Asfinag toll fine grrrr

[sallys]

Out of interest, have they confirmed which 6 gantries didn’t register and out of those 6, did your go box have sufficient funds on it at the time?
You mentioned that you topped it up, can you recall if this was during these 6 gantries part of your itinerary?
I think that’s the key to your claim being successful with them, that if you had sufficient funds preloaded, then the issue is with the go box which ultimately they own.
You could go on the Asfinag website and go on the live chat and ask them to calculate your itinerary for each stage. You get an emailed copy of the chat afterwards. It may help with your claim.
I did this prior to our trip and then preloaded the go box with about £80 more funds than what they advised.
I bought mine at the Italian services prior to Brenner and they were very good.
I returned it to the first services in Germany enroute to Fussen and they were awful to deal with (rude).

I agree with what most have said, the Austrian system for over 3.5t is sh!t#
How can they get away with fining someone if it’s there software that’s not working?

Hi
Yes they have told me which gantries did not register and it is 6 random points through the journey … but all at times when the box had funds still on it. I’ve checked what the missing gantries would have cost in tolls and I have offered to pay any missed tolls , despite the fault being with their system (either box or gantry) but they say I need to pay tolls to cover the entire motorway.
They are completely unreasonable!

 

[On the road again]

They are still insisting we pay a full fine …apparently out of 50 toll gantries, our toll box didn’t register on 6 of them. This is despite the box being in the same position throughout the journey. How is this our fault?? I have offered to pay the 8€ we owe but they want over 200€…. thieves!

Search for my 'Austrian Go Box fines' thread. I had a very similar situation but ended up, after a couple of phone calls and an email, getting the 240 E refunded although they insisted I pay if before I was able to convince them that I wasn't liable. That was in June last year when I got the fine afterbeing in Austria in Sept 2019

 

[Coastal Cruiser.]

Hi
Yes they have told me which gantries did not register and it is 6 random points through the journey … but all at times when the box had funds still on it. I’ve checked what the missing gantries would have cost in tolls and I have offered to pay any missed tolls , despite the fault being with their system (either box or gantry) but they say I need to pay tolls to cover the entire motorway.
They are completely unreasonable!

What can the do Sally if you just say your not paying?
Cannot see they can prosecute now and if you have to go through there again and have a different reg number.

 

[sallys]

What can the do Sally if you just say your not paying?
Cannot see they can prosecute now and if you have to go through there again and have a different reg number.

we will have the same reg number…or were going to! Our go-box probably has 150€ on it…we always put 200€ at a time on it, ready for next time we enter. So we would lose that I guess if we handed it back, so not much different to the fine. Based on advice above I will try giving them a call…

 

[sallys]

Search for my 'Austrian Go Box fines' thread. I had a very similar situation but ended up, after a couple of phone calls and an email, getting the 240 E refunded although they insisted I pay if before I was able to convince them that I wasn't liable. That was in June last year when I got the fine afterbeing in Austria in Sept 2019

Would love to know what you said to them!

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[On the road again]

Would love to know what you said to them!

A couple of calls to Asfinag were a little difficult and they insisted I pay the fine to which I replied that I had little faith in the issue being investigated once they had the money. Asfinag assured me it would and asked for an email explaining the circumstances. I will try to find that and PM it to you shortly.

 

[On the road again]

A couple of calls to Asfinag were a little difficult and they insisted I pay the fine to which I replied that I had little faith in the issue being investigated once they had the money. Asfinag assured me it would and asked for an email explaining the circumstances. I will try to find that and PM it to you shortly.

PM sent

 

[SSILVO]

Surely that law applies there the same as the UK law. If you refuse to inform them, when requested, who was driving at the time then YOU as the registered keeper take the rap and get the fine.

No if it beyond 6 months since the alleged date you are not resposible there is case law ..In fact they can not apply to dvla for your address. The only reason i know that is not because i am a legal eagle ..its just my brother has just won a parking fine based on that caselaw 6 months plus is simply too long to defend ..mind you it could be totally different in Austria...to the OP ....look for appealing fines in Austria on google bount to be something.

 

[GAVLAD]

Hi
Yes they have told me which gantries did not register and it is 6 random points through the journey … but all at times when the box had funds still on it. I’ve checked what the missing gantries would have cost in tolls and I have offered to pay any missed tolls , despite the fault being with their system (either box or gantry) but they say I need to pay tolls to cover the entire motorway.
They are completely unreasonable!

Have you tried the live chat on their website? At the end, it sends you an email of what’s discussed.
I would do this so that you have total confirmation from them of what has been said and what your intentions are (prepared to pay) because if you decline to pay and they try perusing they charge, you have evidence of discussion. Avoids them saying you never contacted us if we did not say tgat etc.
I’d then send that transcript to your local MP and insist on their intervention with the relevant department. Whether that’s transport or foreign office?
It needs a conclusion because you want to avoid your vehicle being flagged if you intend to go again?

