NCT due this month, no date until july

Turtle-TM

HI all,

Quick question, my NCT is due, i tried to book online but with nothing available rang the booking line, and was told that the centre i want is totally booked and i can go on a waiting list to get my test within the month, however i wont be able to chose the time for the test, which isnt convenient for me with work, they text you with 24 hrs notice if they have an opening.

the only time i could book that was at a time that was convenient for me was in mid july. I have printed the booking email out and put it in the glove box to show if i am stopped, is a gard likely to take this as a reasonable excuse as to why my nct is out, i can also show my up to date servicing book proving the car is road worthy.

todolist

Waiting list to have a MOT.What a banana republic.

Turtle-TM

having an out of date nct risks having your car seized. trying to get said nct takes booking 3-4 months in advance. it seems like a broken system to me

No Pants

1. Ensure that the average lead time for an appointment at an individual test centre is less than three weeks and no greater than four weeks. The customer will be provided with a test free of charge where an appointment cannot be offered within a four week period provided that:

• The Customer has not declined a test appointment (either confirmed or provisional) more than twice, at a centre of their choosing, for the test due at this time
• The Customer has not previously accepted a booking outside of the 4 week period.

From the NCT customer charter here.

Turtle-TM

i took an appointment 2 weeks ago for this coming sunday, but have been called into work so wont be able to, was told i have to pay a €22 cancellation fee cause i didnt give 5 business days notice, absolutely ridiculous. If they cant offer me a time and date that suits me within 4 weeks then I shouldnt have to pay. might ring them about it on tuesday.

corktina

todolist wrote: »

Waiting list to have a MOT.What a banana republic.

NCT not MoT. We may be a banana republic, but we are a Republic

todolist

corktina wrote: »

NCT not MoT. We may be a banana republic, but we are a Republic

A BANANA republic where nothing works.Can't even get your car MOT'D.:mad:

CiniO

todolist wrote: »

A BANANA republic where nothing works.Can't even get your car MOT'D.:mad:

Maybe you can't have your car MOT'd, but we are the only country in the world, where you can have your car NCT'ed. Isn't it great?

corktina

Of course you can't ...we don't have the MoT here....Britain doesn't have a Ministry of Transport either any more I think.

gooner99

I rang bout the wifes car . They gave me a date 6 weeks away.Then I said so thats a free test, which the girl never heard off. After talking to the supervisor, she said give me your number and we'll put you on the cancelation list.low and behold a week later I got a date within the 28 days.

Fast forward a couple of weeks and I rang to book my car in. Straight away he said it'll be 2 months and without me saying a word he said thats too long, give me your number and I'll get you one faster amd they did. Wonder if they have my number on a blacklist.

Guy:Incognito

todolist wrote: »

A BANANA republic where nothing works.Can't even get your car MOT'D.:mad:

Could be worse. Garages could be mot'ing cars and "finding" a few hundred or a couple of grands worth of work to do and doing you a "favour" on the price, you know, cos your a good customer and all. Ah the old infallible MOT.

dharma200

All you do is phone them, you get an appointment.
Simples

wotzgoingon

I don't get why people keep making these threads you can book a NCT 3 months in advance of it running out. You know yourself it will be running out but ah sure I will leave it on the long finger and then when it is suddenly too late, they go make threads on boards giving out, even though they knew months in advance that their NCT will be out at that date.

jhegarty

wotzgoingon wrote: »

I don't get why people keep making these threads you can book a NCT 3 months in advance of it running out. You know yourself it will be running out but ah sure I will leave it on the long finger and then when it is suddenly too late, they go make threads on boards giving out, even though they knew months in advance that their NCT will be out at that date.

Because people expect that booking a month in advance of expiry will be fine.

macplaxton

corktina wrote: »

Britain doesn't have a Ministry of Transport either any more I think.

Careful now with this thinking business!

They haven't used that name for that government department since 1981.

Turtle-TM

wotzgoingon wrote: »

I don't get why people keep making these threads you can book a NCT 3 months in advance of it running out. You know yourself it will be running out but ah sure I will leave it on the long finger and then when it is suddenly too late, they go make threads on boards giving out, even though they knew months in advance that their NCT will be out at that date.

Yes you are correct that you can book your nct 3 months in advance, unfortunately some people have a busy work schedule and need to prioritise other things.

Is it not reasonable to expect that for a test that is required by law to put your car through that you should be able to have a date that suits for the test that is not 3 months past the due date?

