Just how incompetent are the DVLA?

Just how incompetent are the DVLA?

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Discussion

CrutyRammers

13,735 posts

197 months

Friday 7th August 2015
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Breadvan72 said:
To say that DVLA is SNAFU because of a personal experience of one foul up is also a bit unrealistic. I haven't ever had any hassle with DVLA, but I am not surprised that it occasionally screws up, given thaty it is run by humans and given the volume of stuff that it deals with.

BTW, you can now notify DVLA of a change of keeper online.

Edited by Breadvan72 on Friday 7th August 10:00
I suspect it depends on the particular bits. The number of issues people have in the kit car world with them is unreal. I can honestly say that every time I have rung them in that regard they have got it wrong. *Every* time. The people on the phone simply don't know what they are supposed to be talking about.

Vosa on the other hand have always been very helpful and useful. It's the contrast with them that shows the DVLA up to be so bad.

T70RPM

475 posts

235 months

Friday 7th August 2015
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I personally send everything to them recorded. I don't trust them, having had all the pseudo fines for 'not being insured' and all that in the past. You need to cover your own back.

Fastpedeller

3,848 posts

145 months

Friday 7th August 2015
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Fastpedeller said:
I registered a kit car (using fiesta donor parts) and it took 3 months to get a new registration number for the car - they twice said "there is only 14 days insurance cover left, so we won't give you a registration number" when I sent yet another 30 day cover note and they sat on it for 16 days... Eventually I said to them "please can you do it quicker then, otherwise we could be doing this forever!". I'd had the new car on the road for a year, and they sent me a tax reminder for the old donor car which had been scrapped.
I wonder how some of them organise daily routine like getting up and brushing their teeth??
Oh, I nearly forgot to mention, when they sent the V5C, they described the 4 seat car as 2 seat! then accused me of filling the form incorrectly (not the case). They had also previously viewed the car when they checked the chassis number! they didn't bother to check the engine number as that involved a bit of bending of the body, and for the obese official, that was a movement too far, so she just used the data provided by VOSA - If they'd used the VOSA data for the chassis number as well it would have saved me £80 for traillering and a couple of hours as well! But hey ho, we have to keep the officials in a job. VOSA, on the other hand were absolutely first class, very professional and efficient.

anonymous-user

53 months

Friday 7th August 2015
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I would not expect an organisation that deals with masses of standard cars to be au fait with the niceties of kit cars. Having a specialist section to deal with kit car matters might be hard to justify on cost/benefit grounds.

Speed Badger

2,667 posts

116 months

Friday 7th August 2015
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This is a photograph of a typical DVLA employee.


anonymous-user

53 months

Friday 7th August 2015
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It's quite right to say that the DVLA shouldn't be judged on the basis of an isolated error.

However, those who have suffered from one if these errors then experience the difficulty in getting things resolved. Difficult that clearly indicates SNAFU, whatever those who haven't experienced this situation wish to believe.


btcc123

1,243 posts

146 months

Friday 7th August 2015
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Speed Badger said:
This is a photograph of a typical DVLA employee.

Yes that is right,they are the latest recruits and as you can see how hard they are working and they never make any mistakes and have not received any customer complains since their introduction.

The old staff were Badgers who knew fcensoredall,made endless mistakes and overall were fucensoreding useless.

anonymous-user

53 months

Friday 7th August 2015
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It appears that your glass is, as always, half empty, Realist. Posters above have commented that problems can be resolved without faff in some cases. You prefer to think the agency is SNAFU. No one suggests it is faultless. The realistic position may be that it is somewhere in between. Like others above, I wonder if some people are more prone to encountering problems with bureaucracies than others. It may be that getting shouty, assuming generalised incompetence, or even assuming bad faith, is not always be the best way to deal with large and rather ponderous organisations, but perhaps some people are just unlucky.

Red Devil

13,055 posts

207 months

Saturday 8th August 2015
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Fastpedeller said:
I registered a kit car (using fiesta donor parts) and it took 3 months to get a new registration number for the car - they twice said "there is only 14 days insurance cover left, so we won't give you a registration number" when I sent yet another 30 day cover note and they sat on it for 16 days... Eventually I said to them "please can you do it quicker then, otherwise we could be doing this forever!". I'd had the new car on the road for a year, and they sent me a tax reminder for the old donor car which had been scrapped.
I wonder how some of them organise daily routine like getting up and brushing their teeth??
Ah, but you're assuming that they do. I have heard a scurrilous unsubstantiated rumour that you can smell the halitosis from two city blocks away. wink

In an organisation the size of the DVLA mistakes will be made. That's a given where human beings are involved. The acid test though is always how an organisation responds when it does get it wrong, however infrequently that may be or small the number is in percentage terms. To the suits at the DVLA this may seem insignificant or even trivial, but to the individual on the receiving end it most certainly isn't.

