RiverLink sent 5,000+ drivers erroneous toll bills with late fees

LOUISVILLE, Ky. (WDRB) – The consultants operating the RiverLink toll bridges erroneously sent out more than 5,000 late notices to drivers this month, a project spokeswoman said.

Instead of an initial bill, those people received a second notice of tolls owed that triggered a $5 late fee in addition to regular toll charges.

In some cases, a first and second notice arrived together.

“You should never receive first and second invoices on the same day,” said Mindy Peterson, a RiverLink spokeswoman. “That’s just not the way it should work.”

Toll officials caught the mistake and began applying an automatic $5 credit to those accounts, she said. Nonetheless, she said, the confusion led to a “tremendous uptick” in calls to customer service representatives and “very, very high wait times.”

She said drivers can go to www.riverlink.com and enter their invoice number to ensure that they don’t owe the $5 late fee.

“They can see verification that that has been applied,” Peterson said. “They don’t have to wait on the phone, they don’t have to talk to somebody, they don’t have to ask for the adjustment.”

It wasn’t immediately clear Friday how many drivers paid the $5 fee when they weren’t supposed to.