The new Texas 121 North toll road announced just weeks ago that they were getting tougher "to get people to pay their past-due bills."
Brian and Debbie Gibbs received a bill from the Texas Tollways Customer Service Center for $5.60. But the bureaucratic TxTag bill was confusing to them. The Gibbs understood the $2.60 charge for tolls, but not the other $3 in charges.
They sent in a check for $2.60, and someone at TxTAG altered the check to $5.60. The Star Telegram has the whole story:It appears that somebody at TxTag changed the amount on the Gibbses' check from $2.60 to $5.60 to cover the extra $3.Then TxDOT's Gabriela Garcia starts her deception and lies routine:The Gibbses got a copy of the deposited check from their bank and compared it with the carbon copy of the check in their checkbook. The numeral 2 in $2.60 was changed to a 5, and the "two" in the written-out amount was also altered to a five.
Did a TxTag clerk alter the check to cover the total fee?
Brian Gibbs called TxTag and spoke to an employee who told him that it did look like somebody had altered the check. The employee promised to call back but never did, Gibbs said.
"We are going to make sure that we have taken due diligence to investigate it properly and find out what happened, and see what the consequences are, if there are any," Gabriela Garcia said. "We don't want to jump to conclusions.
"Nobody went to the cash register and pulled out $3 and pocketed $3. It was just straight paperwork that was processed. Nobody benefited, as far as we can see, initially, if that, in fact, did happen."
Yes, Gabriela Garcia, TxTAG benefited. And, why should TxDOT investigate itself? I hope the Gibbs press charges.
3 comments:
Gabriela Garcia is to TxDOT as Linda Litowsky is to Austin Public Access Cable Television.
If TxDOT cashed the check, TxDOT benefited. The net effect is that somebody at TxDOT went to the Gibbs' cash register and pulled out $3 and pocketed $3. to TxDOT.
If "somebody" working in a bank altered a check to the bank and got caught, there would be a felony indictment.
TxTag: Forging the way for Texas commuters
Alright I don't typically write this stuff but honestly this is rather silly. If someone at TxTag "altered" a check it certainly was not a conspiracy, nor was the customer service rep admitting to anything they could have known- at worst agreeing to be agreeable. Checks are processed at that place at an entirely different location miles and miles away from the customer service center- phone representatives have no access to SEE copies of checks and therefore verify that it "looked altered". That is virtually impossible... the ONLY way that this could be said to them is if they faxed them a copy of the check. Phone representatives do not have direct access to faxes.
You can complain all you want about the toll roads- or the invoice fees - or you can just not get on the roads. I personally find not getting on the roads sufficient.
Regardless, it is a far cry from this conspiracy theory. At worst it was an inexperienced person in some cubicle who probably thought, naively, that they were saving them the trouble by not having the balance paid in full and then accumulating further charges. Completely incorrect and punishable, but not a scheme on the part of TxDot nor was it not money they owed, as wrong as acquiring it that way was! And Gabriela Garcia- she is in PR.. come on... that is her job...
I am sure everyone will be running to say I work for them and that is partially true- I have worked in conjunction with them and I have seen their system first hand and inside out. But that is in the past and I have absolutely NO affiliation with TxTag, NTTA, CTRMA, TTA, or TxDot. Anything else I know is from pure research and common sense. I don't ride the toll roads myself, but I know how the system works (an additional $1 a month as your bill is delinquent is hardly a secret if asked about).
One things for sure, I certainly don't buy into the roads being one big conspiracy!!
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