TAMPA, Fla. — Florida offers more than 100 specialty license plate designs representing nonprofit organizations. Some of the operations are small nonprofits that rely on the sales of specialty license plates for the majority of their funding.
The International Society of Arboriculture’s Florida chapter is among them. ISA’s mission is to provide education and research for the management of urban trees. Its president, Norm Easy, told ABC Action News the “Trees Are Cool” plates generate about $130,000 a year.
For several years, “Trees Are Cool” supporters used the link posted on the ISA website to purchase their specialty plate. That link connected buyers to a third-party vendor, which Janice March used in February to order her “Trees Are Cool” tag.
Five months later, she told ABC Action News she was still waiting.
The I-Team found a pattern of complaints with the Better Business Bureau. The BBB issued a consumer alert on the business after more than 220 people filed complaints over the last three years.
BBB spokesperson Bryan Oglesby told ABC Action News, “Consumers over and over were not receiving the license plate that they paid for.”
State records showed the name, “MyfloridaSpecialtyPlate,” was registered by Michael Towner. The I-Team found Towner has a criminal history involving the sale of specialty tags.
In 2017, the Department of Justice charged Towner with 16 counts in a scheme to defraud case. According to the DOJ indictment, he illegally received more than $250,000 that should have gone to charities.
Four years later, Towner pleaded guilty to one count of wire fraud, and the government dismissed the rest of the counts. He will be sentenced on October 6 in Federal Court in Tallahassee.
Towner would not give ABC Action News an interview but explained what happened to the more recent issues in an email.
"I had hospitalizations for heart attacks. During this time, no processing was done..." he wrote. Customers with complaints “.... will be made whole....."
“The office is a virtual office - as it has been for 15 years. This is an online business and a 2 person operation. I take the orders and the clerk issues the plates.
(redact) I had hospitalizations for heart attacks. During this time no processing was done and then Electronic Merchant Services suspended release of customers funds because the chargeback ratio exceeded the allowable 4%. Keeping all funds for any further charge backs - which effectively caused further charge backs.
Stripe subsequently did the same. So no customer's funds were actually received in the account.
I tried to process as many as possible but the funds were not released and are still being held. The only way to get them released from Stripe is by refunds (or charge backs) so anyone requesting a refund can get a direct refund from Stripe from those funds and the refund is issued from the money withheld by Stripe.
EMS do not refund from the held funds, nor do they utilize those funds to cover chargebacks, so the only way those can be refunded is from my account through Zelle or Bill Pay. This is offered to customers when they contact.
EMS are holding the funds for 6 months, and charging their monthly fees regardless of actually providing processing, so they will eat those funds as well. They do not allow direct refunds as the online access to the dashboard is blocked.
If you have specific customers' names, they will be made whole, one way or another. If you want a story rather than a resolution, then I can't do much more at this time.”
Michael Towner
Days after we asked about Janice March's refund, she received an email from the company offering to refund her $178 for the two tags she ordered. Days later, a check for the full amount arrived in the mail.
Towner wrote ABC Action News two follow-up emails. He explained the difficulty of identifying chargebacks and refunds because people used different emails and didn’t know their order numbers. He also blamed the state and his customers for delays in processing and providing refunds.
“I have attached email addresses of customers over the past months so if you are inclined to contact customers who actually have not complained - a couple of thousand of them - and maybe get some information on how difficult it is to work within the DMV system, so you can better understand the processing and methodology involved in getting these transactions done online, it might help better understand the business.
I am working through the various merchant service processors, First Data, now Fiserv that used to be Aurora Payment Solutions and became Blue Square and Electronic Merchant Systems and Merchant Services with First Data Omaha and correlating the charge back (all I get is the last four digits and date of service) to cross reference that with Authorize.net and businesstrack.com to identify a customer name to then find their email and see if they submitted an order, canceled it, was refunded or received it. Then I look for the order number and see if it is on the processed transaction ledger. So it takes time to get this done.
In the meantime, anyone who emails a claim saying they did not get their plate is being refunded directly or through Zelle or BillPay. This has been going on long before you started your story and, as like the other story that was written who had his refund check, but the story was not about the refund but a general smear campaign, again, for which I am low hanging fruit now apparently.
