3 ms·
I recently paid a toll online (TxTag), and I paid the "total balance", but I missed that you have to check a second box (the amount "in collections") in order t
by SilasX 7y ago
I recently paid a toll online (TxTag), and I paid the "total balance", but I missed that you have to check a second box (the amount "in collections") in order to actually pay everything that's due, and then I got hit with further late fees for that part, with no warning that, after this payment, I was still accruing penalties.
Screenshot of the interface:
https://photos.app.goo.gl/yAMrNg4VkrP68SLf6 https://photos.app.goo.gl/yAMrNg4VkrP68SLf6
- deleted 7y ago[deleted]
- jdhn 7y agoWhat a horrific dark UX pattern.
- SilasX 7y agoAmen. All in all I ended up paying about $33 for one wrong turn onto a quarter mile of toll road.
- ghostbrainalpha 7y agoSerious question... do we call it a "dark pattern" when the design was unintentionally flawed by incompetence? Or is it only a dark pattern if the design intended to be deceptive by it creator?
- teddyh 7y agoIf somebody stands to profit by a bad design, they don’t get the benefit of the doubt.
- jermaustin1 7y agoI have a collection from EZ-Pass in NJ. The toll booth didn't read my EZ-Pass on MY car registered to ME an EZ-Pass customer. So EZ-Pass sent me a bill in the mail for $2.50 + $50 administration fee. I went on their website to pay, and they gave me an option to add the license plate to my account and only pay the $2.50. I did that. Last week, after never hearing from EZ Pass again, I get a letter in the mail from a collections agency for the $50.
- deleted 7y ago[deleted]
- SilasX 7y ago$50 admin fee for paying outside of the EZ-Pass system?
- jermaustin1 7y ago$50 admin fee for "running" a toll on the Garden State Parkway... funny is it read my EZ pass on the toll booth before and on the exit, so not sure how or why they couldn't use common sense to find out that it was their error. If I had run that booth, then I'd still be on the GSP right now.
- Zancarius 7y agoWow. I wonder how many other people got nailed by this? Ticking "total balance due" would've made me immediately figure everything was free and clear as well. Worse, since the "outstanding collection amount" is less than the total, it's easy to assume it would be included, you know, when you click total.
- bigwavedave 7y agoIt's a pretty unfortunate dark pattern that's wide spread in these contexts; I remember my senior year of high school and freshman year of college there were no end of mandatory workshops we had to attend about finances and this exact phenomenon.
- bnjms 7y agoSo you’re telling me you can just pay off the current amount? Effectively allowing you to ignore the amount in collections until they choose to settle or never pay?
- SilasX 7y agoOh, I suspect it would go on your credit report if you kept ignoring it. And yes, they give you that option, to pay the current amount, except they misleadingly (or falsely) call it the "total balance".
- phibz 7y agoAssuming that's a Texas NTTA toll, don't pay that online. Call the number on the notice. If you're polite they'll usually waive the fees provided you pay the toll in full. The website has been terrible since the mid 2000s