# Has anyone been to court regarding "late" & "unpaid" eflow fees ?



## jsmk (20 Sep 2010)

HI

Has anyone  been to court regarding "unpaid" eflow fees?

What was the outcome? We have a court date for tomorrow, we have tried to settle this with eflow and their solicitors for over a year now but still going on. All we get as an answer is we will look in to it and get back to you, so now after numerous of phone calls,  emails and registered letters to them we still facing the courtroom tomorrow. 

Its about 4 trips that was paid but 12hours to late. They now want €1,000 plus it will give us bad credit rating and court fees. 

We have NEVER received any late fee letters so have never been aware of the problem until we got the registered letter from the solicitors. We have made contact with an post and they advice that if any letters were sent and not delivered they would have been returned to sender and the only way to guarantee a delivery is by registered letters, which they don't use. We have asked for the letters to be sent out so we get a fair chance to pay the late fees, but the answer was then its not sufficient and they want a higher amount. 

We have no way to pay what they are asking for and the dream of buying a house will be gone if we be stuck with bad credit rating. 

Do they really have the right to put this pressure and stress on people with no respectful chance to settle it without going down the whole court and big fees route?

Any advice would be helpful thank you.


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## alaskaonline (20 Sep 2010)

> Failure to pay the full amount due within a further 56 days will result  in an additional €98.00 penalty. Then if you still have not paid the  total amount due, legal proceedings will be initiated.



Where is the 1000 Euro coming from? They must give you a break down of fees. This is shocking!
Considering they try to sue you, the onus is on them to prove they have tried to contact you to settle the payment. Considering they haven't done that (you said, you didn't receive their letters sent by standard post) I would be surprised if they get away with it.

Also, they could cover themselves by having an online service where people could check any outstanding fees online. Considering they don't even send out the letter with the toll number (as it's in my case), there is no way for tracking the required fees. We had to ring them and the info given to us on the phone was inaccurate


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## jsmk (20 Sep 2010)

Hi thanx for your reply. Really can I check my account with them online? Cos I have requested a statement from them with all the details from my account but all I get is the time and date we did our journey and how much the fee is at now. The thing is that we have paid every time but hands up a bit late a few times. I tried to pay a late fee once in the shop cos I knew it was late so I went in and paid €12, the shop assistant thought it was strange but said nothing, I have now been told I cant pay late fees in shops WITHOUT the letter...so where is the money I did pay?? and how am I to pay? I have no cc or lazer card to use oline or over phone, and NO letters to pay in shops? Eflow dont want to comment cos its passed on to the solicitors, its all so confusing and I cant get any respectful help or response from any of them. How do I check my account with them online?


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## alaskaonline (20 Sep 2010)

> Really can I check my account with them online?


 not that I know off, hence my statement they should offer this service if they want people to pay correct amounts.

they are a very inefficient run company!


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## Staples (20 Sep 2010)

jsmk said:


> They now want €1000 plus it will give us bad credit rating and court fees.
> 
> the dream of buying a house will be gone if we be stuck with bad credit rating.


 
Could this affect your credit rating?  They're not a fianancial institution so I wouldn't have thought so.  The issue is whether you owe money to a private company.


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## jsmk (20 Sep 2010)

thats what they state in their letter


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## Mrs Vimes (20 Sep 2010)

I suppose if they got a judgement against you it would show up on future credit reports. It would certainly affect you getting a mortgage in the next few years.
Sybil


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## Complainer (20 Sep 2010)

jsmk said:


> Hi thanx for your reply. Really can I check my account with them online?.... How do I check my account with them online?


Do you have an account with them?


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## Staples (20 Sep 2010)

Mrs Vimes said:


> I suppose if they got a judgement against you it would show up on future credit reports. It would certainly affect you getting a mortgage in the next few years.
> Sybil


 

Are you certain about that?


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## MurrayDub (20 Sep 2010)

Had a similar situation and called solicitors. Your right, eflow cant help once case goes to solicitors. anyway i had ignored letters and claimed i hadnt recieved them but apparently they track them! so I called solicitors and offered to settle to keep out of court and they sorted it for me. Your best bet is to negotiate with em. Good luk!


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## Mrs Vimes (20 Sep 2010)

Staples said:


> Are you certain about that?


Not certain, but I assume it would show up on searches on closing day and throw a great big spanner in the works.


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## dereko1969 (20 Sep 2010)

Has the OP kept his vehicle details up to date with regard to his current address? If not then the letters could have been sent to the address where the vehicle is registered and that's why they haven't received them.


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## jsmk (20 Sep 2010)

Complainer said:


> Do you have an account with them?



no but I like to se a record of what's been paid and when, but they wont give it to me.


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## jsmk (20 Sep 2010)

dereko1969 said:


> Has the OP kept his vehicle details up to date with regard to his current address? If not then the letters could have been sent to the address where the vehicle is registered and that's why they haven't received them.



no we been on the same address since we got the car. We have asked to get the letters sent again, and offered to get a chance to pay the late fee payment but it's to little money they answer...?!