I know you have your $160K recovery stat for your news show and you are looking to add to that but it must be clear that all these refunds were necessitated well before you got involved and were created by a sudden increase in charge backs which triggered first a percentage hold, which was more than any fee mark up, and then a total hold on the funds without prior notice. All at a time when we could not process due to personal reasons which I have advised you of. The only way to access those funds is to refund and cancel, which is what I am doing and will continue to do until everyone is made whole. But it is a process. If you do have individuals who say they have not been given refunds, as I asked before, please feel
free to send them to me and I will make sure that they are covered as well. I will be doing more on Thursday evening when I can get access to WiFi. If they have already filed charge backs, then those funds are already withheld, so the only recourse is to accept the charge back and the $15.00 to $25.00 additional penalty, which is what I am doing.
The email addresses is all I can send due to privacy laws, I have their full names and the type of order they made and when it shipped, I do not retain personal information once the orders have been transmitted. So this adds to the difficulty in identifying charge backs and refunds when they use a different email or do not know heir order number, but I work through all of this.
I worked through 20 charge backs just now and 5 actually were processed. In those instances, theyget to walk with the plate and the money as I cannot get refunds from the state for anyone who does that as the orders are processed directly in the customer's name. Some people send death threats -over non receipt of a specialty plate or a voucher There are a lot of angry people out there. I had a page on my website where I published them for the BBB to reference, but they were not interested. If anyone asks for info on ordering now I advise they go to Etags, MyPlates, Escambia, Indian River or to their local Tax Collector until I can get a new processor set up. The run on Gadsden Flag plates since the governor's tweet has caused a huge amount of interest - so I am directing them to helpvets.org and to https://govhub.com/fl-escambia/fl-escambia/vouchers [govhub.com] who, as well as Orlando and other counties, have copied my plate images for their own use and gain.
My News page incurred the wrath of certain legislators - so I shut it down. My BBB page resulted in BBB head office attorneys going after me. I shut it down. So complaining about complainants and death threats is a waste of time - it is not news worthy.
Send me your list of complainants and at least we can start there? If resolution is not your goal, then I am sure you have your own reasons for doing it that way.”
Michael Towner
The nonprofit ISA dropped the My Florida Specialty Plate link and added one that goes straight to the DMV site.
The I-Team asked the DMV about the vendor. Here’s their response:
FLHSMV is not affiliated with Mr. Towner’s website,www.myfloridaspecialtyplates.com [clicktime.symantec.com], nor do we have any type of service agreement with the referenced website. That website is a website that markets specialty plates. Again, it is not affiliated with FLHSMV; the transactions are processed through local tax collector offices and the specialty plates and appear to be marketed with the approval of the specialty plate organizations. Customers should be aware that this is not the official FLHSMV website and there may be additional fees. Those who currently have a specialty plate and wish to renew, can visitFLHSMV’s MyDMV Portal. If customers wish to replace a specialty plate or get a specialty plate for the first time, please see any one of the motor vehicle service centers listed.
To provide some background on the issue specific to the Live the Dream specialty plate, in March 2015, FLHSMV began withholding funds from The Dream Foundation, Inc. on the sale of the Live the Dream specialty plate due to the organization’s failure to produce requested financial documentation. In August 2015, FLHSMV’s Inspector General issued an audit finding that the Foundation was not in compliance with several applicable laws, policies, and regulations. FLHSMV referred the case to the Department of Financial Services for further analysis, and their investigation led to the indictment of Mr. Towner in October 2017.
Additional information regarding specialty license plate financial oversight can be foundhere.
FLHSMV
ABC Action News asked Towner about the criminal case. He called it “old news.” And he laid out a number of issues with Florida’s license plate system to explain the delays in processing.
Once again, I am reaching out for some information on your impending investigative story regarding MyFloridaSpecialtyPlate, and myself. I sent you a couple of thousand names and emails for people who have utilized the service in the last few months, prior to the merchant processing shut down and would again ask for the names of the people that you have who allege they did not receive their order or a refund. Even the BBB provide opportunities to see if the complaint is indeed a valid one.
