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Richmond man gets toll bill from state he’s never visited

Posted at 6:54 PM, Feb 08, 2017
and last updated 2017-02-08 18:54:47-05

RICHMOND, Va. – Robert Burks Jr. contacted CBS 6 after he received a charge from the Massachusetts Department of Transportation.

At first he thought it was a scam and was concerned his identity had been stolen.

But when he took another look at the invoice he received, he knew there was a different problem.

“I’ve never been to Massachusetts,” he said.

He incurred the toll in early January.

When he called to investigate how his Virginia license plate was flagged, and to dispute the matter, he found out the toll cameras captured a blurry image of a plate.

Their computer interpreted the number as Burks plate number.

His plate is on a utility trailer and is nothing like the one he believes passed through this Massachusetts toll booth.

“The gentleman on the phone described it as a freight liner semi-truck, which I don`t own a semi-truck at all,” Burks said.

So when Burks wasn`t satisfied that his phone call to MASSDOT settled the issue, he contacted Problem Solvers.

“They do file a dispute but he did state that there`s a small chance that the dispute process could result in them not clearing it up and it`s still my responsibility and my name is tied to it,” he said.

We contacted MASSDOT and a representative said they are doing all they can to clear his case.

They also said that MASSDOT has processed over 100 million transactions since all electronic tolling was activated last October, and given that errors can occur with such a high volume of transactions “we strive to find out why they occur so the system can be corrected if appropriate.”

CBS 6 News is working for you. Click here to email a tip to the CBS 6 Problem Solvers. Be sure to leave us your name, phone number and detailed description of the problem. You can also leave a message by calling 804-254-3672.