NewsHillsborough County

Actions

FDOT announces no late fees, penalties for SunPass customers because of system error

Posted at 4:59 PM, Jun 21, 2018
and last updated 2018-06-21 19:58:22-04

TAMPA BAY, Fla. — The Florida Department of Transportation says they will not be collecting late fees or penalties as it continues their system maintenance to its new SunPass Combined Customer Service Center. 

In a press release issued late Thursday Mike Dew, Secretary of FDOT said “we are committed to holding our vendor accountable and ensuring that our new system ultimately provides a premier customer service experience. I share the frustrations with our customers over the rollout of CCSC and find it unacceptable. Today, we are announcing that we will not be imposing late fees or penalties on SunPass accounts until the system is providing the benefits and ease of access that our customers deserve and expect.”

Related: SunPassmaintenance shuts down system until June 11

This week, the state issued another apology about the inconvenience to customers during the SunPass system maintenance period that has left users unable to access their accounts. 

“Our SunPass team has been working diligently to streamline the system and are adding resources to improve service levels including additional hardware, internet capacity, and telephone lines. We will add additional resources, as needed, to ensure high service levels,” said a spokesperson by email. 

In an email, the SunPass team said customer accounts will not show any activity since June 1. 

The system update was expected to be up and running by June 11th — however, 10 days later the system is still down. 

The SunPass system has accumulated toll charges for customer accounts since the system maintenance period began on June 1. In the best interest of the customer, the posting of toll charges was withheld until the website and call center systems were operating more efficiently.

Read more of the release here: 

Is it important to note that the billing delay currently being experienced by SunPass will have no impact on the cost of tolls or our customers’ ability to travel on the system.  

SunPass customers will continue to be charged tolls, however, and once the system has been thoroughly tested, FTE will announce a timeline for the resumption of fees or penalties for delinquent accounts.

SunPass will soon begin posting toll transactions. In order to better serve the customer and avoid unintended consequences, individual account charges will be posted gradually over a number of weeks.