If I were to ring them and go on the "priority" list I will get a date within the month however I will only be told about that date within 24hrs of the date becoming available, which is not convenient for me with my work schedule.

Thetruthking

In regards to the law what is the case here? Am I correct in saying even if it is booked but it's expired you are not aloud to have the car on the road? I know if you don't have NCT that you are not covered by most insurance company's

snaps

To me the NCT system looks like it needs revamping. It seems to be broken now and needs a good long look at as in time the back log for bookings will get worse and worse as 10 year old cars need testing once a year.

Surely more NCT test centers need to be opened or even perhaps going 24 hrs in busy spots?

Having to book your car in more than 3 months in advance is ridiculous and no member of the public can be blamed for not thinking that a booking has to be made in this timescale.

Trying to book your car in for a test say with in a month of it expiring would be the normal surely?

Seems its been getting worse for years now and not a thing has been done or suggested to improve the NCT service.

No Pants

Thetruthking wrote: »

Am I correct in saying even if it is booked but it's expired you are not aloud to have the car on the road?

Potential five points and a fine I think. Maybe a court appearance.

corktina

No Pants wrote: »

Potential five points and a fine I think. Maybe a court appearance.

Mandatory court appearance, 5 points on conviction and up to €1500 fine

corktina

Thetruthking wrote: »

In regards to the law what is the case here? Am I correct in saying even if it is booked but it's expired you are not aloud to have the car on the road? I know if you don't have NCT that you are not covered by most insurance company's

That's about it. I'd say you have minimum third party cover to satisfy the RTA but not a hope of them paying out to you if you have an accident

i57dwun4yb1pt8

if you have free time and get a yearly nct 3 months before its due on a 12 year old car , when would you need to go again ?

a year from the new date , or a year from the old date ? their site is not clear .

No Pants

snaps wrote: »

Having to book your car in more than 3 months in advance is ridiculous and no member of the public can be blamed for not thinking that a booking has to be made in this timescale.

I booked mine in March and got an appointment within two weeks or so. NCT wasn't due until June, but since there's no penalty for doing it early, I got it out of the way. I don't know why more people don't do it that way rather than come on here and complain.

Guy:Incognito

DaDumTish wrote: »

if you have free time and get a yearly nct 3 months before its due on a 12 year old car , when would you need to go again ?

a year from the new date , or a year from the old date ? their site is not clear .

The test always runs to the anniversary of registration. So if your car is registered on the 6th of January, your nct will always expire on the 6th of January of whatever year the test is till, regardless of whether you do the test.

snaps

No Pants wrote: »

I booked mine in March and got an appointment within two weeks or so. NCT wasn't due until June, but since there's no penalty for doing it early, I got it out of the way. I don't know why more people don't do it that way rather than come on here and complain.

I completely understand what you are saying, but does the majority of the public know your nct can be done 3 months before it expires??

Its the same with tax/Insurance, You only renew that when it expires and not 3 months before??

Guy:Incognito

snaps wrote: »

I completely understand what you are saying, but does the majority of the public know your nct can be done 3 months before it expires??

The majority of the public seem to know **** all outside their immediate interests. Theres only so much hand holding you can do. All the info to do with the NCT is on the site. Short of ringing everyone and running through all aspects of life,theres not much more can be done, they have to educate themselves about things.

cerastes

Guy:Incognito wrote: »

Could be worse. Garages could be mot'ing cars and "finding" a few hundred or a couple of grands worth of work to do and doing you a "favour" on the price, you know, cos your a good customer and all. Ah the old infallible MOT.

There are other places to get the MOT done over there too, that arent garages.

wotzgoingon wrote: »

I don't get why people keep making these threads you can book a NCT 3 months in advance of it running out. You know yourself it will be running out but ah sure I will leave it on the long finger and then when it is suddenly too late, they go make threads on boards giving out, even though they knew months in advance that their NCT will be out at that date.

Guy:Incognito wrote: »

The majority of the public seem to know **** all outside their immediate interests. Theres only so much hand holding you can do. All the info to do with the NCT is on the site. Short of ringing everyone and running through all aspects of life,theres not much more can be done, they have to educate themselves about things.