There are numerous reasons, on top of the shut down, that people did not receive their orders and I would think it only fair that as part of your investigation, you would confirm that the information that you received was entirely accurate.
When a payment is placed, the customer is supposed to be auto forwarded to a page to fill in all their pertinent registration information, including insurance, VIN, DL, D/B, current tag, and they have to swear that they have valid insurance in effect at the time. If this is not received, their order cannot be processed.
If they have not done this, we follow up with an email requesting the same information, providing them with the same page link to input their information. If any field is left blank, it does not forward as without all the requested information, it cannot be submitted. We do not have access to FRVIS or DAVID, as stated throughout the web site
When that is received, the information is checked and then there are follow up emails for:
Biennial renewals - a further payment is required as mandated by DMV
Personalizing their order - additional fees are charged by the state
If the registration is due in the next 3 months, they have to add a renewal fee
If they have ordered a personalized plate, they have to provide a completed Form 83043.
If they ordered a Divine 9 plate, they need to add proof of current membership in a form acceptable to the DMV
If they put the wrong amount of characters on their Form 83043, it has to be re-submitted - left-sided and central logo plates are different.
There are numerous other reasons why a follow up email has to be generated prior to submission.
The stock of plates is not kept by us, it is at the 67 Florida authorized county Tax Collector's offices and they are all made at the state prison. The plates are made in batches of 10,000 and the Tax Collector, by law, has to keep a minimum amount of stock for each of the 132 different specialty license plates that are available for purchase at their respective offices.
Personalized plates (choosing what you want on them) are made on demand at the state prison in batches of 1,000 .
We simply take the payment from the customer, send them an email to get their information to process the order securely and then the payment and orders are sent securely to be processed. We have no further involvement. They have to be registered to their vehicle in the State of Florida registration system. The Tax Collector sends the authorized license plate, with registration papers, and decal matching the new plate and registration forms in a sealed envelope directly to the customer's address by USPS and the customer takes the license plate and replaces their old one on their car.
We are simply an online 'courier' service that just takes the order online, makes sure all the information is gathered to be able to process the order and then we pay the Tax Collector to process that order and they process it through the official state Department of Motor Vehicles system.
For personalized plates, the personalization process includes a minimum of 60 days processing/manufacturing time at the prison. Prior to that their form is cleared through the DMV system and is then subject to their review for their approval (they check for any formatting errors and for any improper language, phrases, hidden meanings, etc.) and then they forward it to the prison to be made.
When it has been manufactured at the prison, it is mailed back to the clerk in batches, sorted and then mailed directly to them. It will arrive with its own registration decal in the envelope to be affixed to it. We do not know when this happens as they are sent whenever they are made and available to be sent.
Prison Rehabilitative Industries and Diversified Enterprises, Inc. (PRIDE) is a state-authorized, private, not-for-profit, inmate training company operating general manufacturing and services facilities in correctional institutions throughout the State of Florida, authorized by the Florida Legislature in 1981. Union Correctional Institution, (91 inmates) formerly referred to as "Florida State Prison", "Raiford Prison" and "State Prison Farm" is located in unincorporated Union County, Florida, near Raiford, between Gainesville and Jacksonville. It is located across from Florida State Prison, where death row inmates await their fate. That is where all license plates, including personalized plates, are made.
Once the order goes into the prison system, we have no tracking. The order is being processed and as soon as the clerk gets it back, it goes straight out to you. The timelines we provide are subject to this process and were significantly impacted in the past by COVID-19, aluminum shortages and state personnel issues, so we ask customers to please allow a minimum 90 days from when their personalized choice was approved to receive their personalized plate. If the personalized choice is denied by the DMV, we are notified in batches and then the customer is asked to resubmit a more acceptable choice - this also is subject to state timelines, not ours.
This system has been in place for over 30 years and the state of Florida does not seem to be changing the manufacturing process anytime soon. Other states (like South Carolina) have gone to an on demand digital printing process. The state of Florida does not provide online ordering, which is why we stepped in over 10 years ago to provide this service to Florida licensed vehicle owners. We try to keep the customer updated as to all levels of the process and they receive a confirmation when their order was received, advising of the timeline. Invariably, customers get impatient and think it is a delay on our part rather than the actual system.
