DVLA...aaaargh!

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al_yrpal
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DVLA...aaaargh!

Post by al_yrpal »

In this mornings post I recieved a new Registration Certificate for Rusty my 1980 VW T25 Camper classifying it as a Historic Vehicle. I applied for this back in early April. Apparently folk at the DVLA have been on strike and there is a backlog of 1.5 million letters! I wanted to get old Rusty back on the road and had been forced to pay for 6 months Road Fund Licence to enable that whereas as a historic vehicle it should be free. An MOT is already no longer mandatory.

Having just moved we have also had to change addresses. This is a nightmare. OK for the road fund licence but the revised driving licence is like the Spanish Inquisition requiring every known number...passport, NI no, I am surprised they dont want your waist measurement and shoe size.

If you have any forthcoming business with the DVLA be warned!

Al
Reuse, recycle, thus do your bit to save the planet.... Get stuff at auctions, Dump, Charity Shops, Facebook Marketplace, Ebay, Car Boots. Choose an Old House, and a Banger ..... And cycle as often as you can......
merseymouth
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Joined: 23 Jan 2011, 11:16am

Re: DVLA...aaaargh!

Post by merseymouth »

Yo Al, The DVLA is in meltdown! A national disgrace. When it was set-up they made a right Horlicks of everything, record destroyed after little data transfer! Ticks rather than Texts, so poor recording of driver qualifications, so problems will always crop up. MM
Oldjohnw
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Re: DVLA...aaaargh!

Post by Oldjohnw »

And I thought it was just the anti-Tory leftie remainers who complained about how Britain was run :D
John
merseymouth
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Re: DVLA...aaaargh!

Post by merseymouth »

Well Oldjohnw, Which gang of stupid idiots was in charge when the DVLA was created?
But even more importantly where are you going to find the better grade of eejits to run this country in a better fashion than we've ever known?
A land fit for heroes, You've never had it so good, The pound in your pocket blurb, blurb, No such thing as society??? The list of verbal garbage is endless! Even a dyed in the Welsh Wool like Nye was on the fiddle. The nobs in WW1 were hoarding and stockpiling in contravention of the law of the land. Show me a role model to follow? MM
Oldjohnw
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Re: DVLA...aaaargh!

Post by Oldjohnw »

merseymouth wrote: 24 Jul 2021, 4:29pm Well Oldjohnw, Which gang of stupid idiots was in charge when the DVLA was created?
But even more importantly where are you going to find the better grade of eejits to run this country in a better fashion than we've ever known?
A land fit for heroes, You've never had it so good, The pound in your pocket blurb, blurb, No such thing as society??? The list of verbal garbage is endless! Even a dyed in the Welsh Wool like Nye was on the fiddle. The nobs in WW1 were hoarding and stockpiling in contravention of the law of the land. Show me a role model to follow? MM
If I knew what this was about I would reply!
John
merseymouth
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Re: DVLA...aaaargh!

Post by merseymouth »

Hello Oldjohnw, What I was trying to wheedle from you is you actually naming the people who you think deserve credit for doing their political role in an Honest, Intelligent, Transparent fashion? Those people who haven't succumbed to the temptations that the vast majority of M.P.'s who fall into the trap of abusing the trust of the electorate!
I can't actually think of one to cite as an example. I don't care if they're Left, Right or Centre, as long as they stay straight. MM
pliptrot
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Re: DVLA...aaaargh!

Post by pliptrot »

Try doing similar things in Germany. You will never, ever criticise the UK civil service if you do.
Oldjohnw
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Re: DVLA...aaaargh!

Post by Oldjohnw »

merseymouth wrote: 24 Jul 2021, 5:58pm Hello Oldjohnw, What I was trying to wheedle from you is you actually naming the people who you think deserve credit for doing their political role in an Honest, Intelligent, Transparent fashion? Those people who haven't succumbed to the temptations that the vast majority of M.P.'s who fall into the trap of abusing the trust of the electorate!
I can't actually think of one to cite as an example. I don't care if they're Left, Right or Centre, as long as they stay straight. MM
I can’t think of any in government. I can think of a few others or some whom the PM removed from the party.

Dominic Grieve, Ken Clarke, Rory Stewart. Hilary Benn. Yvette Cooper. Many others who simply get on with their job but less than in the past. But none currently in government.

MPs don’t, of course, run DVLA. I believe it came into being as the Executive agency of the Dept of Transport in 1990 when John Major was PM, but I am not sure and not really interested in looking it up.
John
francovendee
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Re: DVLA...aaaargh!

Post by francovendee »

It'll be no comfort to you AL, but here we have the equivalent in the form of A.N.T.S. and they are just as frustrating to deal with,

Three years ago a friend started the process of swapping her licence for a French one and finally got it last year!

The web site crashes, you get locked out and at one time it didn't work if you tried to access the site using a Macbook.

I heard rumours that there was opposition to centralising the system and the staff weren't being very cooperative in working the new integrated online system and this was causing delays.
In the case of my friend it meant not driving as she'd had to surrender her British licence.

One reason to centralise licencing is to save cost but it has come with poor service.
Before A.N.T.S , a visit to your local Prefecture, a chat with a member of staff, some paper forms and you'd have your new licence in a couple of weeks.

I miss the old days when you had a physical person to deal with.

I'm sure I'll be seen as a Luddite but I'm not alone in feeling this way.
Oldjohnw
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Re: DVLA...aaaargh!

Post by Oldjohnw »

I don’t miss queuing at the Post Office for an hour while the clerk hand wrote everything in quadruplicate. Everyone turned up on the last day of the month. There were always those who had forgotten their MoT certificate, insurance documents, cash,mor,lost their forms.
John
francovendee
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Re: DVLA...aaaargh!

Post by francovendee »

I last dealt with the Post Office for road tax years ago but never had to queue, I may have been lucky but I never found the experience something to avoid doing again.
It was much the same here, but a bit busier and you'd sometimes have to wait. Any problems or difficulties could be explained to you, unlike the automated system where you go round and round trying to find why an online form isn't being accepted.
Oldjohnw
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Re: DVLA...aaaargh!

Post by Oldjohnw »

I tax my vehicle online in seconds, every time. DVLA check my insurance and MOT instantly. I get an email instantly. Beats a 16 mile round trip and an hour’s queue.
John
thirdcrank
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Re: DVLA...aaaargh!

Post by thirdcrank »

The ability to take straightforward payments smoothly is surely an absolute minimum and hardly remarkable - unless, of course, it's being compared with what it used to be like at the post office or indeed the local taxation offices. I suppose one of the things the the DVLA has had to work on is erasing the appalling reputation of the DVLC.

As it is, like so many big organisations, the pandemic seems to have caught them utterly unprepared so they have not coped well with anything involving dead trees.
Oldjohnw
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Re: DVLA...aaaargh!

Post by Oldjohnw »

As an aside, I have never actually paid RFL for many years, although I have always ‘taxed’ my car.
John
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al_yrpal
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Re: DVLA...aaaargh!

Post by al_yrpal »

As mentioned straightforward stuff is easy online but anything else seems to be very difficult. Eileen has non serious glaucoma, we spent about 2 hours trying to renew her driving licence. Proving her identity with passport, N I no etc proved impossible. Very tedious. We will have another go at some point.

Al
Reuse, recycle, thus do your bit to save the planet.... Get stuff at auctions, Dump, Charity Shops, Facebook Marketplace, Ebay, Car Boots. Choose an Old House, and a Banger ..... And cycle as often as you can......
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