Sweet, long-suffering readers of the “print product” are familiar with the name Willard Spiegelman, the bow-tie-wearing SMU professor who regularly writes for us. Well, the good professor has gotten himself crosswise with the NTTA. He seeks advice, after the jump.
Here’s Willard’s tale of woe (and I believe him):
Yesterday I received a $182 bill from a collection agency representing the North Dallas Tollway Authority. The latter claims that I had seven violations (read: no fee payment) when I sailed through the Tollway between last fall and this spring. I know this cannot be true. I have never been a scofflaw, received a parking ticket, made a late payment, etc., etc. A law-biding citizen, c’est moi.
I said to the rude ladies on the phone that the “visual” evidence they produced certainly must have been of my car, which they identified correctly, but that the toll machine equipment or the booths or the cameras, or something, must have been at fault. They told me to write an appeals letter.
Have you any expertise in matters such as this? I know that I have have never failed to toss my quarters into the basket or to get change from a toll taker. Have you heard of anyone else caught in this predicament? If so, what did he or she do?
