ATLANTA — An Atlanta woman says she was billed nearly a thousand dollars in toll violations. She contacted Channel 2 Action News for help after Peach Pass refused to let her correct the error until she paid the full amount.
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"It was really shocking," Peach Pass user Rachael Crump told Channel 2 investigative reporter Ashli Lincoln.
Crump says a clerical error ended up costing her nearly a thousand dollars.
“I thought that it was a horrible mistake,” Crump explained.
After updating her information on the State Road and Tollway Authority’s new Peach Pass app, Crump says she went months thinking everything was fine.
“It’s really getting out of hand,” Crump said.
However, when she received an $800 bill, she learned the violations had been piling up.
“The lady at Peach Pass said it was because I put a ‘1′ instead of an ‘I’ in my tag, so they were charging a completely different vehicle," Crump explained.
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Crump says she was told she couldn’t fix the mistake until she paid the fines.
"I asked if there was any way they could help me since it was a simple mistake. She said they would remove $500 in fees if I paid $300, but I still didn’t have $300," Crump said.
Crump says she doesn’t understand why she was fined, since she was already paying for her rides.
“It kept taking my payments, but it was also fining me at the same time," Crump said.
Another Peach Pass user, Justin Padden, says he’s fighting more than $5,000 in tolls and fees because of delayed notifications.
“My issue was — hey, you’re sending me a bill six months later," Padden said. “Then I’m being told, “Sorry, there’s nothing we can do. You have to deal with the collection agency.”
Padden says he received violations for using the express lanes, even though he’s a Peach Pass user and owns an electric vehicle, which were exempt from tolls until September of this year.
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Padden says he too updated his account in 2024 when the new app launched, but later that year the account was closed without notice, allowing five months of tolls and violation fees to pile up.
“I have no problem paying for a toll I owe. But when you do everything right, and you still get hit with a huge bill for something you didn’t do. That’s not fair, Padden said.
The state roadway and tollway authority operates Peach Pass. It told Lincoln in a statement that it can’t comment on an individual’s account.
Both Padden and Crump say they’re submitting paperwork to allow SRTA to release their account details.
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