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## jsmk (20 Sep 2010)

We have tried and tried and tried, but all we get is we get back to you.... and they never do.


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## jsmk (20 Sep 2010)

Does anyone know anybody thats been to court? today we rang them and they said the court wont be tomorrow???!! but that  we still have to show up for them to give us some paperwork. So my partner have to take 2 days off work cos of this as well!! this cant be right.


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## FioBi (20 Sep 2010)

OH was up in court for speeding fine and informed the judge that he did not get the fine in the post and therefore did not pay it. They asked him does he receive his ESB bills, telephone bills and XMAS cards (trying to imply he was lying) he stated he did as far as he knows but maybe someone sent him a card that he did not know about. Anyway long story short he got off as there are statistics to prove that An Post do infact lose a certain % of post every year and the police could not prove he got it as they did not send the fine by registered post.
Of course for the rest of the day in court the not so genuine's also did not receive their post and also got their speeding fine quashed!!

As for the court date yes they frequently change the times at the last minute and dont care that you have to take more than one day off at your own cost.


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## Complainer (20 Sep 2010)

jsmk said:


> no but I like to se a record of what's been paid and when, but they wont give it to me.


Try making a request under the Data Protection Act - see www.dataprivacy.ie


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## jsmk (21 Sep 2010)

FioBi said:


> OH was up in court for speeding fine and informed the judge that he did not get the fine in the post and therefore did not pay it. They asked him does he receive his ESB bills, telephone bills and XMAS cards (trying to imply he was lying) he stated he did as far as he knows but maybe someone sent him a card that he did not know about. Anyway long story short he got off as there are statistics to prove that An Post do infact lose a certain % of post every year and the police could not prove he got it as they did not send the fine by registered post.
> Of course for the rest of the day in court the not so genuine's also did not receive their post and also got their speeding fine quashed!!
> 
> As for the court date yes they frequently change the times at the last minute and dont care that you have to take more than one day off at your own cost.




I can understand that there is people making that up but Im totally honest when we say we NEVER received anything from them.  Cos the thing is we knew there could be letters as we paid it late. And we have never refused to pay the late fee but we were never aware of it. And its a good thing we can say we do receive all other post that only shows that the problem is at their end and they should sort it with an post. Well I tried to google this issue and it looks like no one has been to court so far... surely there must be a lot of people missing to pay are they all going to court?? or do they just do a lucky dip who is going or not...


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## kceire (21 Sep 2010)

any update OP?
how did court go?


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## jsmk (22 Sep 2010)

my partner went there and just to let u all know, yes they do take people to court, they even have a court room for eflow only! 

He said there was ALOT of people there. But we only had to sign a paper that we were there and we will hear from them in a few days, don't know about what? maybe they will settle it outside court or maybe a new court date?? But sure I will let u know how we get on.


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## jsmk (22 Sep 2010)

Does anyone know how I get in contact with media?? I would love for this to be brought up on tv or newspaper...


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## Time (22 Sep 2010)

A defended case would be moved to another date for a full trial.

There is no real point contacting the media (unless you beat them) as most of the mainstream media are simply propaganda outlets for eflow.


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## davidoco (22 Sep 2010)

jsmk said:


> my partner went there and just to let u all know, yes they do take people to court, they even have a court room for eflow only!! he said there was ALOT of people there. But we only had to sign a paper that we were there and we will hear from them in a few days, dont know about what? maybe they will settle it outside court or maybe a new court date?? But sure I will let u know how we get on.


 
I have to wonder at this stage is this a troll.  

_they even have a court room for eflow only!! he_
_ But we only had to sign a paper that we were there _
_we will hear from them in a few days, _
If you have a debt, the creditor can issue a civil summons so that you get your say in front of a District Court Judge.  The room for eflow only, signing papers, hearing back from "them" all sounds bonkers to me.


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## jsmk (22 Sep 2010)

davidoco said:


> I have to wonder at this stage is this a troll.
> 
> _they even have a court room for eflow only!! he_
> _ But we only had to sign a paper that we were there _
> ...



its sound bonkers to me too, the whole thing!!! I'm sorry if I sound a bit confused cos I have never been in a situation like this before. Just letting people know what way they work if they end up in the same  situation. Maybe there will be a new court date but what it sounds like is that they will try to sort it outside court.... The whole thing is bull**** but if we dont go along with what they are asking us to do we will be in big trouble.


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## jsmk (23 Sep 2010)

haven,t heard a thing, but its up to them to get in contact with us now as we have done what we were told to do. It's only been 2 days so I guess we will hear from them by next week. Will let u all know..


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## ollie323 (23 Sep 2010)

Best of luck.


