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Post by Clipper on May 27, 2023 9:00:07 GMT -5
cnycentral.com/news/local/nys-thruway-authority-owed-more-than-275-million-in-unpaid-tolls-and-fees#It seems the lack of a sufficient and efficient collection process is having a major impact on the Thruway Authority's coffers. I have to wonder if the present process for collecting tolls from those without an EZ Pass can ever be effective in collecting tolls from out of state drivers. Especially those that most likely will not be returning to NY anytime in the near future. It seems that any collection from out of state users is going to depend on the user's state DMV cooperating in providing the driver information such as mailing address. Some states may just decline to cooperate. After all it is not their responsibility to provide that information. Without that information I doubt that even a collection agency would be able to track down the registrant associated with the license plate. When we were last in NY we stopped in Binghamton and purchased an EZ pass for $25. We simply did not want to pay the extra charge for having the tolls billed by mail. We had the option to put more money on the account with a credit card had we used up the original $25. That is what we will do in July. We often pop on and off the Thruway between Canastota and Herkimer, sometimes more than once a day, in our daily travels while in the while visiting friends and family who live between Verona Beach to the West and Mohawk to the East. Have any of you had any problem with the new toll system? When I drove a truck prior to retirement the EZ pass system was flawed even back then. It was not unusual for the system to fail to read the EZ pass transponder in the truck.
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Post by BHU on May 27, 2023 13:21:02 GMT -5
I'll get a not EZ Pass the next time we need to use the thruway & not before. Until then, they can shove it where the sun don't shine. Serves them right for firing all the toll workers.
It's the same old story. This morning I went into N.Utica Lowe's for some Miracle Gro fertilizer for the garden. Not a cashier available. From what I understand they're going totally self checkout. Then they have the gall to ask as you're waiting on yourself how many bags you used for you're purchase. Time to put Lowe's on the list.
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Post by kit on May 28, 2023 7:35:46 GMT -5
I don't have an E-Z Pass. I go from Westmoreland to the Hancock Airport and back again twice a year to pick up and return my brother from Florida when he comes to visit. Two years in a row I've had problems with the Thruway Authority. If there's any reason the 'eye' can't read your front license plate when you enter the Thruway, they charge you from the farthest Exit even though you only go a few Exits. I've protested it by phone and it took them so long to straighten it out that they fined me for not paying it on time. So guess what? I now won't use the Thruway at all any more. For the few minutes longer it takes me to get from Point A to Point B, I enjoy the scenery driving on the lesser roads and through the towns. Also I can stop to eat, get gas if I need it (at far reduced prices), use the restrooms, and occasionally stop to shop if I want to. As BHU so eloquently said above, the Thruway can 'shove it where the sun don't shine'.
The same is true with stores that have eliminated regular check-out employees in favor of self check-out. If I have to check myself out, especially with food items of which there are many, I don't shop there any more... even if I have to pay a few cents more for the items by going somewhere else, and I always send a letter to the store's manager letting him know that he's lost another shopper.
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Post by Clipper on May 28, 2023 10:27:42 GMT -5
I don't have an E-Z Pass. I go from Westmoreland to the Hancock Airport and back again twice a year to pick up and return my brother from Florida when he comes to visit. Two years in a row I've had problems with the Thruway Authority. If there's any reason the 'eye' can't read your front license plate when you enter the Thruway, they charge you from the farthest Exit even though you only go a few Exits. I've protested it by phone and it took them so long to straighten it out that they fined me for not paying it on time. So guess what? I now won't use the Thruway at all any more. For the few minutes longer it takes me to get from Point A to Point B, I enjoy the scenery driving on the lesser roads and through the towns. Also I can stop to eat, get gas if I need it (at far reduced prices), use the restrooms, and occasionally stop to shop if I want to. As BHU so eloquently said above, the Thruway can 'shove it where the sun don't shine'. The same is true with stores that have eliminated regular check-out employees in favor of self check-out. If I have to check myself out, especially with food items of which there are many, I don't shop there any more... even if I have to pay a few cents more for the items by going somewhere else, and I always send a letter to the store's manager letting him know that he's lost another shopper. I too try my darndest to avoid self check out unless I am buying only one or two items and am in a hurry. I used to prefer Kroger's but they expanded their self-checkout to 16 machines and only keep one or two live cashier lines open. I pay a bit more at Food City but they only have 8 machines and always have an adequate number of live cashier lanes open and are not shy about opening more if the lines start to build. I have read recently that Lowe's is pushing self-checkout and eliminated the majority of cashiers. I have absolutely NO intention of checking myself out at a lumber yard. Once again I won't mind paying a bit more to shop at Home Depot or Builder's Choice. |
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Post by Atticus Pizzaballa on May 28, 2023 11:52:58 GMT -5
I love self check out and use it all the time. North Utica Walmart got brand new check out machines that are fun to use. At the end of your check out just before you pay the machine asks " how do you want your receipt...print, text or phone." Clever isn't it!!!!!
