State Road and Tollway Authority

If you move out of state, make sure you remind yourself to remind Customer Service at the State Road and Tollway Authority to close your account. This is after you’ve requested to close the account twice to have the state refund your money.
After I moved out of Georgia this summer I emailed customer service to refund the money I had in my account. I was told the first time that I should receive my check in 6 – 8 weeks. Eight weeks went by and I emailed them again. I received a response of: «Oh Sorry, we didn’t close out your account the first time. We’ll do it now».
Another eight weeks go by. I email again, where’s my money? Their response: «Oh, we didn’t issue you a check…»
Another two weeks (meanwhile about 5 months after I initially tried to close the account and get a refund), I finally get a check.
Am I surprised that another government entity is making money off my money but yet can’t really do its job effectively? Not in the least. Par for the course.

If someone had asked me earlier this year what I thought of the entire concept of the Peach Pass and High Occupancy Toll (HOT), a.k.a. Express Lanes, I would have responded that I was a fan and would have given at least 4 stars. I had primarily utilized the Express Lane going southbound on I-​85 for the 16 miles from Old Peachtree Road to Chamblee Tucker Rd. I’m glad I waited to write this because I am now ready to provide a more thorough review after using the Peach Pass for well over a year.
Registering for the Peach Pass is simple enough as it can easily be done online. Although the Peach Pass «sticker» (transponder) itself is free, the initial $ 20 account balance must be prepaid with a credit or debit card. Additionally, it requires a credit/​debit card to be kept on file to maintain your Peach Pass account. Each time your account balance declines to $ 10 or less, the system will automatically charge your credit/​debit card $ 20 to replenish your toll balance. You’ll also get an email confirmation of the replenishment every time your credit/​debit card is charged. Please beware of this as using the Express Lanes can quickly become addicting, especially if you’re a solo commuter, and you may wind up using the Express Lane every single day.
I have to admit, I was truly addicted to getting on the Express Lanes for a while, especially when I was living up in Buford. Yes, I used to get a crazy «high» as I proudly and smugly drove on the Express Lanes in bumper-​to-​bumper, parking-​lot traffic. I felt so free and almost guilty as I would fly by the cars stuck in traffic. I seriously loved the Peach Pass and Express Lane. That is, until very recently…
In August this year, I received a Toll Violation notice in the mail from the State Road and Tollway Authority (SRTA) for a $ 260+ fine. The notice included a photo of my license plate along with a list of ten transactions (June to July activity), their associated toll amounts, PLUS a $ 25 Administrative Fee for EACH transaction. I thought, «What the hell, how is this possible?» I have my credit card on file, I had never crossed the double white lines (always use the dotted entrance/​exit lines), and never used the non-​toll mode (3+ people in the car to use the Express Lane for free) when there were less than two others in the car with me.
Obviously upset, I called Peach Pass Customer Service (1 (855) 724‑7277) to find out why this violation notice was sent to me. To make a long story short, after a few conversations with various Customer Service representatives (some friendly and others extremely rude) and looking through my Peach Pass account info online, I found out that my account had been deactivated. Why? Because the credit card that I had added to my account almost a year ago, which was obviously valid when I saved it to my Peach Pass account, had expired in March 2012. Therefore, instead of sending an email notification for me to update my credit card information on my account (or continue to keep the account open and utilize the credit card because it was AUTOMATICALLY renewed after the expiration date!), what happened was that my account was deactivated when no funds remained.
So, I submitted a dispute using their form online. This was tricky because the options on their dispute violation form are very limited. Ultimately, I don’t even know if anyone even looked at the dispute form because I had to call Customer Service again several times afterwards. Finally, I got a very friendly, helpful Customer Service rep who was able to remove all but $ 10 of the Administrative Fees plus the toll fees. I still didn’t agree that I should have even had to pay the $ 10. However, since the due date of the violation fees was quickly approaching, I decided to suck it up, pay the $ 10, and be done with this nightmare once and for all.
Overall, the State Road and Tollway Authority gets 2.5 stars for their ridiculous, flawed practice of deactivating a Peach Pass account because the original expiration date for the credit card entered has passed and then proceeding to charge $ 25 for every single time the driver uses the Express Lane or 400 toll road without a warning. That is, until they send you the Toll Violation notice. I can imagine that many others may have gone through the same (or similar) experience with SRTA but eventually may have just paid the entire violation fine just to avoid having to call the Customer Service line over and over again until the issue is resolved. Nowadays, I rarely use the Express Lane because I have been traumatized from this experience.
[Review 285 of 366]