My Dad went to get an MOT for his car today.He went to a small local garage in a village near where they live. It's run by a father and son and provides an excellent service. The chaps are friendly, do the job while Dad waits and, best of all from Dad's point of view, have a good old chin wag with him while he is there.
It's the kind of personal service that doesn't make anyone astonishingly rich, but does ensure customer loyalty and therefore a regular income in the face of larger and often cheaper competitors.
Except today, when Dad went there he was told very apologetically by the father of the pair, that he couldn't really stop to talk until the MOT inspection was completed. The reason for this was that, at the commencement of the inspection, the garage log in to the VOSA computer. They then have a certain time to complete the inspection. If they take longer than this allotted time, the VOSA ring them up and start quizzing them about why the inspection has take too long and what is wrong the with the car.
What happens if there is an issue which needs discussion? What happens if the person doing the inspection is called away?
The whole thing seems mad to me. What possible benefit is there for the VOSA to insist that an MOT inspection take a certain amount of time? More importantly, who is paying for the person to sit on the end of the phone calling these various garages to enquire why the inspection is taking so long?
Talk about the Nanny state sticking its nose in to everyone's business, this really is an example of bureaucracy gone mad.
Update: Thanks to the person who posted the comment to put me right about the difference between the VOSA and the DVLA and to suggest the garage talk to them. Quite right, I'll get Dad to mention it, however it still seems draconian to me; an intrusion and a waste of resources.
3 comments:
I think it's the VOSA you mean. And their web site explains the guide times for completing a test to make sure that the fee paid by the client is in line with the service they get. I think it would be worth your father's garage owner checking with VOSA and explaining the level of service they provide.
Thanks for putting me straight on this, I've changed the original post accordingly. That'll teach me to post immediately I return from hearing Dad going on about something!
Isn't it still an imposition on the business? Surely a garage not completing MOTs in a timely fashion wouldn't keep their business, the market therefore deciding that their service wasn't up to scratch rather than the Government?
I guess it's a matter of the fee being set by an Agency, and then collected by a private business. Some part of that fee goes back to VOSA, I suppose. Different from the free market where each business sets its own fee and competes with others directly in providing service. I do see your point but I think that it's too much of knee-kerk (dare I suggest, typical politician) reaction. We need our politicians to think before they speak ... or type!
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