From the Dallas South News Wire (NTTA)
The North Texas Tollway Authority (NTTA) plans to make two major changes that will improve customer service and satisfaction. First, all transactions, including violations, not paid with a TollTag or cash will be processed as ZipCash.
ZipCash is the NTTA’s cashless method of payment that is currently in place on the President George Bush Turnpike, Sam Rayburn Tollway and the Wycliff Avenue toll plaza of the Dallas North Tollway. This change will be applied to all transactions beginning Mon., Feb. 8. All invoices and transactions prior to Feb. 8 will adhere to the NTTA’s current process.
Customers without a TollTag who do not pay cash on the Dallas North Tollway (DNT), Mountain Creek Lake Bridge (MCLB), and the Addison Airport Toll Tunnel (AATT) will be given the chance to pay the higher ZipCash toll rate prior to the assessment of violation fees.
“By eliminating dual collection processes on the NTTA System, things will be much easier to understand for our customers,” said Assistant Executive Director of Operations Clayton Howe. “Cash will still be accepted and expected on the Dallas North Tollway, Addison Airport Toll Tunnel and the Mountain Creek Lake Bridge until they transition to cashless toll collection in late 2010. However, violations will go through the ZipCash process.”
The NTTA has also added a new step in the dispute resolution process. Effective immediately, an ombudsman, removed from the collections process, will ensure fairness and consistency by reviewing disputed invoices that are unable to be resolved in the Customer Service Department. The ombudsman will research the issue and communicate the resolution to the customer. An unidentifiable activity report will be posted online as well.
“These enhancements are to improve customer satisfaction – that’s the only motivation,” Howe said.
NTTA staff has recently made several enhancements to their collections process including:
- Redesigning invoices to better communicate next steps in the process, the amount that will be due at the next step, and the amount that could be saved if a TollTag were purchased. This motivates the customer to pay before a late fee is assessed and motivates the customer to save money by getting a TollTag.
- Streamlining the process used to reconcile change of address forms by communicating directly with the National Change of Address database instead.
In the ZipCash process, a customer receives a bill in the mail for his or her transactions at the higher ZipCash rate and then has 30 days to pay the invoice(s). Payments are accepted online, over the phone and by mail. A $2.50 late charge is assessed if payment is not received in 30 days of the invoice.
If invoices are not paid after another 15 days, an $8.33 administration fee will be charged for each transaction. After continued nonpayment, the administrative fee is increased to $25 per transaction and accounts are forwarded to a collection agency, and the case eventually could wind up in court if the customer refuses to pay.
The ZipCash process includes two steps before an administrative fee is assessed, whereas the violation process includes administrative fees being issued on the first mailed notification. This means violators on the Dallas North Tollway are given an additional 45 days before actual administrative fees are assessed.
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