Christian County Circuit Clerk

I received a ticket back in June. I live in Springfield and work in Branson. I called REPEATEDLY to pay and was told NUMEROUS times that it wasnt in the system to call back next week. Now I have to go to traffic court and pay extra fines. This feels like a scam!!! I am a single father of 2 and have my kids 4 sometimes 5 days a week and work full time. I dont understand why they would tell me to call next week, when the lady I spoke with today said that I would have never been able to pay my ticket over the phone anyways. Why am I getting conflicting stories??