A warning to toll users: Third-party sites cost drivers $100,000 in late fees

Before paying a bill for a toll online, pay close attention to the web address. Using third party sites instead of ncquickpass.com costs more money and you can be hit with late fees, even if you paid on time.

Officials with the NC Turnpike Authority tell WRAL’s 5 on Your Side that roughly 4,000 people have recently used a third-party website to pay their bill. Some have done so unknowingly.

Chapel Hill Resident Andrea Jost learned this lesson the hard way.

Jost does not have an account with NC Quick Pass and pays her bills through the mail. When she received a bill a few months ago, she quickly googled NC Quick Pass to pay it off online.

Jost contacted WRAL's 5 On Your Side when she realized she paid her North Carolina toll bill through a site called Doxo. At the time she believed this was the NC Quick Pass site, which even the listed ‘headquarters’ on the Doxo site as the headquarters for NC Quick Pass.

“From the wording on the website it sounded like NC Quick Pass had partnered with Doxo to do their payments,” Jost explained.

But no such partnership exists.

In addition to paying an extra fee of about $4 to Doxo, a few weeks later Jost received another bill from NC Quick Pass indicating that they had not received her bill, so they billed her again for the additional fine, plus a late fee.

Doxo can legally process payments for NC Quick Pass. However, Logen Hodges, the Communications Director for North Carolina Turnpike Authority, says that Doxo has those payments come in late – resulting in $100,000 worth of late fees.

That’s frustrating to Jost.

“If a third party is going to be offering these services, they need to do this the right way and not causing this confusion to consumers,” Jost said.

A spokesperson with Doxo tells says that there are no delays on their end and blamed NC Quick Pass for the delays and late fees.

WRAL's 5 On Your Side let Hodges know about Jost’s situation and NC Quick Pass waived the late fee.

Hodges encourages people to pay with a pre-paid transponder to avoid this situation all together.

“We offer a free transponder that allows customers to pay for tolls in NC, GA and FL. The customer just needs to sign up online and put a $ balance on the account. Also, NC Quick Pass transponders will save customers 35% on tolls just by using it. This is the most affordable and easy to use options,” Hodges explained.

You can see the breakdown of trips on the Triangle Expressway for bill-by-mail versus a transponder here.