‘I want my money back’: Sober people charged with DUI pay big for device they never needed
One driver charged with DUI estimates she had to pay more than $1,000 for an ignition interlock device. Her blood work later proved she was sober at the time of her arrest.
LA VERGNE, Tenn. (WSMV) - It was money Shelli Hoover didn’t have.
The ignition interlock device she was court-ordered to put on her car after being arrested for DUI cost $82 at the signing of the lease for the equipment. And the costs kept coming: $117 for “other charges”, and nearly $50 every two weeks. And that didn’t even include what she had to pay to have it installed in her car.
“I’m a single mom. I wasn’t even receiving child support then. It was terrible,” Hoover said.
Hoover didn’t have a choice. The Rutherford County general session court required that she get the device as a condition of her release.
Hoover ultimately chose to lease the ignition interlock device through the Des Moines, Iowa company Intoxalock. She was unaware she’d also have to sign a year-long contract with the company.
The device requires the driver to blow into a tube connected to a device that determines if the user has alcohol in their system.
Hoover also said that the device randomly required that she blow into it, even while she was driving.
“I was embarrassed to do it in front of my child,” Hoover said.
Four months later, the blood work came back from the TBI: negative for alcohol, no drugs in her system.
Hoover is among the sober drivers charged with DUI interviewed by WSMV4 Investigates who are required to have the devices installed in their vehicles, only to later get documented proof that they were never drunk in the first place.
“I asked my attorney. Can I get my money back? And she said no,” said Angie Blankenship, another driver charged with DUI who was required to pay for the device, only to have her bloodwork show she was sober. “(The installer) charged me 200 more dollars to take the device off of my car.”
Blankenship estimates it cost her more than $1,000 to have the device put in her SUV, which required removing her dashboard.
All along, Blankenship knew she was sober at the time of her arrest, and still had to pay for the device.
“I thought I was innocent until proven guilty,” she said. “I’m not rich by any means.”
For Hoover, months after her charges were dismissed, Intoxalock is still trying to charge her. Voicemail messages on Hoover’s cell phone state that she is in violation of her contract.
Hoover said when she turned in the equipment after her charge was dismissed, the company asked for proof that her license had been reinstated.
“My driver’s license was never suspended,” Hoover said. She said she explained that to the company at the time she had the device removed. Still, the calls continue.
“They call me relentlessly. They call my work, they send me emails, they tried to charge my card. I got a new debit card. I’ve been ignoring it,” Hoover said.
WSMV4 Investigates repeatedly reached out to Intoxalock to ask if the company ever considered reimbursing drivers when their charges were dismissed.
Twice, we emailed the media contact listed on their website. We also emailed an attorney representing the company in an unrelated lawsuit. We sat on hold for thirty minutes at the publicly listed number, speaking twice with customer service representatives. Finally, we were told to talk to human resources.
For both Hoover and Blankenship, the hassle of the device was troubling, but the loss of money is something they’re still recovering from.
“I want my money back,” Blankenship said.
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