Returning FasTrak transponder can result in unexpected charges

QI ran into some issues when returning a FasTrak transponder I no longer needed.

I dropped the unit into the mail bin at the Hayward post office in the last week of January. While checking my FasTrak account to see if the transponder had been removed from the account, I discovered a charge for $26 for a Bay Bridge crossing on Feb. 1 around 1:30 a.m. It was definitely not a crossing I made. I phoned FasTrak and, after a lengthy session navigating their phone tree, managed to finally get hold of a real person who asked if I wanted to report the unit “lost or stolen” (which incurs a $20 charge).

After explaining that I had dropped it at the post office, she put me on hold, and when she returned, advised me that she had reversed the $26 charge and added that apparently the transponder was “pinged” while being transported across the Bay Bridge in a mail vehicle. How many others may have been hit with a phantom charge when returning a transponder?

I have another transponder to return and asked FasTrak to send a pre-addressed envelope for returning it. The agent stated that if you just drop it at the post office, versus actually putting it in an envelope and mailing it, the post office waits until they have a bunch to return. So now I’m imagining a bunch of transponders getting pinged simultaneously during transport across the Bay Bridge.

I asked if there was a way to deactivate the transponder before returning it (makes sense, right?). The response was “no.” Absurd, isn’t it?

AThis doesn’t happen often, but it is another reason always to check your FasTrak account.

QWhile reading your Friday column last week, I saw myself in the husband whose wife wrote that her husband was a DIYer and kept putting off locking their Prius catalytic converter only to have it stolen.

I’m that guy. Always putting things off. But when I considered the inconvenience and expense of replacing a stolen converter, I bit the bullet and called a local repair shop. They recommended a muffler shop nearby in Hayward. The whole deal took less than an hour, and the cost was only $125.

Finally, big thanks to you for reporting this problem. The guy at the shop said he puts in six or seven every day, so catalytic converter theft is a big deal. — George Reinheimer, Castro Valley

AYes, it is. Putting a lock on your converter is a smart move, especially on an older Prius.

QI mailed my check to the DMV. They asked for $32.90 to register online. The AAA office is 2.7 miles from my house. It would cost me $3.90 (5.4 miles times 72 cents per mile) to drive there and back. Postage, 50 cents. — Glenn Grigg

AA no-brainer.