Florida's Specialty License Plate program has raised over $800 million for worthwhile charities, colleges, sports foundations and state agency programs since inception. MyFloridaSpecialtyPlate.com has been providing an online convenience for buying all of the available Specialty License Plates for over 10 years. “Additional fees are charged to cover the costs of processing, delivery and the convenience of processing the order online and receiving it in the mail without having to go to the local DMV/Tax Collector. It is cheaper to go in person. We are a private company. All transactions are processed online through an authorized Florida Tax Collector and delivered to by USPS. We do not have direct access to FRVIS or DAVID and the information is gathered from you and securely submitted for processing.” https://myfloridaspecialtyplate.com/index.html
This is a one-time transaction for the customer. They can renew their license plates annually thereafter through the state system at gorenew.com.
We charge a fee for each transaction and the fees are disclosed:
https://myfloridaspecialtyplate.com/cost.html
https://myfloridaspecialtyplate.com/terms-and-conditions.html
https://myfloridaspecialtyplate.com/refund-policy.html
https://myfloridaspecialtyplate.com/voucher-refund-policy.html
https://myfloridaspecialtyplate.com/privacy-notice.html
There are also additional charges that the state imposes that have to be sent to the customer to pay before their order can be processed, such as biennial registration fees and personalized, fees and upgrades to include their registration fee when their registration expires within 3 months. The state will not allow a plate to be issued within 3 months of expiration unless that fee is paid – the customer receives an email explaining this.
It is not unusual for a charge back to be initiated by a customer due to the fact that they seem to either fail to respond to the initial request to process their order or simply change their mind.
We implemented a new processing system to provide follow-up emails when a customer did not responded to process their order initially.
(redact)
None of the charge backs in that batch waited the 30 day or 90 day notice period that they are advised it takes to get the license plate.
The main cause seems to be the need for them to provide their information in a separate email from when they place their order. I engaged a web designer to create a new process wherein both the payment and the registration information was submitted at the same time. Due to the different types of orders (specialty with no renewal, specialty with renewal, personalized specialty with no renewal, personalized specialty with renewal, standard personalized, standard personalized with renewal and the 132 different choices of specialty plate, together with the 40 choices for a presale voucher, the design was somewhat complicated, which apparently is the reason for the DMV, with their multi-billion dollar annual budget, have not done yet although they said they were working on it in 2012.
I am not sure if there is an unusual amount of charge backs or whether this is just the normal charge back rate given the type of product we process. The number of moving parts involved in the processing system does not allow us to control the process.
The processing time cannot be reduced.
Option 'A' - Switch to the specialty plate and keep your existing registration renewal date (this is only available if your current registration for your existing license plate does not expire in the next 3 months).
https://myfloridaspecialtyplate.com/order-now.html
Customer receives email:
“ Your new plate will be mailed to you by USPS. Please allow a minimum of 30 days from the date your order is submitted to the clerk for processing to receive your new tag in the mail. When you receive it, you replace your existing tag and dispose of the old one so nobody else can use it. We do not update your order status through Ecwid as it requires manual entry, so please be patient as we process your order.”
Option 'B' - Switch to the specialty plate and renew your annual vehicle registration renewal (this is only available if your current registration for your existing license plate expires in the next 3 months).
https://myfloridaspecialtyplate.com/order-now.html
Customer receives email:
“Your new plate will be mailed to you by USPS. You will receive your new specialty plate with randomly assigned characters and new registration decal. When you receive it, replace your existing tag and dispose of the old one so nobody else can use it. Please allow a minimum of 30 days from the date your order is submitted to the clerk for processing to receive your new tag in the mail. We are prioritizing upcoming renewal expirations first. Your order will be processed before your expiration. We do not update your order status through Ecwid as it requires manual entry, so please be patient as we process your order.”