I will give anyone a hint if you go and pay by debt or credit card. Put the card in with the black magnetic tape facing up!!!!! I told them they need to place a sign about that.
In the next generation of self check out machines the machine asks if you would like to leave a tip!!!
Where I lived in Missouri that Walmart took out all cashier staffed check outs and replace them with self checkouts. Good idea no one looses a job just the function they fulfil while working there.
Big problem though is theft. I am surprised at the number of people I see not using the reuse bags. They just put everything they bought back in the cart...no wonder they have to show there receipt before leaving the store.
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Post by Clipper on May 28, 2023 12:19:20 GMT -5
Sam's Club has the prompt asking how you want your receipt. I still opt for paper. A tip for self-checkout ? Uh, NOPE!!! Nor do I tip for fast food, and I limit the amount of the tip at a buffet where the server does nothing more than bring your drink. In other situations I tip generously but refuse to tip a McDonald's employee that is making 15-17 bucks an hour.
I tip according to level and quality of service. That being said, Walmart would have to put enough employees on the floor to actually provide proper service to customers in order for me to tip anyone. Tipping for the level of service we receive here at OUR local Walmart would most likely would result in customer rebate rather than a tip to store cashiers. It has been my experience that the hardest working employees are those that unload the trucks at night and stock the shelves and those that do the shopping for the curbside pickup orders. I seldom have used curbside pickup but when I have, I tipped generously.
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Post by BHU on May 28, 2023 15:35:56 GMT -5
The TA is short $276 million? That's an outrage, but guess what? Nothing will happen to the hacks who run that outfit.
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Post by Ralph on May 29, 2023 15:18:37 GMT -5
Sometimes things don't always pan out the way you think they would.
In an effort to get the last minute folks out faster last week they closed the self checkouts and opened traditional checkouts thinking it would go faster.
It didn't.
Instead of getting everyone out by 11:00 - 11:05, they were there until 11:25.
Though I am sure it cut the underscanning theft out altogether.
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Post by Clipper on May 29, 2023 17:47:34 GMT -5
Gee, I wonder if they will ever figure out that a balance of both would be efficient and customer friendly.
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Post by clarencebunsen on May 29, 2023 23:35:52 GMT -5
Makes me feel like a chump for buying an EZ pass and paying tolls. We don't use the Thruway much anymore but in a month we will be driving from NY to MN. Just one more thing on the list of things NY state government can't do.
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Post by Clipper on May 30, 2023 7:58:16 GMT -5
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Post by BHU on May 30, 2023 18:18:39 GMT -5
That was really nice of the THWY to raise tolls on people who actually pay so that they can subsidize the deadbeats who don't & who the THWY can't seem to MAKE pay. |
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Post by Clipper on May 30, 2023 21:49:27 GMT -5
It seems to me that the move to strictly EZpass and doing away with toll collectors is going to make the problem of collecting from out of state drivers and toll evaders an ongoing problem and a nightmare. With the toll booths and collectors it was a bit more difficult to dodge the toll and I have to think that the money was easier to track. EZpass billing was much easier when not every car that used the road had an account that had to be charged for every trip on the toll road. If you were not a daily commuter or a business account you grabbed a ticket when you got on and paid in cash when you got back off.
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Post by BHU on May 31, 2023 16:40:02 GMT -5
Apparently, Cuomo & the TA figured they could save big bucks by going EZ Pass & getting rid of toll workers to save money on pay, benefits etc. Oops!
Jokes on them Har, har, har!
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Post by Clipper on May 31, 2023 17:27:45 GMT -5
If it had Andy's blessing and support, it probably poorly researched before they started. They probably could lessen the deficit if they kept the authority management's hands out of the cookie jar.
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