NDLS centres

thelad95 · 20-01-2015 06:50PM #1

Has anyone had to visit these? They are an absolute nightmare, only ever one member of staff on duty, they get picky over stupid little details in application forms and the staff are extremely unpleasant.

I know the old licences were incredibly easy to forge and county council offices weren't the right place to apply for a licence but these centres are a joke.

Aeternum · 20-01-2015 06:52PM

I got lucky when I needed to go - arrived in with no appointment to TWO members of staff and only one person ahead of me waiting to be seen. Sheer luck. Every time I've gone past it since it's been absolutely packed.

namloc1980 · 20-01-2015 06:56PM

Only ever 1 member of staff? In my local one when I went, there were around 7 staff. And how were they picky?

Señor Fancy Pants · 20-01-2015 06:57PM

Maybe they just don't like you.

My local one is great.

super_furry · 20-01-2015 06:57PM

Went to the one in Leopardstown with my appointment. Was in and out in five minutes and assisted by a really friendly and helpful woman. Much better than the old days of sitting waiting for hours upon hours surrounded by dozens of annoyed people.

Sciprio · 20-01-2015 07:17PM

I just walked into the one in cork city without an appointment and in less then 30 seconds i was called up and all done in fifteen minutes. Also the centre was closer to me now instead of going out near the county hall before so it's much handier for me.

Toots · 20-01-2015 07:20PM

super_furry wrote: »

Went to the one in Leopardstown with my appointment. Was in and out in five minutes and assisted by a really friendly and helpful woman. Much better than the old days of sitting waiting for hours upon hours surrounded by dozens of annoyed people.

Same here! I went in expecting to be queuing for ages like you would have been in the tax office. Hubby had given me a lift up, so I said to him to go on home and I'd ring him when I was finished, he wasn't even halfway home when I rang him and told him it was all done. I was very impressed!

Dr. Mantis Toboggan · 20-01-2015 07:23PM

I think the key is to go in with all the relevant documents that you need. It's not that really hard. Then they won't be as 'picky.'

Simple.

godtabh · 20-01-2015 07:34PM

super_furry wrote: »

Went to the one in Leopardstown with my appointment. Was in and out in five minutes and assisted by a really friendly and helpful woman. Much better than the old days of sitting waiting for hours upon hours surrounded by dozens of annoyed people.

Same as me on New Years Eve. In and out in 5 mins.

Stop complaining, book an appointment and fill out the forms correctly

mynamejeff · 20-01-2015 07:47PM

if you filled out your form properly you wouldn't have that problem op

think how frustrating it must be to deal with people all day who cant fill out a simple two or three page form !! or make a appointment as the system provides for.

As it seems with a lot of people here they had a positive experience in licence office . i was met by on staff member in the office who dealt with me in a professional an polite manner quickly and helpfully.

As i think anyone who deals with people can attest to about 50 % of people you meet are at least idiots or worse

Señor Fancy Pants · 20-01-2015 07:49PM

I know someone who works in one, nicest fcuking bastard you could ever meet! Sound she is....mad as a box of frogs too.

thelad95 · 20-01-2015 08:05PM

Ok, this is my gripe. Obviously, not every staff member who works in these centres is rude and it's good to hear others haven't had as bad an experience as I have. I had all the necessary documentation, and I had an appointment booked at 4pm. When I walked in at around 3:50, there was nobody else waiting and due to the sign on the wall saying 'Please wait until you are called to the window', so I sat down, presuming the man behind the counter was busy as he was doing something on his computer. After a few minutes, he looked out at me and said 'are you going to come in or just sit there all day?' I pointed out that there were signs on the wall saying to wait until you were called. He sighed and said 'What do you want?'

Now as a poster above said, if people can't fill in a simple form, I would find it frustrating as well. However, the issues he had were as follows:
1. My place of birth was down as the UK instead of England.
2. One of the numbers on my date of birth was slightly out of the box

As a result, he asked me to fill out a new form again and come back again. I argued with him and eventually, he allowed me to fill out the form in front of him. Eventually, everything was ok'd and sent off.

His attitude just left a bad taste in the mouth to be honest.

I accompanied a friend on another occasion. There was a queue of about ten people, with three booths in the centre but there was only one staff member on duty.

The centres seem to be run on a shoe-string and the process of applying for a driving licence has just become overly bureaucratic.

runinfinity · 20-01-2015 09:37PM

Well who's a moaning Michael(s) today.

Chill the beans lads, people in an office doing their job. Be grand.

ytpe2r5bxkn0c1 · 20-01-2015 10:34PM

I think you need to chill. I have never had, nor heard of, anything but positive experience of them.

Your form was incorrect. You sat waiting in an empty room? I'd say the chap was exasperated!

ProudDUB · 21-01-2015 01:47AM

I've been to two of them (Santry and City West) and had nothing but positive experiences in both of them. The staff were friendly and efficient in both of them.

