Nct, will I get refund?

Slanty

Ok, owner of a well looked after c class. Went for Nct 2 weeks ago and failed on missing stud and lights out of line on both sides. Was surprised at this as had aligned the lights just previously to the test.

So off I went thinking the lights may have moved on the way up and that a slight adjustment was needed. Upon further inspection the lights are aligned perfect and even when checked on another machine all seems well within spec so left the lights alone.

Booked the re-test and it passed straight away. I'm looking to get a refund for my retest, has this hsppened to anybody before?

mgbgt1978

You won't get anything.
They will simply claim that you got the lights realigned, regardless of what you say.
You cannot prove otherwise, therefore they are within their rights to refuse.
You could have argued with them at the 1st failure and asked them to test the lights on a different lane.....but even then they would probably have refused you, unless you had a receipt from somewhere showing you had the lights checked on that day.


edit; with the current situation....massive backlog in general, and people (rightfully) requesting Free Tests, I'd say any feelings of goodwill within the NCT are non-existent.

Slanty

Even with 2 letters stating time, dates and machine readings from the garages?

mgbgt1978

Doesn't matter I'm afraid. Once you left the NCT Centre on the day of the failure you tacitly accepted the failure.
As far as they are now concerned when they originally tested your car the headlamp alignment was faulty.

They can argue that the lights 'became misaligned' on your way to the centre, were failed and now you have had them re-aligned to pass.
Unfortunately you cannot argue now with this train of thought.

As I said your only hope was to insist on a re-check on the original day.

Renegade Mechanic

Failing on lights is happening a lot. Three times now Ive had cars fail despite focusing them with a machine thats calibrated every year.

I've accepted that all you can do is wait and put them through again for the pass. Literally nothing you can do about it. :mad:

Del2005

Renegade Mechanic wrote: »

Failing on lights is happening a lot. Three times now Ive had cars fail despite focusing them with a machine thats calibrated every year.

I've never checked my lights on a machine and they always pass, you might need to check your calibration.

Renegade Mechanic

Del2005 wrote: »

I've never checked my lights on a machine and they always pass, you might need to check your calibration.

I've put my machine against others jusr to see and it was perfect.

The car would fail. I would leave it alone and return it, theyd use the machine amd hey presto, a pass. I held my tongue for a while but on the third time I took issue, asking why it passed when I deliberately refused to touch the car to prove a point. If they realised how bad it was making me look to my customers. Not loudly, or in front of everyone, just a quiet chat off to the side.

I got a big, ignorant "If you've a complaint, fill out a form". Which I didn't, for my own reasons.