Driving Test refund

Cill Dara Abu

My brother had to cancel his test last week because he was doing his Leaving Cert, he sent them an e-mail to tell them of the cancellation.

Yesterday he got a letter saying the test had been cancelled and he will be issued with an appointment at a later date, but he thought he was getting a refund not another appointment, do they not give refunds?

And he cancelled 11 days before his test date.

TestTransmission

http://www.rsa.ie/en/RSA/Learner-Drivers/The-Driving-Test/Cancel-your-test/

No mention of a refund,would he not just call them or do his test at a later date?

Cancelling your test

The most important thing is that you let us know as soon as possible.

Someone else may well be able to take your time slot.

You will not lose your fee if you:

* have not previously cancelled more than two appointments and you give at least 10 days notice.

You will lose your fee if you:

* give less than 10 days notice
OR
* have already cancelled two test appointments

Cill Dara Abu

He's going to America next week for a few months, if the bloody RSA did'nt take so long with an appointment he could have planned it better.

Absolute joke.

Cionád

I missed my original driving test as I was in Canada for the summer, and had applied 46 weeks beforehand so kinda forgot about it.

Opened the appointment letter when I got home, was a month late, just rang them up to explain and they agreed to reschedule it without cost the following week

Cill Dara Abu

So that means it took 42 weeks for them to issue you with a test date?

biko

Cill Dara Abu wrote: »

And he cancelled 11 days before his test date.

You will lose your fee if you:
* give less than 10 days notice

Doesn't seem to be an issue then? Ring them up and say you don't want another appointment, you want a refund.

cython

Cill Dara Abu wrote: »

He's going to America next week for a few months, if the bloody RSA did'nt take so long with an appointment he could have planned it better.

Absolute joke.

As already mentioned, it used to take a lot longer to get an appointment, and to be honest, with the range of the average waiting times being 7-17 weeks (17 being an extreme outlier in the list), with most seeming to be sub 3 months, it's not that bad, IMHO. When did he apply/how long was he waiting, if you don't mind me asking? Besides, if he intends on learning to drive, he will have to sit the test eventually, so what is the big problem with deferring the test, rather than getting a refund?

It also sounds like he had a very narrow window in which he could have sat the test (doing LC exams last week, away next week), so unless going to America for a few months was a spur of the moment thing, it was perhaps ill advised to apply when he did, especially with the average waiting times for RSA centres available online.

Additionally, at least back when I sat my test (5+ years ago), the RSA used to have no problem with you ringing them with exclusion times for the appt, i.e. when you couldn't sit it. Hell, it might even have been on the online form! Now obviously with a narrow window like it sounds like your brother had, they couldn't make any guarantees of providing a test within it, but he could have at least avoided the clash with the LC, as the timetable for that is put up well in advance, and it might be worth his while contacting them this time too, to say that he won't be able to sit the test before X date, and avoid another cancellation.

Cill Dara Abu

He was hoping to have it over and done with before his LC, he applied on the 20th of January.

Cionád

Cill Dara Abu wrote: »

So that means it took 42 weeks for them to issue you with a test date?

Initially yes, this was back in 2005.

The rescheduled test was the following week though, must have been a cancellation.

Paddy001

If he still wants to do it he could ring up and ask for a cancellation, he would get a test much sooner but he may not get much notice so would have to be prepared