So after my first visit to New Jersey's EZPASS service center... I finally got the green pass this morning. On my first visit about 2 weeks ago.. I was first told the MINI-E didn't qualify since it wasn't a "hybrid"... I guess those attendants don't get paid very much. Anyway... after digging deeper with a very helpful supervisor, it turned out they identify cars via their VIN, and the service they use didn't have the VIN decoding info for the MINI-E.
Ed, via facebook, suggested I contact Richard Steinberg at MINI. Surprisingly, Richard responded very quickly. Here is his resonse:
We have already received a reply from the EZPass people that this is aclerical error on their side. From their perspective, the car qualifies and it should be in their database already (but its not). I hope its ok, but they asked for your info, and we shared your email with them. They may contact you directly.The next day, I got this email from Art Richardson at NJ EZPASS:
RS
Mr. Bondorowsky,
After conducting Web research, we now understand why we could not validate your Mini Cooper by the VIN number as a qualified GREEN auto. Your car is a non -production car and is not listed as yet, but the car certainly qualifies for GREEN PLAN status in NJ. I request that you visit our Walk-in Center again and present the registration for the vehicle so that we can issue the appropriate GREEN E-Z Pass transponder to you. The tag will be specifically assigned just to your Cooper and will not be usable in any of your other vehicles.
Regards,
Art Richardson
Senior Supervisor
E-Z Pass Service Center
ACS Transportation Solutions
All in all, I'm very impressed and pleased that this was taken care of this quickly and very professionally! Yay team!
Posts
I had not heard of the green EZpass. I had not gotten around to adding my Mini E (#458) to my regular EZpass since I don't take the Interstate much. I'll have to look it up. Maybe you could add to your post - what does the green EZpass do for you?
ReplyDeletejust faxed in my app on Friday (lets see if i have the same problem) you get a "deep" discount in off-peak hours but no discount during peak hours. but you do get to travel in the HOV lane.
ReplyDeleteSandy,
ReplyDeleteI have had the same experience with the Green Pass for NY EZ Pass but not with the positive result! Does the NJ EZ Pass give you the $4 toll at the Port Authority bridges and tunnels?
David Miller Mini E 276
South Orange, NJ
973-768-2956
I had a problem - an I believe that the issue is that your EZ pass has to be through Port Authority, not the NY Thruway or EZ pass itself... All pretty confusing, and I haven't yet succeeded, unfortunately. Good luck!
ReplyDeleteI got mine at the EZ-Pass Service Center in Newark, NJ. They are all setup for the MINI-E now. You should have no trouble there at all.
ReplyDelete