Florida people and those who drive in Florida!

[micky]

On April 13, I wrote SunPass:

Dear Sunpass, I'm sure it's unintentional, but even though I returned my rental car, removed and destroyed my SunPass Mini, you are still charging my cc weeks later. Attached is the final bill from Thrifty, and the car was returned before noon on March 26th. I read and followed all the Black Box instructions that came with the transponder, and did everything listed in the web FAQ. I completely removed the Sunpass from the windshield, wadded it up and put in my pocket, then my suitcase. ---

As you can see, after noon on the 26th, the billing no longer refers to my Sunpass, but only to the license plate of the Thrifty rental car I no longer had, and the pictures show no SunPass, only the license plate.

--- My 10 tolls during the week I was there total $9.68, but you have charged me $60. Please refund the $50 difference to my credit card. Thank you. Transponder: 11111111111 Account: 111111111 ---

The other 48 or so charges that are NOT mine total about $50.42 Sincerely,

It only took 2 weeks for other renters to put 50 dollars in tolls on the pass.

I could have also removed the car and my credit cafd from my account, but those steps are not listed in the Black Box instructions that came with the Sunpass, nor in the webpage about returning a rentals. I only used my laptop once while in Florida and I hate doing things on the phone. But it might still be a good idea. It would have kept this from happening, and I would have had only 10.24 in the account, but even that I guess is would be reason enough to close the account.

I've looked to see the progress every couple days. Within 2 days the category changed from the one I chose, Payment/Refund, to Dispute/Toll. Their software might have done that, I don't know. I didn't consider it a dispute until and unless they didn't give me the refund.

Friday night I see that at [Friday] 04/19/2024 13:42:40 they marked it Closed: Thank you for contacting the SunPass Customer Service Center regarding your toll dispute. We apologize for the inconvenience. We have reviewed your account activity and applied an adjustment in the amount of $58.24. [It had been about 8 dollars] You may view the balance adjustment and your account balance by logging into your account on

You can retrieve your toll activity in 90 day increments up to 36 months just by entering the corresponding start and end dates.

My positive balance is now $60.32 But I still don't have the money!! Aha, Google points to the FAQ which says I can get a refund but it only mentions closing my account. I was going to leave it open for future years, but I have EZ-Pass now too, and I guess it would be simpler to use that, if I remember to take it with me.

EZ-Paass required putting in $25 to start! Instead of Sunpass requiring

5 to buy the mini and minimum 10 all the time if you use auto-fill.

One thing nice about the Sunpass webpage is that it doesn't log you off for a long time.

Thanks for the suggestions in an earlier thread.

[Ralph Mowery]

I do not drive out of state very often. Is there ways to get from one part of the states without going on a toll road ? There are only two toll roads I have been close to in the state but I do not go on them.

[Retirednoguilt]

Google Map's directions options includes checking a box to use routes that avoid toll roads. If you're not familiar with Google Maps, there's a Google Maps app for both android and apple. You can also navigate to it on a web browser. Enter an address and when the map reloads, you'll see an option for directions. Select that and put in a start location and a destination then select the automobile icon near the starting location. Scroll down till you see the word Options and click on that. The rest of what to do next is obvious.

[Ed P]

Sure, you can avoid tolls just about anywhere, but do you want to? I'm just south of Tampa Bay and the Sunshine Skyway Bridge. Toll is $1.16 each way. I can easily about it by adding about 60 miles and 90 minutes to my trip. Where I go is about 30 miles. Avoiding the bridge is 74 miles and adds 45 minutes.

Other places may not be as dramatic, but you can also pay cash for the toll, I think $1.50.

[Ralph Mowery]

I am sure you could get to most places with out the toll roads. I was just thinking along the lines you mentioned. Some toll roads near where I live are parallel to interstates that are not toll for most of the way. You save very little time but there are less cars and trucks on the toll road. With the price of gas being what it is if you save 60 miles then you save lots of money by paying the toll.

I do not normally use Google maps but do use the GPS in the car. I will have to check to see if there is a toll road skip check block.

[Cindy Hamilton]

Why? Don't you believe in paying for what you use?

[micky]

If you're only going a block away there is! LOL.

There are city streets and there are some free xways, but traffic around Miami is very heavy. Even on 7 miles of I-95, if you take toll lanes there is a charge, although the charge varies with time or traffic and it's posted on a lit up sign above the road, which I tried to read but was never sure what it said. On one trip at 11PM some charges were Zero, but I don't know which ones.

And I'm not sure you can get from the east coast the west coast in southern florida with paying a toll. Hmm, it seems the Tamiami Trail (TAMpa to miAMI) is free (but the road farther north is definitely not) , but since they no longer have toll booths, it's hard to tell. Once I saw a sign that I was going on a toll road but I think by then it was too late.

I don't mind paying $10 -- that's not much compared to the airfare and the car rental -- and even if I had Pay-by-Plate which iiuc charges the highest rate they have, it would have been lss than $20, I think, but 60 is too much.

Because there was only one toll booth during the whole trip and I forgot to check if the Sunpass would work there, I also wasn't sure until the trip was over, when I had time to find my bill** that I had put the Sunpass sticker in the right place. Instructions with it were iirc to put it to the right of the (left?) side mirror, but online it showed it just to the right of the center mirror, and then it had special instructions for 12 makes of car, and some cars where you had to get one that mounts where the front license plate goes.

**Couldnt' remember my userid or password until I had time to relax. I've recently started using a new app to take notes and it took a while to remember to look there. (It came free with MyPhoneExplorer and I'd never used it before but it's good for spoken notes. Only on Android.)

One time I took the city streets, through Coconut Grove and other ritzy places, and I like that, but not all the time.

[micky]

Wikipedia has a list of toll roads in Florida, but it's not much help since it's a list, not a map. I don't konw where those roads are.

And I knew about turning off tollroads on google maps. Tou can also turn off highways, but like I say, I was willing to pay the Sunpass rate.

[Ralph Mowery]

I pay gas tax to pay for the roads I drive on. The toll roads around here do not go very far and not worth it to me. I all so pay tag tax on the car and county tax just to own it every year.

[Ed P]

Depending on time of day and traffic, when I go around Washington DC I may pay to use the express lanes. In New Jersey, I will pay to use the turnpike or Garden State Parkway most times instead of the alternates. I've never paid tolls in GA, SC, NC, VA. In DE there are some express lanes I've paid to use.

On a leisurely vacation ride, back roads and secondary roads are fine. When I go north, I just want to get there as fast as possible.