another rant on NCT test

flintash

Hi guys,
I'll start with my rant first.
Went to NCT today and got failed on "Not working dipp beam left side".
I ran outside and pulled my car in front of the NCT building and turned on the lights. Guess what!! Just like 20 min ago (checked lights before leaving home) , lights were working AGAIN !!!
Called the Nct Mechanic , he was not happy, and kept telling me that light was not working at the time of the test, and that they are closing down so cannot retest right away. But anyway, I got retested in few minutes, happilly gave away my 30 EU, lights were perfect, got cert, before leaving I asked for the complaint form and got it.
Now reading forums online, makes me wonder- wheather is worth trying to complain NCT, cause everybody get f***** over and no single happy outcome. So lads, anyone knows if any complain ever was taken seriuoslly or so?

Rich11

flintash wrote: »

Hi guys,
I'll start with my rant first.
Went to NCT today and got failed on "Not working dipp beam left side".
I ran outside and pulled my car in front of the NCT building and turned on the lights. Guess what!! Just like 20 min ago (checked lights before leaving home) , lights were working AGAIN !!!
Called the Nct Mechanic , he was not happy, and kept telling me that light was not working at the time of the test, and that they are closing down so cannot retest right away. But anyway, I got retested in few minutes, happilly gave away my 30 EU, lights were perfect, got cert, before leaving I asked for the complaint form and got it.
Now reading forums online, makes me wonder- wheather is worth trying to complain NCT, cause everybody get f***** over and no single happy outcome. So lads, anyone knows if any complain ever was taken seriuoslly or so?

did i read that correctly "I got retested in few minutes, happilly gave away my 30 EU", you shouldnt have to pay for that retest as its only a visual check, and doesnt require a lane or a booking, so i dunno what you payed €30.

No-ones happy....well..... went to nct centre......read the paper....was told my car passed, and see you in two years:D happy as a pig in s**t

Anan1

Rich11 wrote: »

did i read that correctly "I got retested in few minutes, happilly gave away my 30 EU", you shouldnt have to pay for that retest as its only a visual check, and doesnt require a lane or a booking, so i dunno what you payed €30.

Alignment would have to be checked on the machine, hence the retest fee.

@ OP - Have you never seen a car headlight work, stop working, and then work again? Because I have.

Onwardandupwar

Anan1 wrote: »

Rich11 wrote: »

did i read that correctly "I got retested in few minutes, happilly gave away my 30 EU", you shouldnt have to pay for that retest as its only a visual check, and doesnt require a lane or a booking, so i dunno what you payed €30.

Alignment would have to be checked on the machine, hence the retest fee.

@ OP - Have you never seen a car headlight work, stop working, and then work again? Because I have.

Yes headlights sometimes do not work and the bulb could be ok and then it works. 2 mins later as its a bad connection. I think the op new he had a bad connection as he said he has checked the lights Afew times before the test. Normally if the headlight is working intermitinly just change the bold and that will sort it. So why the rant. And yes if it failed on a headlight bulb u have to pay twice as Thais above the headlight alignment has to be checked

check_six

Had the loose connection problem myself last week. I thought the bulb had gone, so I replaced that and the light worked, but shortly afterwards it stopped working. Over the next few days the light came and went until I got the connection fixed where one of the wires connects to the spade clip which hooks onto the back of the bulb. I believe there are other causes for the same issue, but luckily mine was one of the easier ones to spot.

Intermittent problems are a pain to diagnose and fix...

Anan1

I kind of feel sorry for NCTS employees, having to put up with this nonsense.

TestTransmission

Anan1 wrote: »

@ OP - Have you never seen a car headlight work, stop working, and then work again? Because I have.

I have, it happened me in the NCT centre, went from not working to working and then back to not working. :pac:
I assumed it had failed the NCT but the fella drove it out around the building and tested the lights again after they came back on.

I knew the light was dodgy, it had blown due to condensation and I had been hoping a new headlight would arrive from Asia before the test.

VM1

A sensor light on my car dashboard went out and I failed the NCT- I got it switched back on and just brought the car back for a visual test. I didn't have to pay and it only took 10 mins. You shouldnt have had to pay that 30euro. I would complain for a refund.

Nissan doctor

VM1 wrote: »

A sensor light on my car dashboard went out and I failed the NCT- I got it switched back on and just brought the car back for a visual test. I didn't have to pay and it only took 10 mins. You shouldnt have had to pay that 30euro. I would complain for a refund.

You have to repay if they have to use any test equipment...this has been covered.

If the bulb wasn't working during the test then the headlight alignment can't be checked.

