The Washington State Department of Transportation is cautioning customers about using Seattle-based bill payment company Doxo to pay Good to Go! toll bills.
In an orange flyer being inserted in Good to Go! bills mailed to Washington drivers, WSDOT warns that “Doxo is not affiliated with Good to Go!” and that the state agency has no control over fees Doxo may charge or the timing of its payments, which can incur additional late fees.
Lauren McLaughlin, a communications specialist with WSDOT’s toll division, told GeekWire that the outreach is part of the agency’s recent efforts to educate customers on the proper ways to pay Good To Go! toll bills.
“We’ve heard confusion, complaints and frustration from our customers who paid their toll via Doxo, but received a late fee because the payment was delayed in reaching us,” McLaughlin said via email. “Often times, the customer doesn’t realize they paid a third party until they call us regarding the late fee, and we inform them they actually paid through Doxo.”
McLaughlin shared an X post from one such customer, upset about a $3.99 late fee on a $3.20 toll charge that he was paying through Doxo.
Founded in 2008, Doxo helps people manage and pay their bills in one place, using any card or bank account.
Liz Powell, head of marketing communications for the company, said in an email to GeekWire that Doxo’s bill payment page for Good to Go! is clearly branded, and it’s clear a user is paying with Doxo and that it is not an affiliate of Good to Go!
“With each Doxo payment their specific payment delivery date is presented to the user prior to submitting payment,” Powell said. “Users must click to confirm that their delivery date is prior to their due date before they can submit payment with Doxo.”
Doxo said if there is a fee for a payment, it’s clearly displayed before payment is submitted and that those fees are comparable to other fee-based bill payment services. Doxo also offers a free way to pay billers through the use of a linked bank account.
Doxo outlines details about its payment delivery process here.
According to Powell, hundreds of thousands of users have paid bills on Doxo in Washington state, and in the greater Seattle metro area, more than 200,000 users have paid over 10,000 unique billers — with Good to Go! as the 37th most common bill paid.
In April, the U.S. Federal Trade Commission filed a lawsuit alleging that Doxo has repeatedly deceived consumers into thinking it’s an official channel for the companies they’re seeking to pay, adding unwanted fees and using web design tricks to get them to sign up for unwanted subscriptions.
Doxo called the complaint a misrepresentation of its business, saying the company has helped more than 10 million people “in safely and efficiently paying their bills, eliminating extraneous costs, and improving and protecting their financial health” over its life as a company.
In June, Doxo asked a federal judge to dismiss the FTC’s suit, denying wrongdoing and saying it nonetheless resolved the issues raised by the FTC before the suit was filed.
Backed by investors including Jeff Bezos, Doxo is led by co-founder and CEO Steve Shivers. The company raised $18.5 million in funding in 2022.
WSDOT says it’s mailed between 13,000 and 16,000 toll bills per month in 2024, with the number increasing during summer travel months. The agency stressed that flyers are included with every bill, and they are updated regularly with helpful information.
McLaughlin said the recent outreach to customers is also to help people differentiate its notices from phishing attacks sent by scammers impersonating Good To Go! and WSDOT.
Earlier this year, WSDOT warned customers that fraudulent emails and texts were being sent by scammers pretending to be from a collection agency seeking payment for past due toll bills. A scam warning is still posted at the top of the Good to Go! website.
https://ift.tt/fmx3NQy August 27, 2024 at 03:39PM GeekWire
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