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## roker (23 Sep 2010)

What about contacting a TD, how could such a system for making money be allowed to operate, from a small fee to a hugh fine. I live in Cork and I am afraid to use the system, what do I do if I catch a flight?


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## Complainer (23 Sep 2010)

roker said:


> what do I do if I catch a flight?


Just pay the bill - do it by phone when you've checked in.


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## jsmk (24 Sep 2010)

roker said:


> What about contacting a TD, how could such a system for making money be allowed to operate, from a small fee to a hugh fine. I live in Cork and I am afraid to use the system, what do I do if I catch a flight?



This is it! We have been trough hell the past year ( and many more with us) both of us losing our work and the rest that comes with that... only just getting back to work next week and will try to catch up with all bills and owed money to try to recover from a very bad hit. But then these *******s come along and  dig the hole deeper and make things so much more harder and stressful. We have never refused to pay the original lat payment fee but they want MORE. They should put back the barriers and let people pay when passing the bridge or give people a bit more time to pay the fee. I never knew it was possible to end up in court for driving over a bridge!!??  

If anyone knows who ( someone that will care) to contact about this please let me know!


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## jsmk (24 Sep 2010)

Yes try to remember to pay it at the airport...I will NEVER EVER forget again.


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## sse (24 Sep 2010)

Complainer said:


> Just pay the bill - do it by phone when you've checked in.



Also, I think you can pay it 24hrs in advance, so you can sort it before you even leave the house.

SSE


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## Complainer (25 Sep 2010)

jsmk said:


> They should put back the barriers and let people pay when passing the bridge or give people a bit more time to pay the fee. I never knew it was possible to end up in court for driving over a bridge!!??


No thanks. Removing the barriers has made a huge difference to traffic around Dublin, taking considerable amounts of time off people's daily commute time. There are thousands of people spending less time on the M50 and more time with their families every day, thanks to the barrier-free tolling. 

Please don't expect to inconvenience thousands of people because you couldn't be bothered to follow the instructions on the huge sign and make one phone call.


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## MandaC (25 Sep 2010)

I hardly ever use the M50 toll.  But I have an account set up for when I do....it is just debited from my laser account.

I had some dealings with our company car and staff car fleet in work last week and got 5 of those solicitors letter things for 143.00 each.  Each of these started off at 3.00 each but were never paid down along the line.   There were about three jumps before it reached 143.00 each.  If the 143 was not paid, you were threatened with going to court, I think.  Needless to say, some people were in trouble!


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## jsmk (25 Sep 2010)

Complainer said:


> No thanks. Removing the barriers has made a huge difference to traffic around Dublin, taking considerable amounts of time off people's daily commute time. There are thousands of people spending less time on the M50 and more time with their families every day, thanks to the barrier-free tolling.
> 
> Please don't expect to inconvenience thousands of people because you couldn't be bothered to follow the instructions on the huge sign and make one phone call.


 

Hmmm I dont really want that to happen...so no need to be nasty.
I dont want to sit here and repeat myself but we saw the hugh signs and we did pay...why we have to make a phone call I dont know? Do u call them every time u been through the toll?? I cant pay over the phone if that is what u trying to say, dont have lazer or cc by choice, so my only way to pay is over the counter and if you dont make the shops on time you are ****ed. So by saying that they have to "put barriers back" is meaning change the system so people who are no cmiminals have to end up looking like one...


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## jsmk (25 Sep 2010)

MandaC said:


> I hardly ever use the M50 toll. But I have an account set up for when I do....it is just debited from my laser account.
> 
> I had some dealings with our company car and staff car fleet in work last week and got 5 of those solicitors letter things for 143.00 each. Each of these started off at 3.00 each but were never paid down along the line. There were about three jumps before it reached 143.00 each. If the 143 was not paid, you were threatened with going to court, I think. Needless to say, some people were in trouble!


 

Sure account would be good but its kinda to late for that...yes for next time but it wont help my situation now...sure if u ignore paying is only fair to get fined, but I never had a clue that we were fined for paying late...and now we are facing court.


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## Complainer (25 Sep 2010)

jsmk said:


> So by saying that they have to "put barriers back" is meaning change the system so people who are no cmiminals have to end up looking like one...



And there was silly old me thinking that when you said "put barriers back", you meant "put barriers back". You had 24 hours to make it your business to get to a shop to pay. Don't expect to change the system because you wouldn't make it your business to get to a shop in 24 hours.


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## jsmk (25 Sep 2010)

Complainer said:


> And there was silly old me thinking that when you said "put barriers back", you meant "put barriers back". You had 24 hours to make it your business to get to a shop to pay. Don't expect to change the system because you wouldn't make it your business to get to a shop in 24 hours.


 

mmm u go and spend the extra time u save with your family and I bring mine to court....listen I didnt post this for grumpy old people to sit and start a fight. If you cant give me an answer, please dont bother your time to write again. Thank you.


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