 

[On the road again]

No if it beyond 6 months since the alleged date you are not resposible there is case law ..In fact they can not apply to dvla for your address. The only reason i know that is not because i am a legal eagle ..its just my brother has just won a parking fine based on that caselaw 6 months plus is simply too long to defend ..mind you it could be totally different in Austria...to the OP ....look for appealing fines in Austria on google bount to be something.

I had a fine from them some 9 months after my trip and asked why it was so late in reaching me. Apparently they wait 6 months to see if you return to the country ( then stop you at the border and have you pay the fine) and, if you have not returned they then issue the fine.
I would not advise relying on the 6 month rule as that seems to be their modus operandi and I'm sure they will have checked it's legality.

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[sallys]

So I’ve spoken to a lady from Asfinag today and they will not move on the fine…which is over 20 times the missing tolls, and over 3 times the total cost of my journey through Austria.
For reference…if your go-box does not beep when you go under a gantry it is your responsibility to ask how much you owe at the next service point. If you don’t stop for over 100km then it is likely the service stop will not see the missing tolls. Even if you go in to top up your box it will not assign any of your money to the missed tolls. The lady would not accept that our go-box was correctly fitted…despite it registering on 95% of the gantries. There is no option to just pay the tolls you have missed…you have to pay the full fine…240€ in our case.

 

[Jo and Jen]

Last year we drove through Austria on one day. Our toll go-box was fitted in the same place from the time we entered from Italy until we left into Germany, only being removed and refitted to top up late in our journey after it bleeped to tell me it was low. We drove non stop other than this.
A month ago I got a letter informing me that I hadn’t correctly paid my toll at one gantry and was being fined 240€. Really don’t understand how the box was working fine both before and after this one gantry where they say it was not.
Anyway…they are insisting I pay so my question is…has anyone fought a fine and won against Asfinag? Will they legally reclaim the money if I don’t pay? Will they ban us from Austrian soil?
Would happily pay the toll they say I missed but 240€ is a bit steep!
Thanks for any advice

 

[Jo and Jen]

Last year we drove through Austria on one day. Our toll go-box was fitted in the same place from the time we entered from Italy until we left into Germany, only being removed and refitted to top up late in our journey after it bleeped to tell me it was low. We drove non stop other than this.
A month ago I got a letter informing me that I hadn’t correctly paid my toll at one gantry and was being fined 240€. Really don’t understand how the box was working fine both before and after this one gantry where they say it was not.
Anyway…they are insisting I pay so my question is…has anyone fought a fine and won against Asfinag? Will they legally reclaim the money if I don’t pay? Will they ban us from Austrian soil?
Would happily pay the toll they say I missed but 240€ is a bit steep!
Thanks for any advice

Way back in 2015 I did successfully challenged the fine. After a stone wall response from ASFNiG with 5 or 6 emails showing receipts, documents proving my vehicle spec, even showing a refund for the unused upfront toll charges I had purchased. The I read an article in MMM Which commented on the fact that ASFNiG are agents for a higher power and successfully sent my details to them. Unfortunately I don’t have a copy of that article but the info below may help you trace that somehow. I did send info to MMM and that published it and below is the only bit I filed. Good luck ……….

Having read the letter from Dr Roy Tipping, (page 19 October 2015 ) and the advice from Tom McClenaghan ( page 11 December 2015 ) I felt compelled to add my bit.
Just like the two above I fell fowl of the admin error and 240 Euro fine after travelling through Austria with my over 3-5tonnes + motor home. I too sent an appeal, 4 in fact detailing my documents as well as my efforts to comply including receipts paid to Fiat for the Euro Emissions documentation prior to my trip. Months before my fine arrived they even sent me a refund for the unused toll fee that I had paid in advance at the border on entry. Just to remind readers of the detail there are various classes of toll charge depending on your emission category for vehicles over 3-5 Tonne Gross and you declare, with the appropriate paper work, your category when you buy an electronic box ( go box ) from petrol stations etcbefore the border. This then sits in your window and records your use of the toll and confirms it’s working by “pinging “ as you pass the roadside monitors.
The problem we three have suffered from is that it is easy to assume that all is well especially when your go box is pinging on route, you’ve paid upfront for your anticipated mileage and you’ve even had a refund on the unused amount. The mistake comes as a failure to follow the rigid time scale of 14 daysfrom go box purchase to send all the details of the documentation to ASFNiG. ( yes the very same documents that allowed you to buy the go box ) I’m afraid that as we left Austria, having had a nightmare of one solid traffic jam on a Bank Holiday Saturday 30 Aug’ 2014 on the Brennar Pass I was less likely to be reading the small white slip in the go box pack once we were clear of the toll road. Big mistake though, as failing to prove again my vehicle spec in the given time instigates the 200 Euro plus VAT fine but the difference from the dearest to the cheapest emission category would have been trivial and I would have felt less aggrieved if they just charged perpetrators the dearest emission class instead of the massive fine for an admin error.
Anyway, to the point, at last, I followed the advice of Tom McClenaghan ( thanks Tom ) and received a full pardon a few days later. I hadn’t paid the fine and was well prepared to avoid Austrian Tolls for ever.

