Had my car Nct today but only got a ticket for four months due to the back log of testing

Paulkarin

My car was due a nct test last February but it only got tested on the 28th of September 2023 due to the back log at testing centers, they only gave me a 4 month ticket not 12 months surely this is wrong

wench

It's 12 months from when it was due. Otherwise people would game it by pushing out their appointments.

Paulkarin

My test was due last February but I couldnt get a test till September is this my fault

wench

No, it's not your fault.

But look at it this way, if the system was working correctly and you had got the test last Feb, it would still be due next Feb again, so you're no worse off.

mickdw

I've never ever yet have had to run my car without a test so yes for the most part it is your fault.

You can book 90 days ahead, you can keep an eye out for nearer dates on the website, you can phone them up for cancellations etc.

So yes running 6 or 8 months without a test is entirely your own fault.

callaway92

Definitely your fault. You could've requested priority numerous times.

Calahonda52

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121290909#Comment_121290909

exactly, I got one next day using that system

mondeoman72

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121290921#Comment_121290921

Yep. You request a cancellation and you get one. The OP unfortunately is wrong.

endacl

Good to hear they finally have their paperwork sorted! Another month and they can book the next one on time..,

FishOnABike

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121291050#Comment_121291050

Except the waiting list is probably more than six months.

893bet

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121291778#Comment_121291778

People don’t understand the system. When you try and book they might give you the earliest date as 2-4months out. If you accept it’s on you. Refuse and you go on a list and will be guaranteed a test within 4 weeks.

FishOnABike

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121292049#Comment_121292049

The booking system is not fit for purpose, unless the purpose is to ensure Applus+ don't have to provide any free tests.

The available appointments that customers see online only represent approximately 1/3 of the actual appointments available for that time. NCTS only open the full capacity or the remaining 2/3 of appointments two weeks ahead when they finalise their schedules and know what staff are available that week.

If I check online now there is one test available tomorrow in my nearest centre and none other offered until early May next year, over a month after my NCT us due. There is none available within the 90 day window before it's due date near the end of March next year.

I can wait until a 90 days before my NCT due date and then ask to be put on their priority list and maybe be offered a date and time which might or might not be practical for me, and if it isn't then tough luck and I'm in an even worse situation. Still no appointment and nearer to the deadline.

Or I can keep checking early in the morning and late at night when cancellations seem to be processed and frantically refresh my browser in the hope of snatching a suitable appointment before another customer or Applus+ themselves do!

The only reason Applus+ can operate as they do is because they have a monopoly and the NCT is mandatory.

Would it be so radical to implement a booking system that is designed for the customers rather than for Applus+?

If an appointment time is available, make it available online for customers to book. Why hide two thirds of your capacity from customers?

It shouldn't be difficult to plan capacity in advance. All the data should be there, the first registration date of every Irish registered car, the retest rate, the number and timing of early voluntary tests and 'normal' tests should all be identifiable.

Since a valid NCT is a legal requirement, there is no reasonable excuse for the NCT provider not implementing a test and booking system that, at a minimum, matches the required test capacity and customer demand.

The current system falls far short of what should be considered a minimum acceptable standard.

Shield

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/2058319880/had-my-car-nct-today-but-only-got-a-ticket-for-four-months-due-to-the-back-log-of-testing

Mod: Moved to Motors from the Help Desk. Please note that the Motors forum now applies.

Thanks.

-Shield

ofcork

Ive never driven without a valid nct always go early,went online at night got a date within 2 days so there are ways of getting a test on time.Was due in june passed test in april so had 14 months nct.

joebloggs32

I look around at a few centres and always get sorted. I have been at 4 different locations in the last 5 years. Expanding your search to other centres can greatly help secure a spot in a timely fashion.

warrior00

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121294986#Comment_121294986

I do that as well. I go to Ballina, Westport or Castlerea and then for about three or four years the one in Tuam(this one wasn't always there). I live in east Mayo and Tuam would actually be my closest.

Furze99

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/2058319880/had-my-car-nct-today-but-only-got-a-ticket-for-four-months-due-to-the-back-log-of-testing

Same here but bit longer. I get the abuse theory but the reason people cannot get their tests more quickly is entirely due to failures in the AppPlus system. It makes no logic to test a car today, pass it and say come back again in a few months, that's farcical.