I did find the curtains in them vaguely annoying. I understand the need to protect peoples privacy, if sensitive personal data is being discussed. But I wasn't asked anything overly personal, or anything that I'd be all that bothered if someone overheard me. You don't have them in Social Welfare offices or banks & you'd think privacy would be needed far more there, than it would be in an NDLS centre, no? Weird !

Peregrine · 21-01-2015 01:57AM

I went to the one in Santry on the first week the whole process switched to NDLS.

I had to wait for 4 hours

I'm sure it's not like that now..

Tesco Massacre · 21-01-2015 09:14PM

I was at the one in Santry the other day without an appointment and it said I'd have to wait 2hrs. However, as quite a few people weren't showing up for their appointed time I was seen after an hour.

Pretty painless all-in-all.

RobertKK · 21-01-2015 09:38PM

Last year went to the one in Kilkenny. Had an appointment, went in lots of people there, just a few minutes early.
Appointment was on time, it felt like skipping the queue, was in out before the ones who had been waiting and no appointment.

So make an appointment, it saves a lot of time. The person whom I dealt with was very nice too.

The curtains are there for the photographs.

cookie.monster · 25-01-2015 12:21PM

i was in to renew my licence last sat but as i have a truck licence the polite girl highlighted that i need to get a medical exam so went off and got this done during the week, went in friday after work and was dealt with by a sound chap and we were only about a second away from the form uploading on there servers when the system crashed nationwide, he did everything he could and in the end just refunded me and gave me back all my documents and said come back next week when hopefully it will be back up and running again.
like you OP i heard all he stories but my experience was a good experience with the NDLS apart from there servers crashing

ebbsy · 25-01-2015 12:23PM

I think the birds that work in my one have cracking bods - result !

Meangadh · 25-01-2015 12:46PM

Sorry to hear you had a bad experience OP but like most others here I thought it was great, so convenient and the fella that did mine was sound out.

I hadn't even made an appointment (I didn't even know I was supposed to till I got there) but there was nobody else there anyway so I was in and out in less than 10 minutes. Card came in the post in about a week. Great service. And one thing I really liked about it was no need anymore to use those flipping photo booths where you need €6 in change and have to find one in your local supermarket/shopping centre.

Thumbs up from me for the whole thing really!

Daith · 25-01-2015 12:50PM

Only annoying thing is that there is none in Dublin city centre.

Capt'n Midnight · 25-01-2015 12:53PM

They should really have one in Dublin City centre, you know for all the people who don't have driving licenses because it's a long trek otherwise.

cookie.monster · 25-01-2015 10:06PM

would ya go way outta that dublin has more public transport than anywhere else in the country, some people elsewhere have to drive from one side of the county to the other to find a centre and the poor dubs whinge about driving across the city, get a grip will ye

Peregrine · 25-01-2015 10:28PM

Capt'n Midnight wrote: »

They should really have one in Dublin City centre, you know for all the people who don't have driving licenses because it's a long trek otherwise.

To be fair, the one in the Omni is accessible enough. 1, 16, 33, 41 etc. all get there from the city centre in 20-25 mins.

The ones in Saggart and Leopardstown are all a bit out of the way alright, even with the Luas.

AndonHandon · 25-01-2015 10:38PM

Does anyone know if I will need the medical certificate filled out by an optometrist to renew my provisional licence which states that I need glasses when driving?

cookie.monster · 26-01-2015 07:32PM

AndonHandon wrote: »

Does anyone know if I will need the medical certificate filled out by an optometrist to renew my provisional licence which states that I need glasses when driving?

get it anyway it will save ya having to go away again if they look for it

Vologda69 · 27-01-2015 11:34PM

AndonHandon wrote: »

Does anyone know if I will need the medical certificate filled out by an optometrist to renew my provisional licence which states that I need glasses when driving?

The answer is no. Eyesight report is only required whrn applying for a first time permit, a non EU national exchanging a licence, or where a person who previously wore glasses (01 notation on the licence) now says they don't need glasses.

AndonHandon · 28-01-2015 12:17AM

Turns out I have to do the theory test again as my provisional was too old. Oops!

delw · 28-01-2015 12:24AM

Nim wrote: »

To be fair, the one in the Omni is accessible enough. 1, 16, 33, 41 etc. all get there from the city centre in 20-25 mins.

The ones in Saggart and Leopardstown are all a bit out of the way alright, even with the Luas.

Also one in Tesco clarehall, 15,27,42,43 leave you very close

NachoBusiness · 28-01-2015 02:40AM

Lost my licence recently and made an appointment to apply for another one. They said I needed a passport or driver's licence but as I don't drive and haven't needed a passport since I was a teenager, I have neither.

So, they gave me a form which needs to be signed by someone official that knows me for over two years. My GP would have been perfect but he upped sticks for pastures new (Canada) a few months back and so that leaves the Guards, solicitor or a bank manager. No Guard knows me, nor solicitor either and my bank manager refused to sign the form as he said he couldn't say that he recognized me (been going to that branch weekly for around twenty years).

So I thought feck it, I'll apply for a passport but guess what they wanted. Yup, Photo ID.

NDLS centres

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