crooked like this runs deep into the organization from the top down, so don't assume you have someone who wants to help. They want money and they don't care how they get it.
Scammed
I can not believe the fast on they just pulled on me. Back in May, I paid $15 for a new EZ tag after my current tag conveniently stopped working. I made a phone call to clear any violations that may have occurred due to the faulty tag. I had 8 or so since I use these roads 3-4 times daily... and they applied them to my account. Fast forward to August... I received a notice in the mail from a 3rd party lawyer charging me $80.25 for three tolls violation thats occurred during this time frame. Keep in mind, I never received a single notification from HCTRA in the mail or my online account. Immediately after receiving the notice, I went to their site for details and these three fell in this period. I called the lawyer and they said to call HCTRA. I was on hold for 18 mins prior to reaching a person. After explaining what happened, they said they would waive the admin fee of $35, bringing my total to $45.25. I argued more, then they removed partial 3rd party fee bringing my grand total to $35.25. I did nothing wrong, yet they just received a payment for another "fee" of $35.25. They said my tag was deactivated. Yes it was deactivated because you forced me to deactivate the tag in order to issue a new one, however my account that they charge automatically was not and I was told they would apply them to my account. I even called to take care of any mishaps and they were suppose to take care of it. Conveniently they left out three only to notify me about it three months later via their lawyer. Frustrating.... of course I am not going to fight them over $35 dollars, but how many other people do they scam like this? all because "I didn't activate my tag".... WHICH I DID! However, they were unable to verify and I would need to pay or they would send me to court where I would inevitably lose because the lawyers and County officials are in this together. Such a scam.
Still on HOLD
It' has been over 45minutes... and I'm still on HOLD. Horrible. No one should ever be placed on hold to make a simple change/ask a question.