As for requesting a priority slot that too is nonsense - if everyone does this, there is no priority. Imagine 100 passengers for a RyanAir flight all booking priority boarding. If a priority slot works for some, then it's only at others expense and makes them wait longer.

Long past time for the RSA to sort this out or get rid of the system.

tayto lover

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121294958#Comment_121294958

Good idea that. I'll do the same.

User1998

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/2058319880/had-my-car-nct-today-but-only-got-a-ticket-for-four-months-due-to-the-back-log-of-testing

You could have gotten a test within a few weeks if you called them so yes its kind of your fault.

Sure you would have had to do your NCT in Feb 2023 and Feb 2024, only difference is you delayed the first one by over 6 months, makes no difference in the grand scheme of things.

3DataModem

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/2058319880/had-my-car-nct-today-but-only-got-a-ticket-for-four-months-due-to-the-back-log-of-testing

If you had waited a few weeks, you'd have got one for 15 months.

antodeco

Edit ..

Marcusm

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121290804#Comment_121290804

In fairness, you couldn’t get a test which suited your location and timing choices not that you couldn’t get a test at all.

Marcusm

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121295028#Comment_121295028

Surely it’s even more farcical that the OP drove around with an unapproved car for 8 months without expending the modicum of effort to get it tested.

FishOnABike

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121304650#Comment_121304650

No it's more farcical that to ensure your car has a valid NCT certificate you need to try to book an annual test eight or nine months in advance when the waiting time service level target is twelve days.

Marcusm

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121308788#Comment_121308788

tgis has been a known issue for months. I got a date within 3 weeks of trying by being flexible and checking availability regularly. It’s easy enough to do but some people want to fall back on service levels and on-line bitching than problem solving.

Flinty997

Sssh there is no way to get the NCT test faster.... 🤥

Padre_Pio

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121304650#Comment_121304650

The modicum of effort was booking the test.

Why should anyone be made to put extra effort to secure an earlier test date than the one given?

My test date was 8 months out. I realised a month before that I wouldnt be able to attend so I rebooked it. Another 6 months. At least I'll get a disk for almost a full year and a free test.

Flinty997

Why book it at all in that case...

FishOnABike

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121304650#Comment_121304650

I've checked almost every night for the last week and the nearest test date I see is towards the end of May next year. There has been no tests available within the 90 day test window. How much effort is one expected to expend?

Marcusm

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121313398#Comment_121313398

That’s fine so long as you are willing to park the car up while the cert is out of date; the modicum of effort is required in order to avoid committing an offence! Some of us think that effort is worthwhile.

Marcusm

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121313581#Comment_121313581

Let me guess; you are looking at a single test centre? Widen your search.

listermint

Amazing how many people out shilling for a government mandated system that you not only have to pay for but you have to game it in such a way that you fit into their abysmally poor and back logged system.

People are off their head.

Here's what should have occurred. An amnesty and reset for the period of time the entire system was closed as no one was driving. And start again fresh date.

It's banana's it's managed to get this bad it's even more banana's it's still this way after covid. And it's even worse that the free test policy was just entirely disregarded.

Is true what they say though irish people tend to accept any old shite and appreciate it.

lostboy75

Fully agree with listermint, people supporting a broken system and saying if you don't know how to play the system then your at fault is crazy. If a system doesn't work, it doesn't work. Fix the system instead of saying Ah, but you didn't get up in the middle of the night to book it, or offer to drive across the country to the one spot that was available.

It's Nonsense, people have to abuse the system to get any hope of getting a place.

I will add, I have managed to, in the main, get a date that works for me the last few years, leaving me with a valid NCT, or at least only a few weeks out. But that does not mean I accept the system works as it was intended, it clearly doesn't.

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121313762#Comment_121313762

Surely though, if it's known there's a backlog of several months you should book your NCT several months before it expires? That's not gaming the system. The problem is people waiting until it expires to book...

Flinty997

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121313766#Comment_121313766

Not true. You mostly can't book a date even in advance.

Flinty997

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121295022#Comment_121295022

There isn't the same backlog outside of the cities. That doesn't work if you're in Dublin for example. Or rather it used to work but rarely does now.

Padre_Pio

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121313732#Comment_121313732

Not at all. Been driving with it out since February.

If it's so easy to get a test by calling then why don't they put these on the website when you book?

Why do you need to jump through an extra hoop because NCT can't meet their targets?

Flinty997

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121290909#Comment_121290909

Exactly. In busy locations that's the only sane way to book tests. A phone call a few weeks before the due date. End of story. Easy.