Option 'C' - Switch to a personalized specialty plate (Choose the characters you want on your new specialty license plate or keep your existing characters on it) and keep your existing registration renewal date (this is only available if your current registration for your existing license plate does not expire in the next 3 months).
https://myfloridaspecialtyplate.com/order-personalized.html
Customer receives email:
“Your Form 83043 that you submitted will dictate what is on your plate and the placement. For the actual personalized plate that you have ordered, the personalization process includes a minimum of 60 days processing/manufacturing time at the prison. Prior to that your form is cleared through the DMV system and is then subject to their review for their approval (they check for any formatting errors and for any improper language, phrases, hidden meanings, etc.) and then they forward it to the prison to be made. When it has been manufactured, it is delivered to the clerk in batches, sorted and then mailed directly to you. The process is running slower than usual at present and can take up to 90 days. We do not update your order status through Ecwid as it requires manual entry, so please be patient as we process your order. “
Option 'D' - Switch to a personalized specialty plate (Choose the characters you want on your new specialty license plate or keep your existing characters) and renew your annual vehicle registration renewal (this is only available if your current registration for your existing license plate expires in the next 3 months).
https://myfloridaspecialtyplate.com/order-personalized.html
Customer receives email:
“Your submitted Form 83043 that you submitted will dictate what is on your plate and the placement of the characters that you chose. You have included payment for your annual vehicle registration renewal, you will receive your new registration decal prior to your new personalized plate arrival, and you must put it on your existing tag. For the actual personalized plate that you have ordered, the personalization process includes a minimum of 60 days processing/manufacturing time at the prison. Prior to that your form is cleared through the DMV system and is then subject to their review for their approval (they check for any formatting errors and for any improper language, phrases, hidden meanings, etc.) and then they forward it to the prison to be made. When it has been manufactured it is delivered to the clerk in batches, sorted and then mailed directly to you. The process is running slower than usual at present, and can take up to 90 days. We do not update your order status through Ecwid as it requires manual entry, so please be patient as we process your order.”
Option 'E' - Switch to a personalized standard Florida license plate (Choose the characters you want on it or keep your existing characters) and keep your existing registration renewal/expiration date (this is only available if your current registration for your existing license plate does not expire in the next 3 months).
https://myfloridaspecialtyplate.com/flstandardpersonalized.html
Customer receives email:
“Your Form 83043 that you submitted will dictate what is on your plate and the placement. For the actual personalized plate that you have ordered, the personalization process includes a minimum of 60 days processing/manufacturing time at the prison. Prior to that your form is cleared through the DMV system and is then subject to their review for their approval (they check for any formatting errors and for any improper language, phrases, hidden meanings, etc.) and then they forward it to the prison to be made. When it has been manufactured, it is delivered to the clerk in batches, sorted and then mailed directly to you. The process is running slower than usual at present and can take up to 90 days. We do not update your order status through Ecwid as it requires manual entry, so please be patient as we process your order. “
Option 'F' - Switch to a personalized standard Florida license plate (Choose the characters you want on it or keep your existing characters) and renew your annual vehicle registration renewal (this is only available if your current registration for your existing license plate expires in the next 3 months).
https://myfloridaspecialtyplate.com/flstandardpersonalized.html
Customer receives email:
“Your submitted Form 83043 that you submitted will dictate what is on your plate and the placement of the characters that you chose. You have included payment for your annual vehicle registration renewal, you will receive your new registration decal prior to your new personalized plate arrival, and you must put it on your existing tag. For the actual personalized plate that you have ordered, the personalization process includes a minimum of 60 days processing/manufacturing time at the prison. Prior to that your form is cleared through the DMV system and is then subject to their review for their approval (they check for any formatting errors and for any improper language, phrases, hidden meanings, etc.) and then they forward it to the prison to be made. When it has been manufactured it is delivered to the clerk in batches, sorted and then mailed directly to you. The process is running slower than usual at present, and can take up to 90 days. We do not update your order status through Ecwid as it requires manual entry, so please be patient as we process your order.”
