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[w3526602]

Hi,

I t wasn't always our fault ...

One irate customer kept complaining, but when DVLA replied, the Post Office returned our letters, marked NO SUCH ADDRESS.

Me? I'd have sent out an agent (possibly with a double-O number) to find him ... but it wasn't "my call".

602

[RATA1]

Bough my car on Sat 10/07. PO said he posted it Monday or Tuesday when I asked earlier this week.
Got it this morning. The V5 was issued on the 27/10.
All in order, so that's nice.
 

[Genem]

According to the DVLA website the new V5 was issued on July 31st... That will be 5-6 weeks turnaround.

[Ray Clayton]

My last update took 8 weeks earlier this Year.
Also my lad needs to send his off for a  change of colour but not bothered yet.

 

[Genem]

According to the DVLA website the new V5 was issued on July 31st... That will be 5-6 weeks turnaround.

...and indeed the new V5 arrived in the post just now. Phew and thank you Peter for the advice on how to proceed.

For interest, my first attempt at stamping the chassis number into the galv chassis was not too hot so I actually used an engraver tool in the Dremel and photographed the "hand-written" result of that. DVLA have accepted that as part of the evidence...

G.

[selectcase]

my father in law passed away in jan and we have been waiting since April for the v5 to be updated and returned - we have tried contacting the DVLA multiple times via multiple methods without any luck 

[Scotty38]

my father in law passed away in jan and we have been waiting since April for the v5 to be updated and returned - we have tried contacting the DVLA multiple times via multiple methods without any luck 

I've had the same sort of issue with my stolen Defender. I made 2 calls, one email and posted a completed form ( a form they told me to complete). When I  heard nothing I just cancelled my direct debit but today received another letter saying that unless I pay my RFL in full or SORN the car they will take legal action.

I filled in the form again saying it's been stolen and sold to the insurance company...

[Exile]

Well, nine weeks after sending off my application for a new 70 year old's driving licence, DVLA have replied.
Happy days?

Er, no.

The letter returned my application form - because I hadn't sent a photo.

The guidance notes clearly say that if I am not changing my name, I do NOT need to send a photo.


Tried to ring the number at the top of the letter.

"We're busy. Go away." Hung up.    Repeated, again and again.

So rang the helpline number:

"We're busy. Go away and use our chatbot".

Typed the query into their chatbot at 11.26 am.

No reply by 1pm.


Is anybody actually there at DVLA?

And is it the most useless Government department of all?

I wonder how many days I will keep driving without a licence before someone at DVLA actually answers the phone......?

[autorover1]

Was it a  A/B licence, or to keep C & D as well. that you were applying for. I had to sent a photo for the C1 / D1 entitlement

[Exile]

Derek, I assumed it was a straight replacement for what I already had.

Couldn't see anything to the contrary in the guidance notes.

(But of course, if DVLA deigned to answer the phone, I would know for sure!)

[autorover1]

Aged over 70 you need a medical to retain the C1/D1 entitlement  (Mini bus and light Truck)  which is what I did but if its B and/or A entitlement I think they can use ones Passport Photo, if you have one !

[w3526602]

And is it the most useless Government department of all?

Hi Exile,

You should be proud of DVLA.

In the early days, it was the second biggest computer thingy to to US Treasury.

In the early days, several firms (I believe including BSM) suggested they could do a better job. So they were sent the "spec". None took the matter any further.

I don't know about today, but when I was there, there were 65,000,000 licences holders in the UK, and a similar number of vehicles. I believe every single record was checked every day, in case it needed updating ... plus of course, the applications coming in from Joe Public, because he'd got married, past his test, changed his address, died, etc.

What do you do when somebody produces a birth certificate proving that he was born on the 29th of February ... and it wasn't a leap year? Howvmany people give this years date for their Date of Birth?

DVLA was introduced because the paper system was breaking down ... and that was the early 1970s ( I make that about 50 years ago.)

Several IT companies have used DVLC to develop their own systems.

You should be glad you've got it.

602

[Wittsend]

Sorry, the DVLA are nowhere near the top of the list of incompetent and corrupt government departments/agencies.

Who's at the top - NHS, Border Force, Transport - road & rail, Justice, Police etc. the list is endless.

In fact the DVLC conversion to a computer system way back was one of our most successful computerisations.
Compare with other computerisation "projects" and refer to my 1st sentence here.

I suspect the system has been upgraded a few times since - probably all run on a PC World laptop now 

Consider the scale of the operation.
There are, what, 40 million registered vehicles and - let's say 40 million of us have driving licenses.
That's an awful lot of outgoing and incoming mail.
The move to online services by and large works well for the "customer".
We in the classic car world are at one edge of exceptions from the norm.

There are exceptions, and in these difficult times there will be problems - which Exile is experiencing.
If you are affected then yes the DVLA are useless.

Think on, the lowly DVLA operatives are on the bottom of the pay scale earning well below the national average - there's little incentive to apply common sense and imagination to their processes.

I hope they get it sorted before my 70th birthday later this year.

Letter to your MP, the Transport Secretary and the CEO of the DVLA

[Exile]

A paper-based system at my local Chelmsford Office worked fine for generations.

Putting the whole Nation's driving and licensing operations into one mammoth centralised computer-based system, staffed by allegedly low paid mortals, was a catastrophic mistake as far as the customer is concerned - no?

(Not to mention that one Union can bring the whole Nation's licensing to a halt).

If they simply will not answer the phone but swerve you to an online system that doesn't respond, then how do we mere mortals contact them, except by post - and then wait 8 weeks for a reply.

I'm sorry but even the woeful HMRC manage better than that.

[Genem]

^^^^ Ah, you make the simple mistake there, of thinking that drivers are "the customer". Completely incorrect, the Customer is HM Government, seeking to raise money and regulate you and your vehicle. (VED raises about £6.5Bn a year, Fuel Duty about 5x that, VAT 0n Fuel Duty another wodge. Together they account for about 8% of Govt income). In 2014 they published a public consultation about reducing the cost of license applications etc so that DVLA did not accrue a surplus. Anyone remember the costs dropping ?  A system where the law-abiding all pay their dues online, a computer records it with human intervention minimised is the aim.

Any resemblance to our membership system is purely co-incidental, forget you ever had that thought....