Nct - Whats with the waiting list?

witnessmenow

To make a long story short:

I rang to book Nct on friday there, they asked me where would i like it?

Ennis-> booked out

Limerick-> booked out

Athlone -> booked out

"I can give you mullingar on the 19th of July?"

Basically to make this appointment I'm going to have to take that friday off work as I work in Shannon Co.Clare. I'm from athlone so I could have swapped cars with someone I knew for the week if the test was in Athlone, But i couldn't ask someone to take time off work to travel 40 mins to mullingar, however long it takes to do the test and 40 mins back again.

Is it not a bit crazy that i dont get any of my top 3 choices in test centres?!!

princess-lala

Try Tullamore, i booked my car in a few weeks back and got a date within two weeks at a time and day that suited me!

quenching

princess-lala wrote: »

Try Tullamore, i booked my car in a few weeks back and got a date within two weeks at a time and day that suited me!

Book any centre for weeks in advance and then change the booking on their website to suit yourself, the don't release all slots at the same time (yes I know its mad) and suddenly a whole day will be free. www.ncts.ie

Black_Knight

It doesnt matter when you book it for. My NCT ran out in February, and I waited until april to get it done! Mostly because it suited me best to get it done then.

Ask Ennis, limerick and Athlone when can they next do it, and go from there.

Mine was Galway btw, in and out in 40mins.

DannyBuoy

Booking online is the easiest way to go, you see straight away all the available places for any day and any test centre, they told me some time ago that early in the morning is the best time to book as cancellations are done during the night.
But to answer the op's question, imo it looks fairly obvious... not enough resources given to car testing, ie not enough test centres.

alias no.9

They release cancellation slots between 8am and 8.30am every morning, that's the best time to book.

Steve

alias no.9 wrote: »

They release cancellation slots between 8am and 8.30am every morning, that's the best time to book.

+1

I noticed that as well - they also seem to release new slots like this.
Check every day in the morning - there will suddenly be loads of empty slots at some point.

L-M

I tried gettin a few booked in today in Limerick. Wouldn't give me a date either. Earliest i got was 19th July, got a Doe for friday though:D... Busy times

quenching

Limerick-man wrote: »

I tried gettin a few booked in today in Limerick. Wouldn't give me a date either. Earliest i got was 19th July, got a Doe for friday though:D... Busy times

If they can't give you an appointment within 4 weeks then the test is free, I checked this with them yesterday. That said I doubt if has to be a time that suits you, so it may be had to actually get a free test.

witnessmenow

Just to update this:

My Nct is out, but i still have it booked in for next friday.

Got stoped at a check point this evening, cop was far less understanding than I thought they would be.

Apparently I have till the end of the month to produce a passed NCT cert to a Garda station, if not i'm getting summoned.

Black_Knight

Bummer witnessmenow, I had an expired NCT disk in my window for about 2 months because that was the earliest I could get my test. I asked the NCT guys about not having a valid NCT and they said they would send me out a letter to keep in the car, should any problems arise.
Needless to say, i never received any letter, or any confirmation about my test at all. I got a call about it on the day though, about an hour before I was due to be tested!

Its a pretty poor system they've got going, a little more organisation wouldnt go amiss.

Thankfully I didnt get stopped anywhere in those 2 months, but right now im insurance-disk-less! Dont worry, the disk is just at home.