PRESALE VOUCHER. Indicate which presale voucher you want in the 'Please indicate your choice of specialty plate here'. You will receive an email after your payment clears to process your order.https://myfloridaspecialtyplate.com/order-presale-voucher.html
Customer receives email:
“Your presale voucher order has been received. Your information will be transmitted to the DMV through an authorized Florida Tax Collector as a participant in the pre-sale program in the next 30 days. Your voucher is identified through your driver's license number. You do not receive a physical voucher.
You will be notified by email when the organization completes the required presale minimum (3,000) and then when the actual plate is available for purchase with instructions on how to apply your pre-sale voucher to the purchase of your chosen new specialty license plate. You can do it online through us or at your local DMV/Tax Collector.
You can view the latest presale voucher numbers here:
https://myfloridaspecialtyplate.com/presale-count.html
We stopped taking voucher orders because we had an issue getting them registered and the state refund policy does not allow them to get refunded.
SPECIALTY LICENSE PLATE VOUCHER PRESALE REFUND POLICY
TO COMPLY WITH APPLICABLE STATE REGULATIONS, WE SUBMIT YOUR PAYMENT IN FULL WHEN WE TRANSMIT YOUR ORDER TO THE TAX COLLECTOR FOR PROCESSING. Therefore, NO REFUNDS are available once your order has been submitted for processing.
YOU MUST PROVIDE NOTICE IN AN EMAIL, NOT BY TELEPHONE, TO CANCEL YOUR ORDER SO WE HAVE A WRITTEN RECORD OF YOUR REQUEST. PLEASE ALLOW 10 DAYS TO RECEIVE YOUR REFUND AFTER ACKNOWLEDGMENT OF RECEIPT OF YOUR WRITTEN CANCELLATION REQUEST.
YOU CAN RECEIVE A FULL REFUND FOR YOUR VOUCHER PURCHASE AT ANY TIME UP UNTIL IT IS RECORDED BY THE TAX COLLECTOR. WE SUBMIT THE VOUCHERS IN BATCHES, SO PLEASE CONTACT BY EMAIL IF YOU WANT TO CANCEL.
AFTER IT HAS BEEN RECORDED, YOU MUST FOLLOW THE STATE RULES FOR PRESALE VOUCHER REFUNDS, AS STATED BELOW.
When the license plate on the presale voucher becomes authorized, the voucher can only be used with the issuance of that specific license plate; which can be processed at the time the license plate becomes available or when the customer’s current license plate is renewed.
If a plate fails to meet the presale voucher requirements within the two-year period the plate will not be manufactured and the customer may apply the presale voucher towards a different specialty license plate or apply for a refund for the specialty license plate fee only. Form HSMV 83363 is used to apply for a refund.
Also, FLHSMV may de-authorize a specialty license plate and discontinue its issuance if the number of valid specialty license plate registrations falls below 3,000 valid registrations or 4,000 valid registrations for out-of-state colleges or universities
for at least 12 consecutive months. If the plate associated with the presale voucher meets the voucher minimum but is subsequently de-authorized before the voucher is used, the voucher cannot be used towards a different specialty plate or be refunded.
So, the customer simply files a chargeback - gets their $39.95 back, we get hit with $15.00-$25.00 depending on the credit card, and cannot get the payment to the clerk back, and so each order costs us $55.00. 10 of those is $550.00 which equates to 240 voucher fees to cover just that loss.
Between 2011 and 2013 I tried to get the DMV through the Tax collector's Service Corp to provide online ordering. An agreement was signed on January 6, 2011 and over $300K in software development was initiated by my company. The TC Service Corp and DHSMV MOU eventually collapsed after DMV refused to provide online direct access and access for "screen scraping" and instead sent a DVD with 17 million Florida vehicle owner information, which subsequently got lost in the mail. DHSMV then insisted on a very large service fee be imposed, instead of the small percentage fee that we proposed. DHSMV then also advised (on September 8, 2012 and on May 16, 2013) that they were "developing their own system." There had also been a previous report that over $1 million had not been allocated by the DMV to the specialty plate pertinent charities and state agencies due to glitches in their processing system, and there was no way to correct it, so it just went to their General Revenue fund.
It took a lot of time to bounce back from that as well.”
Michael Towner
