LOUISVILLE, Ky. — A Louisville driver said he's being charged for toll bridge crossings he didn't make with a car that's not his.
Brandt McCool told WHAS11 on Thursday that he hasn't driven across any of the area's three toll bridges at all since moving back to the city a year ago.
RiverLink spokesperson Mindy Peterson says, "it appears to be a misread that will be resolved during the dispute process."
WHAS11 has received dozens of messages from frustrated customers this week after our Feb. 20 report, shedding light on some of the persisting issues -- including major customer service delays -- facing RiverLink since it switched toll service providers in 2023.
WHAS11 met McCool at his home Thursday, where he showed us his Volvo XC60 -- an SUV. Then, he showed us the photos attached to the RiverLink invoices he started getting in January -- revealing a Honda Sedan that isn't his car.
He notes the plate number is similar -- different by just the last digit.
"There's no Volvo sign there, and it's a different color car," McCool said. "A big out-of-state company just wants to milk their profits and really doesn't care about the people of the communities they're servicing."
McCool continued, "I knew immediately that something was wrong, and then I started seeing these stories pop up, so I knew that it's a whole series of issues."
They're the problems the toll collecting agency said it's working to fix, citing improved call wait times from last month and doubling their number of customer service representatives -- made possible through new state funding.
McCool showed WHAS11 proof he submitted the form to dispute the bills and late fees earlier this month. More than two weeks later, he hasn't yet received an answer from Riverlink or its new provider, Electronic Transaction Consultants, which is based in Texas.
"ETC wasn't ready for prime time," McCool said. "They probably talked a big game to the Kentucky Transportation Cabinet, and then actually didn't have the resources or the preparation in place to actually handle the volume of complaints and tickets they were going to get."
Late Thursday afternoon, Peterson responded to WHAS11's inquiry about McCool's case -- saying, "RiverLink customer service or the dispute form are the appropriate channels for this type of inquiry. When a dispute is received, fees do not escalate during the resolution process."
On Wednesday, RiverLink also revealed that it's not currently using car registration holds as an enforcement tool during this 'transition period.'
Peterson said registration holds have not been implemented yet by the new provider, and no date has been set yet to begin sending vehicle registration holds. She added that no clerks have held any registrations because they haven't been in the system and clerks will be notified before holds resume.
"The states have been focusing on improving customer response times as quickly as possible," Peterson said. "Nearly 50 additional customer service representatives have been added in the past month and call hold times continue to improve."
Meanwhile, the Jefferson County Clerk's Office told WHAS11 it has not received official confirmation from RiverLink about this change. A spokesperson said, "We always anticipate communication from the Transportation Cabinet of any updates to motor vehicle regulations and have reached out to them for a definitive answer to confirm this claim’s legitimacy."
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