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

lostboy75

The point being, if you have to use priority booking to actually get a booking this decade means the system isn't working as designed.

Edit to add, as mentioned I do get bookings that work for me using the mentioned work arounds.

Flinty997

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121314168#Comment_121314168

No need to use the website just ring...

Flinty997

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121314258#Comment_121314258

You've been told umpteen times the main website mostly doesn't work. Why you persist with it is inexplicable.

Flinty997

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121314225#Comment_121314225

You can get lucky. They also have extended hours now which helps. Theres no need to drive to another county.

Flinty997

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121314273#Comment_121314273

That it is broken is unlikely to be news to anyone.

listermint

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121314032#Comment_121314032

You shouldn't have to do a thing.

The system when it was originally built and envisaged would have capacity to deal with volume it would alert the user of booking and tike slot well in advance of expiry.

None of that his happening.

It's broken.

We shouldn't accept poor service like this especially in a world where we are told privatised services operate better and more efficiently.

No one should have to make any such call. That's the point. But you meekly accept it as normal now as if your winning by getting your booking and everyone else is a fool.

Bizarre stuff and you'll pay the full whack for it too. Lol

FishOnABike

Preiously (a long time ago) an NCT appointment was automatically sent out to the registered owner giving a test date around a month before the next due date. I think you had to confirm the appointment given and if it didn't suit you could contact NCTS to reschedule it.

Is it time we went back to this system (archaic as it may seem) until the current mess is sorted out?

Flinty997

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121314318#Comment_121314318

I think they stopped that because there were too many missed appointments. Which wasted capacity in the system.

Send out a reminder a month before the due date, maybe. Let people book it themselves.

ButtersSuki

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121314295#Comment_121314295

Well it depends where you live......sometimes going to the next county can be closer than any location within your own county.....I live in South Meath, Drogheda Louth) and most of the Dublin centres are closer to me than Navan or Kells (the only centres in my county).

Flinty997

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121314354#Comment_121314354

Well obviously...

FishOnABike

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

At the moment, despite looking at the nearest few test centres for the past few days, I can't book a test within the 90 day test window.

I would need to be able to book 8 or 9 months in advance (and the booking window doesn't go out that far) to be able to get a test appointment about a month before my current NCT expires.

It's not that people aren't bothering to try booking a few months in advance, it's that they can't book far enough in advance to be able to book an appointment inside the 90 day test window.

FishOnABike

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

Introduce competition. Applus+ wouldn't get away with the current shambles if there was a competitor providing a proper service.

Flinty997

You don't NEED to book months in advance.

"IF" you can get an appointment when you request one when within a few weeks of your actual date. (Priority List)

FishOnABike

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121314404#Comment_121314404

The problem with this is that you have to wait until three months before your current NCT expires and little or no choice in the appointment offered. If it isn't suitable you will probably not get another (random) appointment before your NCT expires.

As it stands almost everybody needs to use the 'priority' list.

Secondly, if you look at the other "NCT backlog" thread, customers have had scheduled appointments cancelled at the last minute and been issued a refund of the test fee without being given a new appointment and they cannot book another appointment before their NCT expires.

Paulkarin

I had booked my test well in advance, but people are saying I was gaming the system how could I have being gaming the system when the day I booked was the day I paid, my point is if a car passes it's test it should be given a 12 month ticket, but no, I have to rebook another test in 3 months and pay again the system is a joke

Paulkarin

I had booked my test well in advance, but people are saying I was gaming the system how could I have being gaming the system when the day I booked was the day I paid, my point is if a car passes it's test it should be given a 12 month ticket, but no, I have to rebook another test in 3 months and pay again the system is a joke

Di

Paulkarin

I had booked my test well in advance, but people are saying I was gaming the system how could I have being gaming the system when the day I booked was the day I paid, my point is if a car passes it's test it should be given a 12 month ticket, but no, I have to rebook another test in 3 months and pay again the system is a joke

Di

Flinty997

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121314466#Comment_121314466

I could negotiate a more suitable booking with the priority list. So thats not true.

Secondly they could have booked on the priority list, so thats not true either.

Paulkarin

Thank you for all your views, I had booked my test well in advance, but people are saying I was gaming the system how could I have being gaming the system when the day I booked was the day I paid, my point is if a car passes it's test it should be given a 12 month ticket, but no, I have to rebook another test in 3 months and pay again the system is a joke

Di

Flinty997

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121314520#Comment_121314520

It's not gaming anything. That's a nonsense.

But the system is joke for sure. It not been fit for purpose for many years.

But you have no excuse if you didn't use the priority option.

Paulkarin

I had booked my test well in advance, but people are saying I was gaming the system how could I have being gaming the system when the day I booked was the day I paid, my point is if a car passes it's test it should be given a 12 month ticket, but no, I have to rebook another test in 3 months and pay again the system is a joke

Di

Furze99

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121314545#Comment_121314545

The 'priority list' is pure nonsense and should be abolished immediately. It's now a large part of the problem.

All available slots should be made available for bookings. If there are cancellations, then let people take these up if it suits them.

We have a test date coming up - last year when I booked a month in advance it was a 4 month wait. This year it's a 5 month wait till next slot.

