city link

Could not agree more. Whilst electronic tags have advantages for those of us who live here the whole process is a disaster for tourists and should be sorted out.

Mike Harding

Had the same problem when we went to brother-in-law's wedding in April. Had to go to Melbourne airport to pick up daughter and same thing happened. Didn't know what to do. Arrived back at i-laws and was advised to phone and pay by credit card. No worries, did that but when I received my bank statement they had charged me twice. On the phone again gave them all relevant reciept numbers. What did they say - they said that I could have a free pass next time I was in Melbourne. NO I won't be in Melbourne for the next 10 years or so. Reluctantly refunded money back into my account. To the unaware tourist it is an absolute shambles.

as most states now have e tolls, if you own a tag, it will work australia wide. for tourists with out a tag, daily or weekly passes are available.. as for the $200.00 dollar fine.. try living here when it costs you $100.00 a week in tolls just to get to work. can't wait to get the hell out of sydney again

No good about the fines, but all the Toll roads in Vic are well signposted for many km's before you enter the actual tollway advising you of day passes with phone No's etc.
You had the option to turn off before the tollway starts if you did not want to pay the fee.

I hate money grabbing scum governments... thats all of them.

but there are many signs warning you its coming up, with 13 phone #'s that you could call to pay while travelling.

you can also buy passes at any servo, or newsagent I think it is, and also pay online upto 24 hours later.

$200 is a bit rich though, how does that work, I got one in the mail the other day, instead of $10, it was $12.00 (or $11.something)...

??

I did a dumb thing. I rode down to Melbourne from Sydney for a Grand Prix and forgot to remove the etag from inside my fairing. In Victoria motorcycles travel for free on the toll roads...... not me!

Frank.

I had the same problem 2 years ago in Melbourne. Tryed to call the 1300 number but found very difficult to talk with an "automatic" machine .... I'm italian ... it did not like my accent ... it did not recognise the word "payment" ecc.. ecc.. ended (15 mins lather) yelling "help" .. "help" .... but machine say .."I'm sorry, please repeat again" ... I started using bad words and finally a lovey lady answered to the telephone! She explained usually the firs time you enter the toll is free ... they dont send any fine but they will advise you about the toll ....
I still thinking this system is not wery good for tourists ... specially coming from italy!

Hey Col - something seems wrong here.

I think the total late payment processing fee is $15 or so plus the actual tolls.

You get this for each day travelled - it has happened to me a few times, but I am now wiser as to how easy it is to use their registration system for occasional users and have it paid automagically - it is then very cheap comparitively, and they still have to mail out a statement to you each month.

You must have ignored the notices sent to you for quite some time Col, to have let the fine build up to $200 - either that, or you spent a lot of time on the toll-way, and you can't really say you didn't realise - there are lots of signs that are very hard to miss.

For all that, I'm with you that the system should have better information and an accessible real money payment option - I have waited 30 minutes in their city "service centre" and still not got to the head of the queue and left in disgust. I have a business to run and noone pays me for red-tape time.

Similarly, I have waited on the phone for hours to make a payment.

Legal robbery in many ways.

Ciao for now
Andrew.

Case 1. I know a guy in the UK who was in Melbourne on a two week business trip. Ran around Citylink for the two weeks in a hire car without lodging his credit card details. That was about 6 months ago, till this day he has heard nothing?

Case 2. My son spend time in Melbourne two years ago for a month, same story as above. He got a bill totalling $400. Wrote a letter, pleaded ignorance(as if) and was told pay up or else. He sent the toll factor money only not the other rip off top up fees they wanted and once again, till this day no more heard.

Remember guys, if Macquarie Bank is involved, it will be a rip off!

Yes Col, it costs alot for us in Victoria, but a little planning before you left on your trip may have helped you, anyway i hope you had a good trip anyway

Cheers peter.

A couple of years ago my wife and I arrived in Melbourne from Sydney late in the evening to catch the ferry to Tassie the next morning. Very early the next morning we were travelling on the tollway trying to find the way to the ferry, not paying much attention to any other signs.

We made the ferry and got over to Tassie, but recalled the toll stuff and that we didn't see any booths. We recalled there was a phone number on some signs but we didn't write it down. So we were stuffed.

Got a bill for about $50 in the mail a month or so later back home in Qld. It was much more expensive 'cause our car is registered in our business name, so that's an automatic invite to be ripped off even further by the government.

A year later we were travelling through so my wife got on the mobile to ring and pay. The process was so tedious it took 5 - 10 mins on the phone, she had to keep repeating the same info to the guy, it was a joke, and she gave him an earful about the stupid system they have. He agreed it was a stupid system to make tourists go through.

Aaron.

And.........they are planting speed cams on the Hume Highway from south of Kilmore, like they are planting trees! Argh yes "Victoria....great one day, expensive the next"!

Kiwicol, having read on the forums of similar stories to yours, I was terrified of meeting the toll roads when going to Tassie via Melbourne, and planned to avoid them. Then we had to go the other side of Melbourne and pick up a battery, and the tunnel was the easiest way for us city-terrified bushies in totally unfamiliar territory to get where we needed to go whilst towing a caravan through the most maniacal drivers i have ever seen. We asked people on the forums (who said the phone method was unreliable), and looked up options the Internet. As we were going to Tassie early the next morning, paying the day after at a post office wasn't an option, but paying at a Shell servo the day before was. For me who can't get money out of an ATM, the ticket machine at the servo was daunting, but thanks to the kind customer ahead of me, she pushed the right buttons and we got the ticket.

I do believe that some leeway should be given to tourists when 'offences' such as this do not put anyone's lives at risk. In Devonport we were totally unaware of a parking metre where we had parked (it was the only one in the street, and was different to those in the main streets - we just didn't see it), and we got a warning with a postcard. Similarly years ago motor-vanning around Europe, international tourists were just given a warning card - even it parked right against a no parking sign. Victoria - you're slipping.

Do you drive with your eyes closed??????

There are signs about 2kms before the tolls to tell you that you have a choice. Pay with a credit card by calling a number within 24 hrs of travel or pull off at one of the exits. These signs are as big as the Dogs Nuticles. They are reflective blue and are so obvious.

Do you miss stop signs, give way signs and childrens crossings when you drive????????????

I am glad that you are living in another state as I wouldnt want you driving around the streets that my kids live on or my wife drives on.

Just pay the fines and next time OPEN YOUR EYES!!!!!!

I bet there are more signs on the Melb City Link advising you of the toll than there are in dry Qld towns where you can lose your vehicle for taking alcohol in. HOw much leniency do they apply in Qld for tourists and first time travellers in those dry towns??

Do they show leniency though??

Hey Col BTW one of my clients is the Victorian Minister for Transport. If you confirm that this is your email adress I will forward your complaint and see if he can waive the fine that you recieved for the reason of bad eyesight.

kiwicol@austarnet.com.au

Someone else suggested that you were distracted by the semi trailer going past with 500 ewes on the back to market and missed the payment option.