NJ Turnpike reacts to ‘unacceptably long’ E-ZPass delays costing people money
🔴 One customer spent 10 hours on the phone trying to get help from E-Z Pass
🔴 The company that administers E-Z Pass has hired more help to ease delays
🔴 Hold times have been reduced by about 42 percent since January
If you've been having difficulty contacting E-ZPass customer service you can blame staffing issues for the slowdown.
The New Jersey Turnpike Authority said it is aware of recent delays in reaching customer service and called them "unacceptably long." The contractor that administers E-ZPass for seven independent tolling agencies, Conduent, is taking steps to make improvements.
"Conduent has hired, trained, and deployed new staff in recent months, nearly doubling the number of customer service representatives to 210 as of this week," the Turnpike Authority said in its statement. "The additional staff has helped cut average hold times by about 42 percent since January."
The agency said that it will continue to add self-service tools on the E-ZPass website and app that allows customers to manage their accounts.
E-Z Pass class action suit decision
6 ABC Action News was first to report on the long waits after a viewer reported spending 10 hours on the phone trying to resolve a toll charged to a leased car and license plate she turned in 14 years ago.
A decision is pending from a three-judge Appellate Court on a class action lawsuit filed against the Turnpike Authority over the $50 processing and collection fee charged to toll violators.
Matthew Faranda-Diedrich, a partner at Royer Cooper Cohen Braunfeld, is handling the lawsuit, which contends the fee is supposed to match the cost of collecting the violation, which they argue is about $2. The lawsuit seeks a refund to all customers who have paid the charge.
The Turnpike Authority, however, has insisted that the cost of a toll needs to take into account the cost of the infrastructure needed to identify violators and then collect the unpaid tolls. The lawsuit has disputed those calculations.
Previous reporting by David Matthau was included in this report
Dan Alexander is a reporter for New Jersey 101.5. You can reach him at dan.alexander@townsquaremedia.com
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