CA-125 Toll Road Fiasco

[Eugene]

I took a free trip on CA-125 on one occasion, because the machine was malfunctioning, there was no one around to take my cash, and the onramp was designed in such a way that it was impossible to make a U-turn. I did not get any tickets.

Realistically, if you go through the booth without paying because it’s offline, you can’t get a ticket because there’s no record of you ever passing through there. Such record could only be generated by the booth itself.

[Coronita]

why don’t you folks just remove your front license plate and install a rear flip up switch for the back to to equalize things? 🙂

Actually, things work really well when you have a brand new car with fresh dealer plates. That happened once, without me realizing I didn’t have my fasttrak with me..Oops.

[Coronita]

why don’t you folks just remove your front license plate and install a rear flip up switch for the back to to equalize things? 🙂

Actually, things work really well when you have a brand new car with fresh dealer plates. That happened once, without me realizing I didn’t have my fasttrak with me..Oops.

[Coronita]

why don’t you folks just remove your front license plate and install a rear flip up switch for the back to to equalize things? 🙂

Actually, things work really well when you have a brand new car with fresh dealer plates. That happened once, without me realizing I didn’t have my fasttrak with me..Oops.

[Coronita]

why don’t you folks just remove your front license plate and install a rear flip up switch for the back to to equalize things? 🙂

Actually, things work really well when you have a brand new car with fresh dealer plates. That happened once, without me realizing I didn’t have my fasttrak with me..Oops.

[Coronita]

why don’t you folks just remove your front license plate and install a rear flip up switch for the back to to equalize things? 🙂

Actually, things work really well when you have a brand new car with fresh dealer plates. That happened once, without me realizing I didn’t have my fasttrak with me..Oops.

[Jim Jones]

Well, a bit of an update. I had a supervisor call a few hours ago to discuss the matter with me.

Her reasoning on the subject is that if I was to go to the supermarket and put a bunch of things in the cart, get to the checkout and all of them were malfunctioning I couldn’t just walk out of the store without paying could I. I agreed that in this case she was correct but my actual complaint was based on the fact that I had to use my time to correct a deficiency which existed on their end.

By entering the toll road I did in fact enter into a contract to pay for the service. But since the toll booth was out of order I was not able to make the payment. Legally I could have placed 3 $1 bills in the big basket drove off and argued my case in court if that is what it came to but instead I chose to call and find out why they would put a customer out like this. Her answer is that under California law they cannot offer a free toll to ANYONE and are obligated by law to collect the fee regardless of the circumstances.

At this point I didn’t want to give her any more problems because I could see that there was nothing more she could do under the circumstances if the law actually does require this. I suggested that they allow the machine to accept a credit card like a gas pump in case the coin slot or bill reader gets jammed up and possibly find another way to collect the cash on site if the machine is out of order.

She offered me a bunch of toll credits for my inconvenience but I always feel “dirty” if I take something for free like that. Its like hush money and my complaint looses its integrity. I then offered to pay the $2.50 cents by credit card.

While I didn’t agree with the supervisors reasoning and the companies policy in the end at least she was reasonable enough to agree to bring up my complaint to management as well as a couple of my suggestions. What else can you ask for.

PS I wanted to ask if the DMV in Mexico was equally cooperative as the California DMV in providing information when one of their citizens takes a trip on the road and does not pay. I can only imagine what the collect rate is from that process.

[Jim Jones]

Well, a bit of an update. I had a supervisor call a few hours ago to discuss the matter with me.

Her reasoning on the subject is that if I was to go to the supermarket and put a bunch of things in the cart, get to the checkout and all of them were malfunctioning I couldn’t just walk out of the store without paying could I. I agreed that in this case she was correct but my actual complaint was based on the fact that I had to use my time to correct a deficiency which existed on their end.

By entering the toll road I did in fact enter into a contract to pay for the service. But since the toll booth was out of order I was not able to make the payment. Legally I could have placed 3 $1 bills in the big basket drove off and argued my case in court if that is what it came to but instead I chose to call and find out why they would put a customer out like this. Her answer is that under California law they cannot offer a free toll to ANYONE and are obligated by law to collect the fee regardless of the circumstances.

