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I really am surprised I am the only person gripping on here about erroneous charges from the I-66 Outside the Beltway Express Mobility Partners (EMP).
I have had to spend hours going through my statements, and since February I have been overcharged more than $300.
Prior to February, same car, same usage, I did not get charged.
-I called EZPass, they told me it could be due to my car having tinted windows, or my car being 'higher end,' this in spite of the fact on the I-66 Inside the Beltway, I-495/95/395 Express lanes during those same trips in the same car I do not incur charges.
-EZPass also appears to be just the 3rd party billing for the 66 EMP, as they said they have to forward complaints to VDOT, who has yet to respond (surprise, VDOT a government agency being slow and incompetent).
So I had to just do a bunch of chargebacks.
I STRONGLY encourage everybody to look closely at their EZPass statements and exams I-66 Outside the Beltway charges.
Clearly it appears this group, the 66 EMP, are nothing more than grifting frauds preying on unsuspecting motorists.
I mean for every 20 trips on 66 maybe eight get charged, at random, and of course they do not post for weeks, so it is very time consuming to pick up the fraud.
I wish there was somebody at the state or media I could alert to this, it really is appalling considering that west of Centreville, where there is no auuillory lane, I-66 is easily worse than before.
This 66 EMP are worse than Apple.
I really am surprised I am the only person gripping on here about erroneous charges from the I-66 Outside the Beltway Express Mobility Partners (EMP).
I have had to spend hours going through my statements, and since February I have been overcharged more than $300.
Prior to February, same car, same usage, I did not get charged.
-I called EZPass, they told me it could be due to my car having tinted windows, or my car being 'higher end,' this in spite of the fact on the I-66 Inside the Beltway, I-495/95/395 Express lanes during those same trips in the same car I do not incur charges.
-EZPass also appears to be just the 3rd party billing for the 66 EMP, as they said they have to forward complaints to VDOT, who has yet to respond (surprise, VDOT a government agency being slow and incompetent).
So I had to just do a bunch of chargebacks.
I STRONGLY encourage everybody to look closely at their EZPass statements and exams I-66 Outside the Beltway charges.
Clearly it appears this group, the 66 EMP, are nothing more than grifting frauds preying on unsuspecting motorists.
I mean for every 20 trips on 66 maybe eight get charged, at random, and of course they do not post for weeks, so it is very time consuming to pick up the fraud.
I wish there was somebody at the state or media I could alert to this, it really is appalling considering that west of Centreville, where there is no auuillory lane, I-66 is easily worse than before.
This 66 EMP are worse than Apple.
They charge more for a nice car? I might see it if it's based on vehicle weight, but not vehicle brand.
I really am surprised I am the only person gripping on here about erroneous charges from the I-66 Outside the Beltway Express Mobility Partners (EMP).
I have had to spend hours going through my statements, and since February I have been overcharged more than $300.
Prior to February, same car, same usage, I did not get charged.
-I called EZPass, they told me it could be due to my car having tinted windows, or my car being 'higher end,' this in spite of the fact on the I-66 Inside the Beltway, I-495/95/395 Express lanes during those same trips in the same car I do not incur charges.
-EZPass also appears to be just the 3rd party billing for the 66 EMP, as they said they have to forward complaints to VDOT, who has yet to respond (surprise, VDOT a government agency being slow and incompetent).
So I had to just do a bunch of chargebacks.
I STRONGLY encourage everybody to look closely at their EZPass statements and exams I-66 Outside the Beltway charges.
Clearly it appears this group, the 66 EMP, are nothing more than grifting frauds preying on unsuspecting motorists.
I mean for every 20 trips on 66 maybe eight get charged, at random, and of course they do not post for weeks, so it is very time consuming to pick up the fraud.
I wish there was somebody at the state or media I could alert to this, it really is appalling considering that west of Centreville, where there is no auuillory lane, I-66 is easily worse than before.
This 66 EMP are worse than Apple.
Most of the local TV stations have investigative teams/news as well as WTOP. Maybe contact some of them with your story.
I suspect that you're not the only person who is being charged inconsistently and with delayed posting of charges on accounts & automatic funding, folks just don't bother checking the charges for accuracy.
Apparently they claim I am getting a refund, so pending that I will see.
I think what did it is that I showed when they claimed I did not have exemption on their lanes, minutes after when I went on 495 express I was not billed.
OK, so it is not just me, the I66 HOT lanes are truly a fraud.
