Drivers say SunPass, LeeWay incorrectly cites them for fines

Thousands of people drive through toll booths every day on their way into Cape Coral. A lot of these drivers have transponders, letting them quickly pass through. But what happens when a company makes a mistake and tries to get motorists to pay for it?

It has been more than two months since a citation letter showed up in Denise Janicki’s mailbox. It told Janicki that her account was hit with a citation.

“I have the transponder,” Janicki said. “I should be able to use it and it should work well.”

Since April, a Cape Coral couple has tried to fight a $120 fine. The couple was told they could pay a reduced fine of $32.

“Well, we did nothing wrong,” Luke Williams said. “The bridge did not detect us, so why should we pay $32 for it?”

After months of what they said was little to no response, the couple decided it was opportune to talk to someone at the LeeWay building off of Colonial Blvd.

It turns out Denise changed lanes when she went through a toll back in April and Lee said there was a slight issue with her license plate number on her SunPass account. The system was not able to find her, leading to the fine.

But this is not the first story we have told about issues with SunPass and LeeWay. In May, a Cape Coral dad was afraid he would lose his license if he did not pay $650 in what he said were incorrect toll violations.

MORE: SunPass users complain of bogus toll-by-plate charges

In an email to WINK News, a Lee County spokesperson said the county and LeeWay understand the frustration some SunPass customers are having this year. It also noted Janicki’s fine was made in error and has since been voided.

But a couple now wants to know why it took so long to get a straight answer.

“They don’t wanna work with you,” Williams said. “They just want you to pay the fine. Period.”

We also heard back from SunPass this afternoon. FDOT said they encourage anyone who thinks they may have received a billing error to contact their office and file a dispute. That is something the couple said they tried to do.