JEFFERSONVILLE, Ind.-- The company that handles tolling for the Louisville-Southern Indiana Ohio River bridges is vowing to make changes amid a slew of customer concerns.
Call 6 Investigates has received consumer complaints about not receiving invoices, fear of having their registration frozen, and poor customer service.
“It took 5 months to receive a notice, which I had already taken upon myself to pay, and they stated I never paid,” said driver Trish Bliss. “It can take months to reach an actual person and when you do they cant help you. I should not be penalized for their error in not sending bills.”
A statement on RiverLink’s apologizes for heavy call volumes and encourages customers to pay online or use the automated system at 855-RIV-LINK.
A spokesperson for RiverLink said the company has developed a “get well” plan to improve the overall customer experience, including adding 80 additional representatives and additional training classes this month.
“We’ll soon offer online conversion of tolls owed to pay the lowest toll rates available and waive fees when a customer opens a prepaid account (offered only before an account reaches collections status). Currently a customer has to talk to a customer service rep,” said Mindy Peterson, spokesperson for RiverLink. “
Another major improvement on the way is a “pay-by-plate” option, which should be available by the summer travel season.
“We’ve heard from many customers without RiverLink accounts who want to cross a bridge and pay the toll, without waiting for an invoice,” said Peterson. “We want to make that possible. Drivers would be able to use their license plate number and other information to pay their toll online.”
Riverlink’s system all-electronic tolling which requires no toll booths, according to their website, and is set up on the new new Abraham Lincoln Bridge in downtown Louisville (I-65), the Kennedy Bridge in downtown Louisville (also I-65), the new Lewis and Clark Bridge connecting the extension of the Snyder Freeway (I-265) with Southern Indiana, according to their website.
Peterson said their system is most efficient and cost-effective when customers have transponders and prepaid accounts.
“An average of more than 82,500 vehicles are using the tolled bridges daily, with the vast majority crossing daily without any issues,” said Peterson. “Some customers without prepaid accounts have experienced frustration acclimating to the system, with the most frequent issues being lengthy hold times for calls to customer service (due to high call volume) and invoice questions. RiverLink is listening to its customers and continuously evaluating system performance and interactions with its customers.”
Call 6 Investigates has asked RiverLink to look into Bliss’s complaint.
Their Facebook page is full of customer complaints about problematic invoicing and poor customer service.
“People are panicking and paying unnecessary fees just to avoid having a license suspension,” said Bliss.
Call 6 Investigates also contacted the Indiana Department of Transportation, which emphasized RiverLink is making numerous changes to the one year old system.
"To add a bit of perspective, in the first year of tolling we’ve received just about 100 consumer complaints from the AG’s office and have had nearly 30 million transactions on the bridges.," said Scott Manning, INDOT spokesperson and strategic communications director. "We look for any trends in those complaints to guide additional improvements."
READ | You may not get a bill for crossing I-65 toll bridge | Driving to Louisville? It's going to cost | Didn't pay your I-65 toll? your registration could be frozen
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