Take a look at the reviews https://www.google.com/search?client...TF-8&oe=UTF-8#
I have had the same issues.
I continue to get charged randomly, now I am out close to $400.
Just sent an email to VDOT below, who can I go to get this investigated?
I feel like the media needs to be on this, what a complete ripoff and highway robbery (literally).
Quote:
Good Evening ____.
I have emailed you several times before on the I-66 EMP. I worked on this project back in 2017/18 as a Transportation Planner II in ___.
Unfortunately I66 EMP has repeatedly charged me for trips when I should not have been due to HOV.
I have been using the Flex pass for years on 495/395/95 and never had one issue.
Since I66 EMP came around I have been overbilled close to $400, this is an ongoing issue.
I have reached out to EZPass and been told it could be my 'high end' car or my window tints, yet none of the other VA toll roads overcharge me.
This has cost me considerable time to fight, and I still am fighting.
Whom can I speak with to escalate?
I am trying to get WTOP/The Washington Post on this, I am appalled at the highway robbery (literally).
Please let me know.
Thanks.
CHANTILLY, Va. — It was designed as a hassle-free way to beat the Northern Virginia traffic. But a Prince William County family says the new E-ZPass Flex system hasn’t been too easy for them.
The couple claims the system overcharges them for tolls time after time.
“So right now, we're at about $700 in charges,” said Shawn Kiernan, who said he keeps a spreadsheet of the tolls he and his wife have been charged, and which ones have been reversed by the company.
“I have spoken to the same, you know, E-ZPass representative multiple times,” said Kiernan’s wife, Jill. “So, I almost say hey, how you doing?”
Back in December the Virginia Department of Transportation announced the new program along Interstate 66 Outside the Beltway, and it was supposed to save some drivers time and money.
“We live out in Bristow, Virginia,” Shawn Kiernan said. “And so my wife drives in with the kids to daycare every day to Chantilly. So, it was to our advantage when they put the hot lanes in because according to them, we could drive HOV 3 and get it for free.”
HOV 3 allows vehicle’s with three people in them to hop into HOV 3 lanes, for free. All a driver needs is a special transponder called E-ZPass Flex.
The Kiernan’s say they spend about an hour on the phone every week trying to reverse HOV tolls they say they shouldn’t have been charged, noting that E-ZPass has been good about reversing mistaken charges.
Despite that, a spokesperson representing Express Mobility Partners, the private company which contracts with VDOT to operate the E-ZPass Express Outside the Beltway system, disputed the Kiernan’s were being overcharged as often as the couple claims.
“While we continue to work to improve our system, the fact is our process is highly unlikely to be inaccurate as often as is claimed,” wrote Jason Rufner of the Casey Group in an email to WUSA9. “While no system is absolutely perfect, our technology plus our triple-blind human review has provided a high level of accuracy so far, and it does recognize both small children and infant car seats.”
“Our team strives to give the benefit of the doubt to our customers whenever we can, and we always aim to side with our customers as much as possible given the available information,” Rufner wrote.
But the Kiernan’s stand by their story.
In fact, Shawn Keirnan told us E-ZPass employees told they weren’t the only ones having this issue, telling WUSA9 when he went into the E-ZPass office in Manassas to complain he was told “they are having issues with their cameras picking up passengers and they are working to find a solution to the issue.”
The Kiernan’s theory is that the HOV scanners aren’t picking up the couple’s two small children, including an infant in a car seat.
Now they’re worried about other Northern Virginia drivers who might not be catching mischarges.
“It's the folks that don't have the time to take out of their busy work day to like really go line by line through their account,” Jill Kiernan said.
In a statement the Virginia Department of Transportation told WUSA9 “VDOT is aware there have been complaints by some users of the new 66 Express Lanes Outside the Beltway who indicated discrepancies about being charged tolls while traveling as High Occupancy Vehicles.
Jason Rufner seemed to dispute VDOT’s statement as well, emailing WUSA9 they have “received only a few complaints about allegedly inaccurate toll charges.”
That’s certainly not what the Kiernan’s say they’re hearing when they call to get refunds.
“They say that they do get a few phone calls that they're helping people with this,” she said. “So, I'm not the only one.”
Rufner said “The Kiernan’s reported experience is not the typical case” and that the couple “have been advised on how to configure their E-ZPass Flex transponder for HOV travel – a major point of emphasis as we continue to educate drivers about this still relatively new roadway.”
