Another Traffico Rip-off?

I just paid for my 2015 Refrendo (annual car registration) and got hit up to pay for a traffic ticket from two years ago! That's a 2013 ticket. That does not seem to make any sense. If there was a ticket issued two years ago, then I would have had to pay for it last year when I renewed my registration. Besides that, I never received a ticket in 2013.

When I protested and asked about it, the woman behind the desk said she did not have a copy of the ticket and that I would have to go to the Traffico office to inquire. However, I could not get my registration until the ticket was cleared. Seeing that handwriting on the wall, I paid for the ticket. Now I am wondering if and how I could protest the ticket and get my money refunded. Or is that just another Mexican dream . . . or, er nightmare that I should pay for and forget about?

Maybe it was a clerical mistake. Did she show you what came up on the computer? Give you a receipt? It could be one of those camera tickets, ask C.Bob about those, haha.

My tickets always seem to arrive on time and are promptly paid. Usually if I have an "add-on" when I pay registration it is for a parking infraction.

I don't know what the likelihood of getting a refund would be but it wouldn't hurt to check it out. I would, but that's my nature.
Is the transito office in Chapala still open? Someone had said it was closed and someone else said it was still open. Also they said their computer was down but I took that to be BS.
In theory , if you had to pay a ticket someone should be able to tell you the what , when , where, and why of it.

The Chapala office doesn't clarify or resolve grievances on traffic fines that appear on your vehicle refrendo accounts. You have to go to Movilidad headquarters in Guadalajara and, per a recent article in Mural, the procedure is a pain in the rear that involves lots of standing in line, running around to different offices and multiple trips to the claims office...and only about 4% of fines are eventually cancelled! Great ploy to get folks to pay-up to avoid the red tape hassle.

Hmmmmmm..... I just renewed registrations on 2 different vehicles and never had to pay for any additional infractions.

Guess I found an honest clerk.... or maybe I just didn't have any infractions.

Yes, Pogo. I believe it's a rip-off. I had the same happening to me in Joco. Five years ago, they tell me I have an unpaid ticket. Yes, my car, my licence plate number. The only thing they could tell me is the amount and that it (whatever the infraction was) happened in La BARCA. Very strange as I had never been in La Barca. If I wanted to contest, I had to go to La Barca's Municipo.

What do you think I did? I paid the 450 pesos.

But do they SHOW you on a paper or a screen that this amount is owed? If not, it could be a scam that the clerk is running. These things are paid in cash, right?

Could be where the ticket was at the end of the year and didnt reach the tax office to be collected for 2013 and you paid before it hit.

Parking ticket scams abound, I got one on my car reg for Tlaquepaque and i was never there, wasnt worth the multiple trips to fight.

Ms.Thang wrote:But do they SHOW you on a paper or a screen that this amount is owed? If not, it could be a scam that the clerk is running. These things are paid in cash, right?  

Isn't it documented on the computer print out of the refrendo, when you pay at the recaudadora, which would create an accounting snag for the clerk trying to pocket the money. More likely a camera (the photo wasn't clear) or vialidad cop made a mistake in writing down the number of the placa.
In the past, you could get a ticket the same way, for an infraction, such as running a red light and the cop was on foot and the driver sped away ignoring the cop.

Yes, it is clearly printed on your registration. It isn't a clerk scam.

I had a speeding ticket show up from Lagos de Moreno. I've never been there! But the really interesting part was it was dated before I bought my car and before it had tags! Yes....easier to pay than trips to Guadalajara, parking and waiting in line.

what is a "traffico" office-SNORK! and yes our vocho had parking tickets when the transfer took place even though it had never left the owners place of business except to be taken to vocho shows.

So, Okay. Now I know. It is an official scam. And it has happened to others. And it is not worth pursuing a refund. It was printed out on the registration receipt and therefore probably not pocketed by the clerk. It does seem like it would be worth bringing to the attention of somebody who has some official position or power, but I don't know who that would be or how it would be done. Anyone got any idea . . . ?

Believe me, that has been done, probably in the 5 digit number bracket.  My daughter-in-law's brother works in the office where people bring the complaints about bogus tickets, but as, has been said, the running around and trips to various offices for an refund, probably aren't worth the expense.
The powers to be in Vialidad know about it, but probably nothing will be changed until it happens enough to some officials or politicians. They view it as small collateral damage to a very successful campaign against traffic law violations and the collection of fines.









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since mexicans who have been here longer than you don't bother,why should you or me. have a big puro and a shot of tequila and think of something more important to fret about. or don't fret about anything that you will have no control over-SNORK!

Ah! I see. It is as it ever was. The crooks (them) who are "catching the crooks (us)" think they are the good guys while they are breaking the law. I get it. I just had a memory blank for a moment.

Kiri, I know the video is funny but it is not about the Mexican bureaucracy but Spanish one..Mexico does not have exclusivity on awful bureaucrats.

brigitte wrote:Kiri, I know the video is funny but it is not about the Mexican bureaucracy but Spanish one..Mexico does not have exclusivity on awful bureaucrats.

You are absolutely correct...it is universal....however, Mexico has a distinct flavour to it...

Spain and France in my experience have the same flavour and the weather is not as nice..