Why people are still trying to use the main system I have no idea.

Padre_Pio

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121313742#Comment_121313742

Remember they got a reprieve from COVID. It took the pressure off those test centres which had dodgy lifts. They had to push tests out for months, or offer "partial tests".

Absolute joke.

waterwelly

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121313860#Comment_121313860

Maybe because that's what people are supposed to do - use the main system?

If every single person tried to "game" the system as people are suggesting, then that method of gaming the system would no longer work.

Flinty997

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121313888#Comment_121313888

Every single person can't use it. They only accept people with a test due in a few weeks, or expired. So roughly only 1/12 of the demand. Also the priority has twice as many slots as the main system.

It's not gaming the system. Its what they advise you to do on their own website.

NewbridgeIR

Seems that some people live by the “computer says no” maxim & meekly accept whatever appointment the site gives them.

The easiest way to get a prompt appointment is to telephone the NCT people and say that you need a priority slot. You’ll then get a text confirming you’re on the list & usually you’ll get an appointment within 2 or 3 weeks. That’s worked for me for the last 5 years. No need to look for other centres unless it suits you do so.

Driving around with an long-time expired NCT is looking for trouble. I got a lecture from a Garda when mine was one week overdue AND I had proof of a test appointment due to take place 4 days later.

Flinty997

"..Seems that some people live by the “computer says no” maxim & meekly accept whatever appointment the site gives them..."

Exactly people are stuck in mental catch 22 loop, trying to do it the old way which they know doesn't work. Move on.

blackbox

The OP is mostly to blame, but the system is a contributory factor.

You should be able to go on line and book a test within a month. It's ridiculous when you can't see a slot until 9 months away.

They need to do something to resolve the backlog. Maybe the answer is to have more test centres or maybe open for longer hours, but the current situation is far from ideal.

Flinty997

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121313975#Comment_121313975

They are open for longer hours and they created the priority list exactly for people like the OP. They just refused to use it.

Hoboo

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121313742#Comment_121313742

You don’t need to game anything. If your date is too far away you are guaranteed a spot within 4 weeks with a 60 second phone call.

I’ve used it twice, it works. Anyone who waits for months needs to check themselves, not the system

Marcusm

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121313859#Comment_121313859

I’ve never called; I’ve only used the booking system. Unlike you, I would not drive a car without making any reasonable effort to get a cert. I don’t need a criminal record.

Marcusm

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121313766#Comment_121313766

I tend to start looking 4-6 weeks before expiry. At that point, the NCT centres have a better idea of shifts, available staff etc and I’ve never had a cancellation, never failed to get a test. I don’t limit it to closest test centre either as I often find more availability elsewhere and can identify a location which suits me for more than NCT.

Patrick2010

I used the priority booking system on the website early October when I was being offered next May, 2 weeks later I got a text confirming November 18. Might have even got one sooner if I hadn't ticked weekend only. No need to ring, just use the website.

ButtersSuki

Mine was due end of October. I started looking mid-October and most appointments in Dublin were in March/April next year. With approx 15mins of searching I was able to get an appointment at 7pm last Sunday night at Northpoint (or whatever it's called) at the turn off to IKEA. There's appointments available if you look for them, might take a bit of work and they may not be the best or most sociable hours, but they are available. There were also seemed to be lots appointments in places like Drogheda and Naas available before my due date. Again, these are not exactly a 5minute drive away for me but if you want to get the full 12 months etc. then surely the extra bit of effort is worth it.

Edit: typo

FishOnABike

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121313733#Comment_121313733

If I widen my search to the nearest three (up to a two hour round trip away) I can get an appointment at the end of April. There are still none available within the 90 days before my NCT due date. I'm flexible with test dates but there are simply none available online within the 90 day test window.

The online booking system is totally broken. People shouldn't have to login every morning and night for days and days until, by pure chance, a test appointment belriefly appears and they manage to book it before someone else does.

The only practical solution is for everyone to forget about online booking and being able to pick a date and time from what's available (hint - there are none available) and everyone wait until 90 days before your NCT is due and ask to be put on their 'priority' list.

What is needed is secondary legislation to automatically extend the validity of a current NCT certificate provided a test has been booked, until such time as NCTS can meet their service level agreements and people can book and get a car tested in reasonable time. A nod and a wink is not a good enough solution for a fundamentally broken system.