At this point I didn’t want to give her any more problems because I could see that there was nothing more she could do under the circumstances if the law actually does require this. I suggested that they allow the machine to accept a credit card like a gas pump in case the coin slot or bill reader gets jammed up and possibly find another way to collect the cash on site if the machine is out of order.

She offered me a bunch of toll credits for my inconvenience but I always feel “dirty” if I take something for free like that. Its like hush money and my complaint looses its integrity. I then offered to pay the $2.50 cents by credit card.

While I didn’t agree with the supervisors reasoning and the companies policy in the end at least she was reasonable enough to agree to bring up my complaint to management as well as a couple of my suggestions. What else can you ask for.

PS I wanted to ask if the DMV in Mexico was equally cooperative as the California DMV in providing information when one of their citizens takes a trip on the road and does not pay. I can only imagine what the collect rate is from that process.

[Jim Jones]

Well, a bit of an update. I had a supervisor call a few hours ago to discuss the matter with me.

Her reasoning on the subject is that if I was to go to the supermarket and put a bunch of things in the cart, get to the checkout and all of them were malfunctioning I couldn’t just walk out of the store without paying could I. I agreed that in this case she was correct but my actual complaint was based on the fact that I had to use my time to correct a deficiency which existed on their end.

By entering the toll road I did in fact enter into a contract to pay for the service. But since the toll booth was out of order I was not able to make the payment. Legally I could have placed 3 $1 bills in the big basket drove off and argued my case in court if that is what it came to but instead I chose to call and find out why they would put a customer out like this. Her answer is that under California law they cannot offer a free toll to ANYONE and are obligated by law to collect the fee regardless of the circumstances.

At this point I didn’t want to give her any more problems because I could see that there was nothing more she could do under the circumstances if the law actually does require this. I suggested that they allow the machine to accept a credit card like a gas pump in case the coin slot or bill reader gets jammed up and possibly find another way to collect the cash on site if the machine is out of order.

She offered me a bunch of toll credits for my inconvenience but I always feel “dirty” if I take something for free like that. Its like hush money and my complaint looses its integrity. I then offered to pay the $2.50 cents by credit card.

While I didn’t agree with the supervisors reasoning and the companies policy in the end at least she was reasonable enough to agree to bring up my complaint to management as well as a couple of my suggestions. What else can you ask for.

PS I wanted to ask if the DMV in Mexico was equally cooperative as the California DMV in providing information when one of their citizens takes a trip on the road and does not pay. I can only imagine what the collect rate is from that process.

[Jim Jones]

Well, a bit of an update. I had a supervisor call a few hours ago to discuss the matter with me.

Her reasoning on the subject is that if I was to go to the supermarket and put a bunch of things in the cart, get to the checkout and all of them were malfunctioning I couldn’t just walk out of the store without paying could I. I agreed that in this case she was correct but my actual complaint was based on the fact that I had to use my time to correct a deficiency which existed on their end.

By entering the toll road I did in fact enter into a contract to pay for the service. But since the toll booth was out of order I was not able to make the payment. Legally I could have placed 3 $1 bills in the big basket drove off and argued my case in court if that is what it came to but instead I chose to call and find out why they would put a customer out like this. Her answer is that under California law they cannot offer a free toll to ANYONE and are obligated by law to collect the fee regardless of the circumstances.

At this point I didn’t want to give her any more problems because I could see that there was nothing more she could do under the circumstances if the law actually does require this. I suggested that they allow the machine to accept a credit card like a gas pump in case the coin slot or bill reader gets jammed up and possibly find another way to collect the cash on site if the machine is out of order.

She offered me a bunch of toll credits for my inconvenience but I always feel “dirty” if I take something for free like that. Its like hush money and my complaint looses its integrity. I then offered to pay the $2.50 cents by credit card.

