COMPLAINT TIME!

We have toll roads here in #Kansas. They cover more than a few miles and include long portions of the two major interstates here. So, they are almost unavoidable if you're trying to get to certain places in the state in an expedient fashion.

Recently they got rid of the stations at which you could pay cash to use the toll roads. They've moved to an entirely cashless system, and they no longer have any tollbooths or tollbooth workers. So, people lost their jobs, too.

What happens now is, if you intentionally or inadvertently drive on the roads they manage, they send you a bill via taking a photo of your license plate.

You can get a transponder and pay your bill online or automatically, etc. etc. BUT

THEIR WEBSITE IS ABSOLUTE SHIT.

I'm not kidding: I have tried half a dozen times with different browsers, different devices, all my privacy protections off, and I still cannot create a fucking account on their website. The only thing I haven't tried is using a PC. I don't have a fucking PC! (I honestly expected the Chromebook to work. It didn't.)

So, for a $.20 toll to get to the other side of town when there's a parade happening (true story), I get billed $1.50 on top of that $.20 because I somehow still can't create an account on their shitty ass website and they have to send me a paper bill (which I PAY ONLINE, even though I can't create a fucking account there).

Next time this happens, I should write them a check for $1.70 and mail it in.

They do have a physical office that happens to be about a mile from my home. So that office will be getting a visit from me later this week.

I am always kind to service workers, though. They will not get the angry earful. They aren't responsible for how shitty their website is, or the decisions that their higher ups have made to take away more egalitarian access to their stupid fucking private roads.

I will ask for the email address of a supervisor, however, in true Gen X Karen Style. I'd like to send an email to the top person in the organization, honestly and Let Them Know my Feelings.

To me, this is the same goddamn thing as taking away all of the parking meters downtown and then expecting everyone to sign up for a really shitty app to pay to park.

It's the same trend as expecting everybody to have a goddamn smart phone to scan QR codes or visit websites rather than paying cash, picking up a flyer or brochure (sorry, trees; we should be growing hemp for paper!) getting information in person by talking to an actual human being, or having a physical place to do a task.

This stupid trend prices out thousands of people (YES, mostly us ELDERS), and this switch to technology versus physical meters and booths is absolutely short-sighted. If cell networks go down, a lot of shit won't work. Of course, if said networks go down, we're probably having bigger issues than needing to park or drive on a highway.

There are so many more points of failure available when an org is putting all of their trust in one fragile ecosystem with no backup system. It's not like I can walk into their office, hand them $.20 and let them know that I'm gonna drive across town on their road. When we still had the self-pay toll booths, that's exactly what I could do. I personally preferred to hand my $.20 to an actual human being in a booth, but apparently that's... too expensive?

I have alternate routes to get to the major cities close to me, but they require extra time. They're pleasant, they're mostly rural, and I make the time to take them. But sometimes, I have to take one of the goddamn toll roads. And I'm penalized for it because they can't get their technology shit together.

I'm imagining what they will tell me is I need to access their website via whatever is the current browser on a fucking Windows machine. Maybe they'll let me sign up for an account on a computer at their office while I'm there? Or hey -- maybe they still have a paper application form!!!

OK, old man rant over. Grumble grumble grumble get off my... well no, I don't have a lawn, so whatever