Jill Kiernan said that hasn’t stopped the overcharges either.
“E-ZPass has recommended that I flick it on and off to make sure the system is reset but it does not seem to be helping,” she said.
“I submitted a request for a refund just last week,” said Shawn Kiernan during his interview with WUSA9 in July.
If you have experienced similar issues, WUSA9 wants to hear from you. Email Chief Investigative Reporter Eric Flack at eflack@wusa9.com or DM him at @EricFlackTV on X, the platform formerly known as Twitter.
Are you kidding me?
What kind of business goes and says the system is not nearly as inaccurate as claimed, and what is a triple blind system?
My god, this is a full scale rip off.
This I-66 EMP has been a disaster, wow.
They don't even mention how tax payer dollars were used to take away a lane from 28 west making congestion worse.
Quote:
PRINCE WILLIAM COUNTY, Va. — The Virginia Department of Transportation tells WUSA9 the E-ZPass Flex HOV3 tolling system on Interstate 66 outside the beltway in Northern Virginia is experiencing problems, and might have been activated before the private company that operates it was ready.
“It is a problem that we've learned about through our interaction with our E-ZPass customers,” said David Caudell, Division Administrator for Tolling Operations VDOT. “We have been in discussions with EMP to figure out the root causes of this and had been meeting with them at a high level since July.”
The statements contradict what the private company operating the toll lanes, I-66 Express Mobility Partners, or EMP, continually told WUSA9 in an initial report about a Prince William County couple claiming the new E-ZPass Flex system on Interstate 66 in Northern Virginia overcharged them for tolls time after time.
When WUSA9 asked EMP about complaints Shawn and Jill Kiernan of Prince William County were being improperly charged for riding in HOV3 lanes even though they had three people in the vehicle the company told us it was not a widespread issue.
“Our records show that their complaint is an isolated issue,” said EMP spokesperson Jason Rufner. Rufner doubled down in a follow up email writing, “The Kiernan’s' reported experience is not the typical case.”
WUSA9 viewers and digital readers said flat out, that was not true. The newsroom has been receiving emails for days from people who all had similar stories. And a lot of you them were angry EMP tried to claim otherwise.
“Not sure if the system’s broken or the cameras are broken but there is something wrong,” said Ryan Miller who says he was charged tolls on I66 when his EX-Pass Flex transmitter was turned on, with two adults in the front and two children in car seats in the back.
“It’s ridiculous,” said Vincent Tchong, who started a change.org petition he was so frustrated. “I think something needs to be done.”
“Numerous times for the last three months, me, my wife and I have traveled with our baby on the toll roads and constantly have been charged for not having three or more people in vehicle.”
It’s been happening to Kelsey Speyer when she takes her two young children to day care.
“So, they looked at the footage and didn’t see my kids in the car which I thought was interesting,” Speyer said. “I was like do we need attendance records from that day?”
Liz Fretwell said she got charged even though she and her husband were driving with their three teenagers in the backseat.
“Had the audacity to tell me indeed there were indeed four people visible in the car at the start of our journey but only two visible at our exit point at Route 29,” Fretwell said. “I don’t know what they thought we did with our three teenagers.”
“It’s way past the money,” said Ercan Benli, who has also been fighting mischarges. “Like you know I’m just psychologically tired of chasing them like what’s going on.”
Tiwana Holland successfully challenged her charge.
“When I saw the story, I was really like 'how many people are not paying attention' and just you know, paying the fee,” she said.
Some of those who wrote into WUSA9 said window tinting, legal in Virginia, can play a role. But much like Kiernan’s most blamed the issues on small children in the back seat not being picked up by those sensors in the sky.
Eric Garnett even offered to send in ring doorbell video of his two teenagers getting in the family pickup truck right before the system charged them for not having three people in the HOV3 lane.
But in WUSA9’s original report, EMP’s spokesperson told WUSA9 its system “does recognize both small children and infant car seats.”
Some WUAS9 viewers and readers said they only experience problems on Interstate 66 outside the beltway, not on HOV3 tolling lanes on other interstates in Virginia and Maryland.
“I go back to the technology itself, the technology is good,” Caudill said. “But it has limitations.”
Caudell told WUSA9 when the sensors don’t pick up three or more people, EMP is supposed to use human eyes to double check using photos of the vehicle said that process, as well as customer service response to families challenging charges on I-66 outside the beltway, hasn’t been nearly reliable enough in the first year of the program.
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