While I didn’t agree with the supervisors reasoning and the companies policy in the end at least she was reasonable enough to agree to bring up my complaint to management as well as a couple of my suggestions. What else can you ask for.

PS I wanted to ask if the DMV in Mexico was equally cooperative as the California DMV in providing information when one of their citizens takes a trip on the road and does not pay. I can only imagine what the collect rate is from that process.

[Jim Jones]

Well, a bit of an update. I had a supervisor call a few hours ago to discuss the matter with me.

Her reasoning on the subject is that if I was to go to the supermarket and put a bunch of things in the cart, get to the checkout and all of them were malfunctioning I couldn’t just walk out of the store without paying could I. I agreed that in this case she was correct but my actual complaint was based on the fact that I had to use my time to correct a deficiency which existed on their end.

By entering the toll road I did in fact enter into a contract to pay for the service. But since the toll booth was out of order I was not able to make the payment. Legally I could have placed 3 $1 bills in the big basket drove off and argued my case in court if that is what it came to but instead I chose to call and find out why they would put a customer out like this. Her answer is that under California law they cannot offer a free toll to ANYONE and are obligated by law to collect the fee regardless of the circumstances.

At this point I didn’t want to give her any more problems because I could see that there was nothing more she could do under the circumstances if the law actually does require this. I suggested that they allow the machine to accept a credit card like a gas pump in case the coin slot or bill reader gets jammed up and possibly find another way to collect the cash on site if the machine is out of order.

She offered me a bunch of toll credits for my inconvenience but I always feel “dirty” if I take something for free like that. Its like hush money and my complaint looses its integrity. I then offered to pay the $2.50 cents by credit card.

While I didn’t agree with the supervisors reasoning and the companies policy in the end at least she was reasonable enough to agree to bring up my complaint to management as well as a couple of my suggestions. What else can you ask for.

PS I wanted to ask if the DMV in Mexico was equally cooperative as the California DMV in providing information when one of their citizens takes a trip on the road and does not pay. I can only imagine what the collect rate is from that process.

[Eugene]

Her reasoning on the subject is that if I was to go to the supermarket and put a bunch of things in the cart, get to the checkout and all of them were malfunctioning I couldn’t just walk out of the store without paying could I.

There is a big difference. In the supermarket, if all checkouts are malfunctioning, you can leave the cart behind and walk away. On CA-125, if the booth is broken, there’s no possibility to back out.

http://maps.google.com/?ie=UTF8&ll=32.660671,-116.976561&spn=0.001536,0.002414&t=h&z=19

[Eugene]

Her reasoning on the subject is that if I was to go to the supermarket and put a bunch of things in the cart, get to the checkout and all of them were malfunctioning I couldn’t just walk out of the store without paying could I.

There is a big difference. In the supermarket, if all checkouts are malfunctioning, you can leave the cart behind and walk away. On CA-125, if the booth is broken, there’s no possibility to back out.

http://maps.google.com/?ie=UTF8&ll=32.660671,-116.976561&spn=0.001536,0.002414&t=h&z=19

[Eugene]

Her reasoning on the subject is that if I was to go to the supermarket and put a bunch of things in the cart, get to the checkout and all of them were malfunctioning I couldn’t just walk out of the store without paying could I.

There is a big difference. In the supermarket, if all checkouts are malfunctioning, you can leave the cart behind and walk away. On CA-125, if the booth is broken, there’s no possibility to back out.

http://maps.google.com/?ie=UTF8&ll=32.660671,-116.976561&spn=0.001536,0.002414&t=h&z=19

[Eugene]

Her reasoning on the subject is that if I was to go to the supermarket and put a bunch of things in the cart, get to the checkout and all of them were malfunctioning I couldn’t just walk out of the store without paying could I.

There is a big difference. In the supermarket, if all checkouts are malfunctioning, you can leave the cart behind and walk away. On CA-125, if the booth is broken, there’s no possibility to back out.

http://maps.google.com/?ie=UTF8&ll=32.660671,-116.976561&spn=0.001536,0.002414&t=h&z=19

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