IMO, for once, the NCT actually did the OP a favour as they could easily have told him to go away and make a new booking.

flintash

cant believe people believe in miracles these days. How unfortunate moment it should had been for me.
First I dont believe in bad connector excuse.The car is not such an old rusty box as you imagine. i almost always drive with lights on, therefore never seen my light not working. (explanation to dumb part of the nation driving with blown bulbs- I observe the car in front of me and see the reflection of my lights on it.)
My only hope is that people i'm gonna complain to, will check internal cameras and see if that lazy mechanic was doing his job .
but then again, its not a bank- dont expect top-notch customer care.
So i recon nobody has complaint against nct ruled into customer favour .

spiggotpaddy

I suppose a lot of people have left an NCT centre with that feeling of
"I have just been de-money'ed by that ginzel" (myself included)
But some people would drive around in death traps if left unchecked, like the good old days. So it has to be a good thing.
Motorcyclist are still free to ride machines with no safety checks although most riders keep their bikes in top condition and are likely to service on time.
But not all, I asked a work mate, what was the white stuff in his front brake master cylinder and he said milk. I asked him, why use milk, and he said he ran out of washing up liquid last night. A man made for NCT.

ebbsy

Brought my 2000 Almera down this morning, flew through in less than 20 mins, happy days.

Oh well.

flintash

i have two cars in the family, always go NCT myself. Always good experience , even if cars had failed, but this time just coulnt take such a lie. Its pointless moaning, I suppose.

mickdw

Nct guy broke my seat belt-the clumsy idiot.
Brought my car in and it failed on rear belt not clicking into holder. Fair enough and I should have checked it worked beforehand anyway but it had never been used since new. Anyway took it away, took it apart and found a tiny bit of wire blocking the mechanism.
I returned for free retest, got a different guy who decided he should test the belt reel to destruction even though there was no fault with this originally. He pulled the belt out to its limit and tested the emergency locking when the belt was at full length. He completely jammed the belt, walking away saying its faulty. Now, all he was testing the way he did it was the strength of the belt as it was a full extension and so not checking the function of the belt emergency locking at all.
Anyway on retest, original guy called the guy that jammed the belt a stupid f**ker.
The annoying thing about this is that much of the interior of the car had to be removed to get to the belt reel. Drivers door cill panel. Rear side panel, rear seat base and seat back. Boot side carpet, rear parcel shelf and c panel cover. Reel then had to be removed and a quick shot got it back in order as it was pulled off centre on its mechanism.
Nightmare.

2 stroke

I brought a friends car in recently. Tester told me he was passing the car but that I needed to check my brakelights as he reckoned a bulb had blown during the test.

challengemaster

2 stroke wrote: »

I brought a friends car in recently. Tester told me he was passing the car but that I needed to check my brakelights as he reckoned a bulb had blown during the test.

That's quite decent tbh. I suppose at least he noticed it going and could verify it worked in the first place, which was probably why he was able to do that

slimjimmc

flintash wrote: »

cant believe people believe in miracles these days. How unfortunate moment it should had been for me.
First I dont believe in bad connector excuse.The car is not such an old rusty box as you imagine. i almost always drive with lights on, therefore never seen my light not working. (explanation to dumb part of the nation driving with blown bulbs- I observe the car in front of me and see the reflection of my lights on it.)
My only hope is that people i'm gonna complain to, will check internal cameras and see if that lazy mechanic was doing his job .
but then again, its not a bank- dont expect top-notch customer care.
So i recon nobody has complaint against nct ruled into customer favour .

flintash wrote: »

i have two cars in the family, always go NCT myself. Always good experience , even if cars had failed, but this time just coulnt take such a lie. Its pointless moaning, I suppose.

Just because you don't believe in bad connectors because it never happened to you before doesn't mean you can rule it out this time and you don't need a rusty heap either for it to occur! Bad connections are often normally caused by strained wires, overheating, moisture, dirt or someone dislodging a connector or simply not reconnecting securely. Other posters have stated it has happened to them, why are you so special. I've even had a bulb come and go because the break in the filament wasn't complete. It happens.

Onwardandupwar

Don't no why we are even trying to explain to the op as it seems he always right even when the nct tried to help him. He doesnt beleave in loose connections either well I'm tellin u op that loose connections do happen and the happen on old and new cars doesn't matter the age I'm a mechanic and c it daily so op open ur eyes and listen to what ur being told were only trying to help

Where To

I've been trying to get to the bottom of a loose connection in a van for the last few weeks that's not even a year old.

Anything can happen when you're dealing with electricity OP.

CiniO

I agree with most posters here that loose connection and light working and not working intermittently is not a rare thing.
I honestly can't believe NCT tester to fail a car for not working headlight when it was working.

However this:

and that they are closing down so cannot retest right away.

reminds me of a situation I had once in NCT centre.
I got my car tested, and failed on "incorrect nut assy". I didn't really understand what it meant in the first place, but NCT tester explained that one of my wheels nuts is screwed back to front and car will need to be presented for visual retest.
I asked him that I can fix that now i a minute (that's most likely a time I needed to get a nut key from the boot, unscrew it and put back the correct way, and he could print the certificate in the mean time.

Unfortunately he said NO, that he couldn't retest a car now, as they are closed, and my car was last.

I had to travel extra 40km next day just to get it retested.

IMHO it was pure rudeness.