Dear Editor,
As the toll road operators strip away the last of our meagre earnings, could this be done in a way that provides its users with proper vehicle assessment facilities and better customer service that leaves us with our dignities intact?
At almost every instance of approaching a toll lane, my vehicle is assessed and I have paid as Class 1. Within the last two weeks, however, the toll booth operators would have me believe that my vehicle has the amazing ability to cause the toll lane calibration devices to malfunction, because despite the visible Class 1 assessment each time, some collectors change the classification to Class 2 and rudely demand that I pay at this higher rate, as though I have somehow committed a felony.
On Sunday, July 7, I had the most unpleasant ordeal coming into Kingston from Clarendon. At 8:20 pm at the Vineyards East Toll Plaza, Lane E03, as my usual Class 1 charges appeared, I retrieved the funds budgeted to pay the operator, Ms Valdeen Martin. I then noticed that she had just manually upgraded me to Class 2. When I queried this, she advised that her lane was "malfunctioning" so she had a duty to change it since my vehicle was a Class 2. I disputed this claim.
This practice of upgrading vehicle classes seems arbitrary, punitive and bordering on extortion. Isn't this scraping the bottom of the barrel now?
I declared that I had no additional funds, and further produced a receipt as proof that I had only minutes before paid at Class 1 rate at the May Pen East Toll Plaza.
Though she is authorised to extract more money from unsuspecting users, apparently she is powerless to use her discretion to reverse her actions. This power lies solely with her supervisor, Miss Shawnette Brown, who could only be reached by phone. Well, not really, because after waiting for nearly an hour to speak with her, I was merely informed that her only comment was that I find the additional funds.
In any other business enterprise that values its customers, the Shawnette Browns of the establishment would have made an effort to assist the aggrieved customer, if even to apologise for the malfunctioning device which caused the inconvenience. She clearly enjoys a sense of security knowing that her job tenure is in no way linked to customer satisfaction. Is this the voice that the JIO wants to represent it?
Realising that I was wasting my youth here, I offered to pay using my card. To add further insult to injury, I was told (with a smile) that this was not possible as the sales office is closed on a Sunday, so I would just have to find the money.
There must be alternatives available to us than to be held captive on the toll road until money materialises from thin air.
I was therefore left with no choice but to abandon the last shred of my dignity in the neighbouring toll lane where I begged another motorist for the additional funds to pay the toll in order to complete my journey. Sir, whoever you are, I am grateful beyond words.
While I explore what recourse is available to persons like myself, I implore the relevant authorities to examine the vehicle-calibrating devices, put a stop to the questionable class hike practices underway, mandate that a vehicle listing by class be installed in every toll lane to remove all doubt, and insist on their providing alternative means of payment or an ATM at the facilities. The commuting public deserves better than this travesty which passes for public service in Jamaica.
It's time we stop silently suffering at these injustices.
K McFarlane
kadimac@gmail.com
The indignity that is the toll
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As the toll road operators strip away the last of our meagre earnings, could this be done in a way that provides its users with proper vehicle assessment facilities and better customer service that leaves us with our dignities intact?
At almost every instance of approaching a toll lane, my vehicle is assessed and I have paid as Class 1. Within the last two weeks, however, the toll booth operators would have me believe that my vehicle has the amazing ability to cause the toll lane calibration devices to malfunction, because despite the visible Class 1 assessment each time, some collectors change the classification to Class 2 and rudely demand that I pay at this higher rate, as though I have somehow committed a felony.
On Sunday, July 7, I had the most unpleasant ordeal coming into Kingston from Clarendon. At 8:20 pm at the Vineyards East Toll Plaza, Lane E03, as my usual Class 1 charges appeared, I retrieved the funds budgeted to pay the operator, Ms Valdeen Martin. I then noticed that she had just manually upgraded me to Class 2. When I queried this, she advised that her lane was "malfunctioning" so she had a duty to change it since my vehicle was a Class 2. I disputed this claim.
This practice of upgrading vehicle classes seems arbitrary, punitive and bordering on extortion. Isn't this scraping the bottom of the barrel now?
I declared that I had no additional funds, and further produced a receipt as proof that I had only minutes before paid at Class 1 rate at the May Pen East Toll Plaza.
Though she is authorised to extract more money from unsuspecting users, apparently she is powerless to use her discretion to reverse her actions. This power lies solely with her supervisor, Miss Shawnette Brown, who could only be reached by phone. Well, not really, because after waiting for nearly an hour to speak with her, I was merely informed that her only comment was that I find the additional funds.
In any other business enterprise that values its customers, the Shawnette Browns of the establishment would have made an effort to assist the aggrieved customer, if even to apologise for the malfunctioning device which caused the inconvenience. She clearly enjoys a sense of security knowing that her job tenure is in no way linked to customer satisfaction. Is this the voice that the JIO wants to represent it?
Realising that I was wasting my youth here, I offered to pay using my card. To add further insult to injury, I was told (with a smile) that this was not possible as the sales office is closed on a Sunday, so I would just have to find the money.
There must be alternatives available to us than to be held captive on the toll road until money materialises from thin air.
I was therefore left with no choice but to abandon the last shred of my dignity in the neighbouring toll lane where I begged another motorist for the additional funds to pay the toll in order to complete my journey. Sir, whoever you are, I am grateful beyond words.
While I explore what recourse is available to persons like myself, I implore the relevant authorities to examine the vehicle-calibrating devices, put a stop to the questionable class hike practices underway, mandate that a vehicle listing by class be installed in every toll lane to remove all doubt, and insist on their providing alternative means of payment or an ATM at the facilities. The commuting public deserves better than this travesty which passes for public service in Jamaica.
It's time we stop silently suffering at these injustices.
K McFarlane
kadimac@gmail.com
The indignity that is the toll
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