NCT center ReTest Paying twice?

Weshtcoast Frenchie

Hi All. As thousand of car owners around Ireland, i got cut in the NCT lift issue earlier this year.

Here is my story:
Booked the car on february 2020 (aware that i would attend only half of the test). Paid my €55. I failed the test and was given the list in order to fix what was meant to be. Went back to the re-test and paid the €27.50. All good.
Second part of the test yesterday (involving the lift), included in the initial fee paid back in february. I failed again (expected), and have to be retested.

Here is my problem:
The retest will involve to repay another €27.50 and that's what i don't agree with (or €27.50 X 2)

In a normal scenario, a full test is conducted, a full list of the fails is issued in order to be repaired and comply with the requirements if necessary and 1 retest occurs.

The lift situation has been an unfortunate event but in any case the general public should have to suffer the cost of it.

I rang the main line, and was told that's the way it is. Frustrating and unsatisfying answer.

What do you think? Has anyone came accross this matter?

Thank you.

Darc19

Annoying alright, but I can't see you getting anywhere on your own.

It will also affect others, but not a huge number.

Would have been easily foreseeable too.

I'd email the following three people

Road safety authority

AA - conor faughnan

And also Conor Pope Irish times consumer champion.

I'd keep the email as short and simple as possible - basically a copy and paste of the above and they may see if it can be changed. (they tend to know who to contact)

I don't think it's about the €27.50, but more that the charge is due to circumstances that you had no input or control on, so even if it was €5, I'd be equally annoyed.

antix80

It's a good story for down the pub but that's just the way the cookie crumbles.

Weshtcoast Frenchie

Hi Darc19, thank you for your reply. Of course its not about the 27.50. I guess my point is to highlight a disfunction in the system, especially since they are very strict when it comes to deadlines on their side.
I'll follow it through, and pop a couple of emails.
Keep safe

Weshtcoast Frenchie

antix80 wrote: »

It's a good story for down the pub but that's just the way the cookie crumbles.

If only I could go to the pub🀣. Soon hopefully I'll be able to lash out!!!

JustAThought

Weshtcoast Frenchie wrote: »

If only I could go to the pub🀣. Soon hopefully I'll be able to lash out!!!

Interestingly I had a similar frustration and was expecting a row but the guy just shrugged and didn’t ask for money - mind you - although the inspection proved the fail item was fixed the lift still wasn’t working and I had to pay in full for the ‘full’ nct again because I couldn’t get a test with a working lift within the timeframe. v annonying. What was more annonying was that my insurance ran out in the meantime and because I didn’t have a full nct theough no fault of my own I could not get a quote for car insurance or cover until I had the full bloody nct. Superfrustrating & the govt. and regulators just shrugged and allowed the industry to get away with it. I was last up into the ramp the day it shut down for the covid so I paid it & was grateful to have it. But I agree - its another cash for the boyos scam and utter disinterest by the politicians and ao called regulatir ( an instutute we also run & own) and nobody in authority or in responsibility gives a F* or will man up and face them. Its ALL a scam and the boyos getting fat guzzling cheap beer in the Dáil bar couldn’t give a toss.

Metalrobe

Honestly I think you should bring your car to a mechanic and get everything he or she thinks should be fixed before you go down. It's peace of mind to know your car is in good order before you go down.

Darc19

JustAThought wrote: »

Interestingly I had a similar frustration and was expecting a row but the guy just shrugged and didn’t ask for money - mind you - although the inspection proved the fail item was fixed the lift still wasn’t working and I had to pay in full for the ‘full’ nct again because I couldn’t get a test with a working lift within the timeframe. v annonying. What was more annonying was that my insurance ran out in the meantime and because I didn’t have a full nct theough no fault of my own I could not get a quote for car insurance or cover until I had the full bloody nct. Superfrustrating & the govt. and regulators just shrugged and allowed the industry to get away with it. I was last up into the ramp the day it shut down for the covid so I paid it & was grateful to have it. But I agree - its another cash for the boyos scam and utter disinterest by the politicians and ao called regulatir ( an instutute we also run & own) and nobody in authority or in responsibility gives a F* or will man up and face them. Its ALL a scam and the boyos getting fat guzzling cheap beer in the Dáil bar couldn’t give a toss.

Your situation is totally different.

If your situation happened in the pandemic or during the lift issue, you would have been able to get insurance quotes. They made a public announcement about it and published it online.

As for the dail bar. That makes you lose the argument and you are just seen as mouthing off.

BTW, number one drink in dail bar is coffee, number 2 is tea. Coffee and tea make more sales than every alcoholic drink combined. But tabloids won't tell you that.

bigroad

Even a Mechanic might miss a small thing
A lot of people just slap the car in,get the list of things to fix and then get them done and retest.

antix80

bigroad wrote: »

Even a Mechanic might miss a small thing
A lot of people just slap the car in,get the list of things to fix and then get them done and retest.

That's what most people do.. It would almost be worth making motorists keep a service history as evidence their car is fit for the road in addition to the nct disc.

For the op, the car failed the nct. I don't know if he got the car fully serviced after it failed or just the items it failed on; maybe the fault developed in the 6 months.

Fact is despite the earlier nct failure and retest the problem revealed by the lift test showed the car wasn't roadworthy. So the 2nd retest fee is fair from that perspective.