WRAL News cited in FTC lawsuit against bill pay service accused of duping customers

The Federal Trade Commission cited WRAL 5 On Your Side's reporting in its lawsuit against a bill pay service accused of deceiving customers.

The company named doxo is a third-party bill pay service that touts itself as a single website where customers can make payments on multiple accounts. However, doxo often charges customers a fee to make those payments.

Some customers say it's an unnecessary service, and lawsuits accuse doxo of going to great lengths to trick customers into using them.

The FTC complaint against doxo says it uses "dark patterns" and "dupes consumers into using its service by disguising itself as their billers’ official payment channel."

“I do think that is [a] deceptive practice to do that this way,” Andrea Jost said about doxo.

Jost accidentally paid her toll bill using doxo, then was charged late fees when the North Carolina Turnpike Authority didn’t get the payment on time.

“Those are 100% avoidable fees that customers didn't have to pay if they had gone to the right place,” explained Logen Hodges with the North Carolina Turnpike Authority.

However, doxo makes it hard to know if you're not in the right place, according to the FTC, by using language and imaging that makes doxo's page look like the biller's own page.

“We've also taken action against doxo for using the NC Quick Pass logo,” Hodges said. “We sent a cease-and-desist so they could not use our logo, and customers knew they weren't in the right place.”

WRAL 5 On Your Side first reported problems with doxo payments to the NC Turnpike Authority in March 2022. At the time, we reported NC Quick Pass customers who used doxo to pay their bills were charged an estimated total of $100,000 in late fees. NC Quick Pass later waived those fees.

The FTC's lawsuit cited 5 On Your Side’s story saying "Instead of proposing any changes to doxo’s practices, [a doxo co-founder] responded to the report by accusing the toll authority spokesman of defamation in an email..."

WRAL 5 On Your Side asked Hodges about that specifically and whether NCTA stands by the estimation that customers who used doxo were charged an estimated $100,000 in late fees.

“Yeah, I mean, we're able to calculate that pretty easily,” Hodges replied.

In a statement to 5 On Your Side, doxo blamed the turnpike authority for processing the payments slowly, resulting in the late fees.

“The $100,000 late fee figure that was cited by the NC Turnpike Authority (NCTA) was inaccurately attributed to doxo. The referenced payments, which had already been delivered, were delayed due to very slow internal processing of customer payments within NC Quick Pass itself, and as such should not have been considered “late.” Late fees should never apply for internal processing delays.” doxo’s statement reads in part.

However, the turnpike authority says in many cases, payments from doxo were not on time, and the processing delays happened because the payments doxo sent lacked necessary customer information.

In addition to the FTC suit, a Connecticut man filed a class action lawsuit in June claiming that he thought doxo was his doctor's authorized payment portal.

“I hope some of these companies actually will go out of business as part of these lawsuits because they're not providing a service that is needed,” Jost said. “The service is already there.”

For example, if you’re trying to pay a North Carolina toll road bill, you can avoid the extra fees doxo charges by going directly to ncquickpass.com to pay your toll bill.

doxo called the FTC complaint against them inaccurate, unjust and a publicity stunt.

doxo’s statement to 5 On Your Side continued: “doxo provides a service that empowers consumers – enabling users to organize and pay all bills, protect their financial account information, and stay on top of due dates all in one place with a single login. doxo is confident and firm in its position that in no way did the company engage in any business practice that didn’t have the best interests of its customers in mind. For over 14 years, doxo has remained committed to taking the necessary steps to comply with all regulations and exceed market standards for ensuring consumers are protected and empowered throughout the bill pay experience.”

doxo has recently filed a motion to dismiss the FTC complaint.