NCTS says in their customer charter on their site they will provide the NCT within 4 weeks, which is a reasonable time. It seems fair enough to go by that, if they cant provide them in that time they should be open about it and say you need to book 3 months in advance, which will highlight the problem so they wont be saying that, but really if it wont help fix the problem if everyone starts doing that as it will just advance the problem or make the bottleneck even worse, much easier if NCTS can fob you off and get you to agree to and accept a date outside their own charter, which may cause the person to fall foul of the law?

1. Ensure that the average lead time for an appointment at an individual test centre is less than three weeks and no greater than four weeks. The customer will be provided with a test free of charge where an appointment cannot be offered within a four week period provided that:

I believe on one occasion, I rang just prior to the 3 months and they declined to even deal with me, fair enough I suppose but it should have been just as easy to provide a date.

edit, maybe it should say this
[*]Ensure that the average lead time for an appointment at an individual test centre is less than three weeks monthsand no greater than four weeksmonths. The customer will be provided with a test free of charge where an appointment cannot be offered within a four week month period provided that::(

Thetruthking

corktina wrote: »

Mandatory court appearance, 5 points on conviction and up to €1500 fine

That's what I thought alright

schoolhouse

you can book your test 3 months in advance.
Then you can go in to the site and check for cancellations and if one is available you can change your booking to the new date.
There is no limit to the amount of times that this can be done without penalty.
However once you get to within 5 days of your booking you would have a cancellation charge so you just stick with your final date.

People who seem to have such limited times when they are available to get their cars declared legally roadworthy really need to get prepared early.
Test centres are open seven days a week from early morning until late at night, no excuses.

cerastes

schoolhouse wrote: »

you can book your test 3 months in advance.
Then you can go in to the site and check for cancellations and if one is available you can change your booking to the new date.
There is no limit to the amount of times that this can be done without penalty.
However once you get to within 5 days of your booking you would have a cancellation charge so you just stick with your final date.

People who seem to have such limited times when they are available to get their cars declared legally roadworthy really need to get prepared early.
Test centres are open seven days a week from early morning until late at night, no excuses.

Some people dont have time for that kind of messing about and chopping and changing their schedule, it would be reasonable if NCTS stuck to their charter and could provide dates within a reasonable time.

corktina

I don't bother with all that booking and then looking for a cancellation...I just phone them or email them and ask to be put on the cancellation list. Always got an early appointment within a couple of days..

schoolhouse

I never said that you had to look for cancellation if you had a booking.
I merely advised that it was an option.

If someone has a very limited timeframe in they are willing to accept an appointment, for whatever reasons, they seriously cannot expect to be accommodated at the last minute (or last month) for an appointment at a specific time, at the expense of someone who is more organised.

Why would you leave the test until the last minute when you can avail of a service that gives you a 15 month cert if you pass and time to make repairs if necessary and get retested before the registration anniversary.

Why risk penalty points, fine, and possible insurance premium hike, all for the sake of a little organisation.

The system is far from perfect but there are ways to work it, if you can be bothered to put in a little effort and apply on time.

CiniO

snaps wrote: »

I completely understand what you are saying, but does the majority of the public know your nct can be done 3 months before it expires??

Its the same with tax/Insurance, You only renew that when it expires and not 3 months before??

You can renew tax up to 1 month before it expires.
Most insurance companies allow to renew 30 days before expiration.

Thetruthking

CiniO wrote: »

You can renew tax up to 1 month before it expires.
Most insurance companies allow to renew 30 days before expiration.

in regards to nct dates

look on http://nct.ie/bookings.html

"NCTS can issue your certificate up to 6 MONTHS early for a first time NCT and 3 MONTHS early for subsequent NCT tests"

if it is your first ever nct on the car it can be done 6 months early and all other nct's can be don't 3 months early, for example if your nct is due now on the 6-OCT-14,, you can nct it anytime from 6th-July-14,,, 3 months early andf you will still get until 6-OCT-15 or 16 depending on the age of your car, (once old enough they have to be nct'd every year)

Turtle-TM

Well good on the people who have the time to book their nct 3 months in advance.

My point is, if you can't get a time and date that is convenient then proving you have booked the nct should be enough if you are pulled over or at a checkpoint.

I work weekdays,weekends, both day and nights so finding a convenient time is maybe a little more difficult than someone who works 9-5, however being told on the phone to a) get someone else to bring the car b) go on a cancellation list where you get 24hrs notice is just not acceptable.

I'll be ringing them on Tuesday with a list of dates and times I am available for May, and if they can't fit me in they will be paying for the test

No Pants

Turtle-TM wrote: »

Well good on the people who have the time to book their nct 3 months in advance.

