Southbay Expressway Toll Charged me 20x the price of the toll for toll evasion when I have a registered and working FastTrak in the vehicle San Diego CA

I received 2 notices of toll evasion from Southbay expressway a few weeks ago stating that I owe $42.50 (per evasion) for evading a $2 toll. I've had a FasTrak transponder in that vehicle for 2 years now (and it works till this day, more on that later). So I responded to the letters by sending an explanation that my transponder was in the vehicle and working at the supposed time of the evasions and I gave them my transponder number. *note if they did indeed take a picture of my vehicle going through the toll the transponder would be clearly visible on the dash and it even beeped when I went through the toll as it always does.

After a few weeks I received two more notices of toll evasion for 2 new incidents. The next day I typed another letter stating the issue and that my transponder should have been read and that I should not owe anything but the $2 toll for each but before I even got a change to mail my response (and here is where it gets super scammy), I received 4 response letters from Southbay denying my appeal of the first two tickets AND the two I had just received the previous day. Let me say that again for clarify; They preemptively sent me a reject of an appeal for the two notices I had just received the prior day, before I even asked them to be reviewed and likely before they could possibly even be reviewed as I hadn't sent anything to review. Now as I said earlier this wasn't a matter of my transponder not working. I checked my FasTrak account after receiving the second set of letters and I have 2 registered charges on the southbay expressway a week after the date of the supposed last set of evasions meaning my FasTrak module, which has been in the same place in my car since I got it, worked just fine AFTER all of the dates they say I evaded. Proof that it obviously works just fine with their system and the failure was obviously on the side of their equipment and not mine. Just to be sure I have toggled the switch on it (to choose the amount of passengers in the vehicle) and it still to this day beeps and lights up every time signaling that it is indeed working as expected.

This proves to me that they likely aren't even reading the appeal letters and checking their system they are just sending out denials in hopes that people give up and pay them. Because that is the next step. The denial letters state that you must pay them for the tickets (or they will withhold your DMV registration) and that only AFTER paying them can you appeal the tickets again and have your case seen by ???? I don't know, do they have their own judge and jury too? The letter is vague but seems to allude to some kind of case or proceeding where your case is reviewed. Of course this means that you will have to miss work which for most people is more expensive than the ticket, so the scam likely works here on the poorest people who can't afford to fight back.

Well I'm not that person, I can afford the evasion fines just fine, but I refuse to pay them. I will not pay one single penny until my case is heard and this practice of literal highway robbery is stopped, if only to protect the next person who cannot afford to fight back. I have spoken to several people who have had the same or a very similar experiences with southbay expressway and I am gathering complaints and evidence and working with a lawyer to take this case to court (real court, not whatever hearing they are facilitating). I will be seeking damages associated with any work I miss because of this completely unfair incidenth. I would also love to have this covered by local news to get the message out about this obvious scam, praying on people just trying to commute to work.

If you have a similar complaint please reply to this with detailed information about what southbay did to you as the more evidence I can gather the better case we will all have.

*Note to all to help you avoid this issue completely. Register your license plate with Southbay on their website and connect it to your transponder, this way at least if their transponder receiver doesn't work, they will have your plate on record so they can charge it to your account instead of sending you a letter to try and charge you 20x the cost of the toll. I got my FasTrak from LA so my plate wasn't registered with them (it is now). You don't have to register your plate for the transponder to work but it will help avoid this issue.