 

[Captain Birdseye]

If you paid at a gantry before, & paid at a gantry after, the one concerned then I would put the ball back in their court stating that. Especially if it was on a continuous journey. If that is correct then I would also issue a 'cease & desist' letter (template can be found on Which money site 'parking' forum) & additionally stating they should get there own equipment in order as if either the gantry or the tag failed to work it is there problem as you have paid for working equipment & it is there equipment that as failed to work.
Also further contact from them will be treated as causing fear, harm or distress & legal measures will be implemented. .

Wilst the foreigners issue the fine to the vehicle owner they still have to prove who was actually driving. Do not in any way admit to being the driver.

Good answer

 

[sallys]

Way back in 2015 I did successfully challenged the fine. After a stone wall response from ASFNiG with 5 or 6 emails showing receipts, documents proving my vehicle spec, even showing a refund for the unused upfront toll charges I had purchased. The I read an article in MMM Which commented on the fact that ASFNiG are agents for a higher power and successfully sent my details to them. Unfortunately I don’t have a copy of that article but the info below may help you trace that somehow. I did send info to MMM and that published it and below is the only bit I filed. Good luck ……….

Having read the letter from Dr Roy Tipping, (page 19 October 2015 ) and the advice from Tom McClenaghan ( page 11 December 2015 ) I felt compelled to add my bit.
Just like the two above I fell fowl of the admin error and 240 Euro fine after travelling through Austria with my over 3-5tonnes + motor home. I too sent an appeal, 4 in fact detailing my documents as well as my efforts to comply including receipts paid to Fiat for the Euro Emissions documentation prior to my trip. Months before my fine arrived they even sent me a refund for the unused toll fee that I had paid in advance at the border on entry. Just to remind readers of the detail there are various classes of toll charge depending on your emission category for vehicles over 3-5 Tonne Gross and you declare, with the appropriate paper work, your category when you buy an electronic box ( go box ) from petrol stations etcbefore the border. This then sits in your window and records your use of the toll and confirms it’s working by “pinging “ as you pass the roadside monitors.
The problem we three have suffered from is that it is easy to assume that all is well especially when your go box is pinging on route, you’ve paid upfront for your anticipated mileage and you’ve even had a refund on the unused amount. The mistake comes as a failure to follow the rigid time scale of 14 daysfrom go box purchase to send all the details of the documentation to ASFNiG. ( yes the very same documents that allowed you to buy the go box ) I’m afraid that as we left Austria, having had a nightmare of one solid traffic jam on a Bank Holiday Saturday 30 Aug’ 2014 on the Brennar Pass I was less likely to be reading the small white slip in the go box pack once we were clear of the toll road. Big mistake though, as failing to prove again my vehicle spec in the given time instigates the 200 Euro plus VAT fine but the difference from the dearest to the cheapest emission category would have been trivial and I would have felt less aggrieved if they just charged perpetrators the dearest emission class instead of the massive fine for an admin error.
Anyway, to the point, at last, I followed the advice of Tom McClenaghan ( thanks Tom ) and received a full pardon a few days later. I hadn’t paid the fine and was well prepared to avoid Austrian Tolls for ever.

Many thanks. Can you remember which company you contacted?

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[WESTY66]

Note to self - avoid Austria

It’s really your loss if you avoid such a beautiful country for the sake of taking a different road (if you are above 3.5t) all you have to do is stay off the motorways and expressways (S roads, mainly up the Vienna end of the country, but not necessarily). It’s best to pick a route that doesn’t run next to the motorway so you can’t be diverted onto it! sallylillian Michael I’m at a loss why they can’t see that you didn’t dodge the toll AND still have plenty of credit still left on the box, surely they can see that you’re not trying it on, it should be their problem to explain when nothing in the cab changed from one gantry to another why it didn’t work! The excuse that you have to listen to the bleeps whilst you’re concentrating on driving safely doesn’t wash with me, if it bleeped at the first gantry and at the last, it should have bloody well collected the missing ones!
Back to my answer Austria really is the most beautiful country in the world imho, but I can see why it leaves a sour taste for some. I would rather change my moho down to a 3.5t moho than never see Austria again I’ve been there a couple of times a year since 02 till covid and missing it like crazy