I work weekdays,weekends, both day and nights so finding a convenient time is maybe a little more difficult than someone who works 9-5, however being told on the phone to a) get someone else to bring the car b) go on a cancellation list where you get 24hrs notice is just not acceptable.

If you can find the time to post on here, you can find the time to book your NCT online. :rolleyes:

Dry your eyes and take a bit of personal responsibility for your own life.

Turtle-TM

No Pants wrote: »

If you can find the time to post on here, you can find the time to book your NCT online. :rolleyes:

Dry your eyes and take a bit of personal responsibility for your own life.

I think you'll find my point is that when I went to book online the next available appointment is July.

Some of us can't drop everything with 24 hrs notice to do something that is supposed to be bookable at a time of ones choosing

No Pants

Turtle-TM wrote: »

I think you'll find my point is that when I went to book online the next available appointment is July.

Some of us can't drop everything with 24 hrs notice to do something that is supposed to be bookable at a time of ones choosing

24 hours? You've had three months minimum to get this sorted and you haven't.

Turtle-TM

No Pants wrote: »

24 hours? You've had three months minimum to get this sorted and you haven't.

As has been previously posted from the nct website.


"Ensure that the average lead time for an appointment at an individual test centre is less than three weeks and no greater than four weeks."

So am I to presume now that I'm supposed to make sure I do everything months in advance, rather than expect that as per their "customer charter" I will get the required test within a month?

Honestly, the absolute self righteousness in this particular board is mind blowing. You'd swear everyone was the best driver in Ireland, obeyed every rule of the road, and had every single piece of documentation managed 8 years in advance.

Cop yourself on, and if you can't say add something constructive to the discussion go and take a piece of paper and a crayon and sit in the corner.

No Pants

Turtle-TM wrote: »

Cop yourself on, and if you can't say add something constructive to the discussion go and take a piece of paper and a crayon and sit in the corner.

Grand. You do what you like. The consequences of not having an NCT on a car driven on a public road will be borne by you, no one else.

Turtle-TM

Again, if there's nothing constructive you can add then off to the children's corner with you while the grown ups talk.

dar83

I think the point most people are making here is that if you, or someone like you has such an important schedule that cannot be predicted or altered quickly, then the option of booking your NCT three months on advance is available to you.

No offence, but is seems like the three month in advance option is made exactly for people like you, who need to be able to have the test on a specific day and time that they know they will be free. The option is there so you should use it, you may have been unaware of it until now, but I would suggest using it from next year (or two) onwards. It'll save you a lot of this headache.

We all understand the backlog is crap, but you're not 100% free of blame either as you've said you have a test booked for Sunday yet will be cancelling it because your schedule has changed... You should think about the person who only had free time at your centre in that time slot who had to book a test at an inconvenient time for them because you took it and now won't use it.

No Pants

Turtle-TM wrote: »

Again, if there's nothing constructive you can add then off to the children's corner with you while the grown ups talk.

You mean the type of grown ups who can manage their lives on their own, or the ones who can't understand a process clearly documented on a website, manage to book a simple test in the 24-hour to 3 month range, then receive advice and still spit the dummy and cry "Waaahhhh!" rather than simply say thanks and make the necessary arrangements?

I'll stick with the former defined group, thanks. :cool:

gooner99

Thetruthking wrote: »

in regards to nct dates

look on http://nct.ie/bookings.html

"NCTS can issue your certificate up to 6 MONTHS early for a first time NCT and 3 MONTHS early for subsequent NCT tests"

if it is your first ever nct on the car it can be done 6 months early and all other nct's can be don't 3 months early, for example if your nct is due now on the 6-OCT-14,, you can nct it anytime from 6th-July-14,,, 3 months early andf you will still get until 6-OCT-15 or 16 depending on the age of your car, (once old enough they have to be nct'd every year)

Also the free test rule also applies to early booking, but the booking call must be made within the 3 months. Using the above example if you were to ring on the 5th of July and they could only offer you a test that was more than a month away the rule would not apply,as technically you should not be booking.

i57dwun4yb1pt8

Guy:Incognito wrote: »

The test always runs to the anniversary of registration. So if your car is registered on the 6th of January, your nct will always expire on the 6th of January of whatever year the test is till, regardless of whether you do the test.

bear with me on this ......

so test due august 2014

i do it say june 2014

test is due again = august 2015 ?

or june 2015 ?

corktina

august 2015

slimjimmc

DaDumTish wrote: »

if you have free time and get a yearly nct 3 months before its due on a 12 year old car , when would you need to go again ?

a year from the new date , or a year from the old date ? their site is not clear .