Unfortunately there appears to be a sub-culture at Swansea Towers of not 'fessing up and aggressively blaming the victim instead. Even in some cases accusing them of providing incorrect details and/or implying that they are lying. It's almost as if it's a badge of honour for the DVLA never to admit to having screwed up. The smarter victims have the sense to keep detailed records for a sufficient length of time to torpedo the DVLA's unseaworthy ship. Mine go back 6 years.

StuntmanMike

11,671 posts

150 months

Saturday 8th August 2015
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I am 45 in January, this means I start taking medicals to keep my LGV license, this worry's me as I know quite a few drivers that have lost their 's because somewhere they got lost in the system, they always got it back but it generally cost them a few weeks work, I have to say though to date I have had no trouble.

The Mad Monk

10,474 posts

116 months

Saturday 8th August 2015
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StuntmanMike said:
I am 45 in January, this means I start taking medicals to keep my LGV license, this worry's me as I know quite a few drivers that have lost their 's because somewhere they got lost in the system, they always got it back but it generally cost them a few weeks work, I have to say though to date I have had no trouble.
You would have less to worry about if you didn't insert inappropriate apostrophes.

HTH.

anonymous-user

53 months

Saturday 8th August 2015
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Also, on the principle of never declining to kick someone who has already been kicked, WTF is a license?

spikeyhead

17,223 posts

196 months

Saturday 8th August 2015
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Breadvan72 said:
Also, on the principle of never declining to kick someone who has already been kicked, WTF is a license?
It's a verb, HTH smile

anonymous-user

53 months

Saturday 8th August 2015
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Tru dat, but the LGV one above ain't no muthafken verb, fo shiz! [/Grammar]

egomeister

6,698 posts

262 months

Saturday 8th August 2015
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Breadvan72 said:
I would not expect an organisation that deals with masses of standard cars to be au fait with the niceties of kit cars. Having a specialist section to deal with kit car matters might be hard to justify on cost/benefit grounds.
I would, given they are the organisation that has responsibility licensing vehicles. The specialist section, or instigating a workflow to direct such issues to a few knowledgeable staff to deal with might be hard to justify on a cost/benefit basis, but is a necessary evil that comes with being the DVLA.

For what it's worth, my recent experience is that for anything out of the ordinary they are pretty incompetent - In my case being unable to explain to me their own processes of enforcement.

GC8

19,910 posts

189 months

Saturday 8th August 2015
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StuntmanMike said:
I am 45 in January, this means I start taking medicals to keep my LGV license, this worry's me as I know quite a few drivers that have lost their 's because somewhere they got lost in the system, they always got it back but it generally cost them a few weeks work, I have to say though to date I have had no trouble.
You will receive a D4 and D47P a couple of months before your birthday. Complete the medical and application and send it off to them before the expiry date along with your digital passport number and £20 for a replacement.

It will cost you almost this much for a ten year renewal anyway and you can always find your lost licence if your replacement rocks up without a full compliment of categories.

You also have internet access to their records now, so you can photograph web pages as well as asking bank or police to endorse copies.

I understand your concern, obviously, but your actual C/C+E entitlement isn't going to be at risk when returning a D4 & D47P - they really cant be that stupid. A motorcycle entitlement is a more realistic concern, though...hehe

anonymous-user

53 months

Saturday 8th August 2015
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egomeister said:
I would, given they are the organisation that has responsibility licensing vehicles. The specialist section, or instigating a workflow to direct such issues to a few knowledgeable staff to deal with might be hard to justify on a cost/benefit basis, but is a necessary evil that comes with being the DVLA.

For what it's worth, my recent experience is that for anything out of the ordinary they are pretty incompetent - In my case being unable to explain to me their own processes of enforcement.
Are you prepared to see the (taxpayer funded) costs of running the DVLA increase in order to improve staff training in respect of specialist vehicles? Almost everything in government is done on cost/benefit utilitarian bases. If DVLA tried to make a case to the Treasury to have funding for a kit car team, the Treasury would tell DVLA to FRO.

FiF

43,960 posts

250 months

Saturday 8th August 2015
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Why does it need a team? What's wrong with educating a couple of bods on a specific specialist part of the responsibility that the organisation has been given. Maybe it would only take a small% of their time, the rest of the time they could do what they currently do. Additional benefit of less disruption to everyone else due to having to handle stuff for which they've not been trained.

Maybe the concept of a kit car team explains what's wrong with things public sector wise.

egomeister

6,698 posts

262 months

Saturday 8th August 2015
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FiF said:
Why does it need a team? What's wrong with educating a couple of bods on a specific specialist part of the responsibility that the organisation has been given.
Exactly my point. If it is the DVLAs remit to deal with a particular type of vehicle there should be suitably trained staff available to provide that service. It's not as if you can go to an alternative supplier.

anonymous-user

53 months

Saturday 8th August 2015
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How many bods do you suggest, and how many different types of kit car are there? I don't think that you are getting how large organisations applying broad brush utilitarian policies work. This is a bit like the argument that says we should have lots more and better snow ploughs etc sitting around, with staff trained to operate them, because once or twice every few years we have a mahoosive nationwide snowfall.