Sure I could go on this so called priority list but my car was only tested 7 months ago. The contractors should lose the contract and the relevant minister (Ryan I think) resign.

Flinty997

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121314599#Comment_121314599

I'd argue you need to do the opposite.

Go back to just in time principles. Don't allow any one to book an appointment unless it's within 4 weeks. You immediately get rid of the majority of the list. Much easier to manage.

Marcusm

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121314375#Comment_121314375

You don’t need to book that far ahead and as stated earlier in the thread, only a fraction of the appointments are available that far ahead. More availability arises when they know how many technicians are allocated for particular months (when I did mine last week they were all Filipino).

Furze99

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121314623#Comment_121314623

That could possibly well clear up the list too. Make this a requirement and abolish the concept of priority except for exceptional circumstances.

Flinty997

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121314997#Comment_121314997

That's what I'm thinking.

They should have enough historical data to predict demand. They don't need people booking 11 months in advance.

Flinty997

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121314962#Comment_121314962

I assume the number of people working is fairly constant other than people on leave, or actually left.

FishOnABike

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121314962#Comment_121314962

But there aren't any appointments available to book any earlier. There's absolutely none available online for the next seven months in any of my three nearest NCT centres (if you can count a two hour round trip 'near').

Only one or two per day on some days of these mythical 2/3 of the full capacity of appointments that NCTS are supposed to open two weeks ahead when they finalise schedules are made available.

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121314623#Comment_121314623

Do this and there are, to all intents and purposes, no tests available within the next four weeks except possibly through the 'priority' system.

Guarantee me an appointment in the next four weeks and I won't bother trying to book any earlier than four weeks before I want my car tested.

It is unworkable to restrict booking to such a short time unless users can be guaranteed a booking in that time. The reason users try to book more and more in advance is because there are no tests available any nearer.

It seems the tail is wagging the dog here. NCT / Applus+ should be run to facilate customers not customers run around jumping through hoops to facilitate NCTS / Applus+.

Flinty997

You're creating a catch 22 for yourself in your own head.

Why can't you forget about it for 5 or 7 months then use the priority booking.

warrior00

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121314564#Comment_121314564

I'm starting to believe you are a troll. You just posted the same thing five times....

FishOnABike

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121316329#Comment_121316329

That's what I plan to do. Wait until 90 days before my NCT is due and look for a priority booking. I should get a random appointment well in time to test and allow for a possible retest before my current NCT expires.

But if practically everyone has to use the 'priority' list it isn't a priority list, it's just a list.

I suspect that if NCTS had to make all appointment slots visible online it would be all too clear that they cannot provide tests within the required 28 days and would have to provide most tests for free.

M3CS

A couple of years ago I put a car through the test and when I got the certificate I noticed it was valid for 12 months from the date it was tested (not from the date of registration). The old NCT was out by a few months so I was expecting the new certificate to be valid for far less than a year but that wasn't the case.

Why did I get a 12 month certificate on that occasion?

Flinty997

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121316703#Comment_121316703

Why 90 days?

Every list is just a list?

Everyone can't use the priority list at the same time. That's the whole point of it. Someone booking 5 or 7 months out, isn't a priority.

FishOnABike

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121317228#Comment_121317228

90 days because I could be offered a 'priority' appointment at very short notice - a day or two even. Once my car is tested and passes in the 90 days before it's NCT due date the certificate is issued for 12 months from the due date.

If my car is tested and passes more than 90 days before it's NCT due date it comes under the voluntary early testing rule and the certificate is valid for 12 months from the test date.

If my car is not tested until after its NCT due date I would be driving without a valid NCT.

Optimal time to request a 'priority' test appointment is therefore 90 (or maybe 91 if I want to be pedantic) days before the NCT due date

How the current NCT booking and scheduling system is 'working' means that everyone is almost compelled to use the 'priority' list to try guarantee they get a test appointment in the 90 day window before their current NCT expires. But if everyone uses the 'priority' list to get a test it ceases to be a 'priority' list and is just a list and is now effectively a priority list in name only.

Flinty997

I think you try get on it tomorrow and see how you get on..

FishOnABike

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121317445#Comment_121317445

It will be in the new year before my car is in the 90 day window so I won't be too pushed about looking until then, and then go straight onto the 'priority' list.

pcardin

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121290866#Comment_121290866

and you truly believe this is normal and acceptable practice to ask drivers wait for the test date 7-8 months in the country that calls themselves as developed and modern? And it is still their fault and still put the liability on the driver? Seriously? Ireland so often appears to be flippin medieval and experience kind of problems no other country ever would. Laughable.

JIdontknow

Was due an NCT this week (had been booked probably 2 months ago) and got notice it's been cancelled for "operational reasons"... Phoned up, we can book you in for the next available appointment... Oh there are none available... What a joke of a set up and organisation.

zg3409

Ignore the website. Telephone the helpline where they issue appointments for the next 3 weeks. If you get an appointment on a day or time you dont like ring immediately and ask to change it to a time and date that works.

They simply don't have enough staff to test all cars in a timely manor and whoever shouts loudest gets priority. On the phone they can only issue dates up to 3 weeks away. The website based priority is not as good. If everyone rang the system would break but not many do ring.