DaDumTish wrote: »

bear with me on this ......

so test due august 2014

i do it say june 2014

test is due again = august 2015 ?

or june 2015 ?

August 2015

http://www.ncts.ie/q4.html

PLEASE NOTE: NCTS can issue your certificate up to six months early for a first time NCT and three months early for subsequent NCT tests. For example, a car was first registered on the 5th June 2010. The car was due for its NCT on the 5th June 2014, the car is brought for its NCT on the 20th January 2014 and it passes. An NCT Certificate is received with an expiry date of 4th June 2016

cerastes

dar83 wrote: »

I think the point most people are making here is that if you, or someone like you has such an important schedule that cannot be predicted or altered quickly, then the option of booking your NCT three months on advance is available to you.

No offence, but is seems like the three month in advance option is made exactly for people like you, who need to be able to have the test on a specific day and time that they know they will be free. The option is there so you should use it, you may have been unaware of it until now, but I would suggest using it from next year (or two) onwards. It'll save you a lot of this headache.

We all understand the backlog is crap, but you're not 100% free of blame either as you've said you have a test booked for Sunday yet will be cancelling it because your schedule has changed... You should think about the person who only had free time at your centre in that time slot who had to book a test at an inconvenient time for them because you took it and now won't use it.

NCTS should just say, you absolutely need to book 3 months in advance to get a date by your nct expiry. That they cant provide it in the 4 weeks they claim to provide it in isn't anyone else s fault.

No Pants wrote: »

You mean the type of grown ups who can manage their lives on their own, or the ones who can't understand a process clearly documented on a website, manage to book a simple test in the 24-hour to 3 month range, then receive advice and still spit the dummy and cry "Waaahhhh!" rather than simply say thanks and make the necessary arrangements?

I'll stick with the former defined group, thanks. :cool:

But their website doesnt say you need to book 3-6 months early, I tried to book just over 3 months early before and they refused to deal with me, it says they will provide one withing 4 weeks, they at least are insinuating that, if they cant then they should just be open about it, remove that bit and put the truth in, I dont see how it will improve the problem, as people will advance their bookings and the backlog will meet the bottleneck then, so dates still wont be available for re test, they dont seem to have the capacity for what is mostly yeary testing.
Everyone I know and from reading here not just people I have spoken to either cannot get a test within 4 weeks, most have been offered one months later, I was just offered one in 2 months until I brought up the free test, even then I haven't been given a booking, so how does the test date availability they cant see now, but have told me will be inside 4 weeks magically appear?

rameire

Turtle-TM wrote: »

I think you'll find my point is that when I went to book online the next available appointment is July.

Some of us can't drop everything with 24 hrs notice to do something that is supposed to be bookable at a time of ones choosing

for my two cars I have recently got the NCT,
both times I rang up for the cancellation list,
both times I received the notification within a week of my contact with them and
both times I was given a 10 day lead into the NCT date.

rameire

I suggest some of the people here to check your passports.
otherwise we will be seeing you elsewhere on boards complaining about not being able to get a passport before you are flying out the next day.

cerastes

rameire wrote: »

I suggest some of the people here to check your passports.
otherwise we will be seeing you elsewhere on boards complaining about not being able to get a passport before you are flying out the next day.

But NCTS can't provide a test within the time they claim they will, skirt around that by offering dates well outside the claimed timeframe, instead of saying, you absolutely need to ring 3 months in advance.

Not one person Ive spoken to and others Ive read about has gotten the test within the 4 weeks without pressing for it by stating it is free in such a case, they even lied to me about the free test as I booked a relatives test.

The passport office isnt saying they will provide passports the next day???
I think they even have a timeframe for it now.

So there's a bit of a difference,
I dont mind booking months in advance if thats essential, but if everyone starts doing that, how does that reduce the backlog bottleneck?
and thats why NCTS cant/wont be honest about it, as it wont help/will likely worsen their situation, in the meantime the owner carries the can and pays the price for NCTS shortcomings/inability to have the right capacity. Its virtually every year for most cars.
How hard can it be to work out the required capacity, they have all the figures, the number of cars isnt changing that much, the number of days,hours in a year is fixed.