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V5C Shenanigans

st13phil

Hardcore MB Enthusiast
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Nov 6, 2007
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13,646
Location
North Oxfordshire
Car
His - Denim Blue A220 AMG Line Premium / Hers - Obsidian Black R172 SLK55
When I bought by A-Class recently, the salesman asked me to fill out my name and address details on a form so that they could register the car in my name. For reasons that escape me, they then managed to register the car with my first name misspelled (two L's in Philip, instead of one) and my middle name completely missing :rolleyes:

So, like the compliant citizen I am, I complete Section 3 of the V5C with my name both correctly spelled and complete, and mail it off to DVLA. Why you can't do this online baffles me, but hey-ho, that's the way it is, and a couple of weeks later a new V5C arrives on the doormat. My middle name is now present and correct, but my first name still has the spelling error that the dealer had made :wallbash:

I follow the enquiries route on the DVLA website, and after selecting the option "A mistake on the Registration Certificate (V5C)", I then selected "An application I have already made to correct the errors on the Registration Certificate V5C less than 4 weeks ago" as that was true. After filling in my personal details and submitting the form, I was somewhat surprised to be presented with a "Case Reference Number" without having had the opportunity to enter what the problem was. This was shortly followed by a "ping" as an automated email response hit my inbox containing the less than helpful response "As your application was made less than 4 weeks ago, it is not possible for me to give you an update on the progress. Please allow a little longer before making further enquiries to ensure that we are able to give you an accurate update on the progress of your application". :mad:

Fortunately it also included a link to allow me to contact them again, so I gave them chapter and verse about what the problem was, how I'd carried out my part of the bargain to resolve it, and how they'd failed in their actions. Three days later I get an email response from a person who tells me, "If your vehicle details are registered incorrectly on your V5C you will need to highlight the error, fill in the changes on the change my vehicle details on section 3, then send the V5C and any additional documentation to..." :wallbash::wallbash::wallbash:

I did think about going down the formal complaint route purely as an act of retribution and to highlight the stupidity of asking me to do what I'd already done again, but instead decided upon phoning them and asking nicely if someone could help me escape this Kafkaesque bureaucratic loop? Wonder of wonders, after a short conversation with a very cheerful lady at DVLA, she has corrected the spelling error, and has initiated the process to get yet another V5C - with my name both complete and correctly spelled - sent to me. "When you receive it, please destroy the one you have now that's incorrect," she said.

So, a pat on the bat for the lovely Christine who helped me today, and a brickbat for the unimaginative "computer says no" drone who responded to me by email yesterday.

Just my bike's V5C to sort out now, which a different dealer managed to screw up in a different way :rolleyes:
 
I find the phone staff (just like the local office staff before they got rid) to be very good, so good in fact it makes me forget they’re a government agency.

I do like a chuckle at the slight variations in names, I once worked with a bloke called Matthew who was known as “Mat” and would go mental if someone had spelt his name “Matt”, this led to months of piss taking - “Matt with the 2 T’s” was my own favourite - and the more wound up he got the funnier it was!
 
So, a pat on the bat for the lovely Christine who helped me today, and a brickbat for the unimaginative "computer says no" drone who responded to me by email yesterday.

There are a lot of very poorly implemented systems out there with procedural traps in them.

My observation is that it's generally getting worse and not better. My beef is my bank - fraud detection which is AFAICT spurious with a followup procedure that cascades the initial problem.

It's great when you can get hold of somebody real who breaks the impasse. They do still exist in many organisations .... if only you can get through to them.
 
'Contact us' says the websites. So, I make the enquiries as to the products they have to sell and ballpark prices. And get zero replies. Is Britain open for business? Is there the remotest chance of getting a project off the ground with the apathy that is British business?
 
My "computer say no" moment came some years ago while trying to contact my local tax office to pay my tax bill. I gave them a call and to ID me they asked for various pieces of info which I gave them, I was then told that the info I gave them didn't match the info they had. I explained that the info I gave them was correct and that the info they held was wrong but they wouldn't change it because they couldn't id me as I gave the wrong answers. They wouldn't even tell me which piece of info was wrong so I could even try and sort it. After several months of escalating the problem higher and higher I eventually got hold of someone who saw sense and changed my dob to the correct one and I could finally pay my tax bill.
 
^^ I'm currently locked out of Gateway as the 'access code' they text to me doesn't arrive. They (HMRC) wash their hands of all responsibility saying (via e-mail) my mobile provider or me have blocked the sender's number. That's going to take a phone call to sort out....
 
I occasionally get calls from utility providers or my bank, to "see if I'm on the best account" ie., to sell me stuff.

Hello, I'd like to speak to Mr. Stratman? Ripoff bank here.

Speaking.

We need you to answer some security questions to prove who you are.

I need you to answer some security questions to prove who you are. How many standing orders do I have?

I can't give that information because of data protection.

Then we have nothing further to discuss. Good day.
 
My "computer say no" moment came some years ago while trying to contact my local tax office to pay my tax bill. I gave them a call and to ID me they asked for various pieces of info which I gave them, I was then told that the info I gave them didn't match the info they had. I explained that the info I gave them was correct and that the info they held was wrong but they wouldn't change it because they couldn't id me as I gave the wrong answers. They wouldn't even tell me which piece of info was wrong so I could even try and sort it. After several months of escalating the problem higher and higher I eventually got hold of someone who saw sense and changed my dob to the correct one and I could finally pay my tax bill.


You could have just denied it was your tax bill...
 
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I have to say, I’m not sure I would have bothered with the hassle for the sake of one letter of the keeper’s name being incorrect!

I once received a log book for the CLK I had at the time, they had it down registered with a fifty four litre engine :)

They sent me a new V5C about two years later, asking me to destroy the old one, presumably someone else spotted the mistake and contacted them.

And I kept both, just for fun :D
 
I have to say, I’m not sure I would have bothered with the hassle for the sake of one letter of the keeper’s name being incorrect!

I once received a log book for the CLK I had at the time, they had it down registered with a fifty four litre engine :)

They sent me a new V5C about two years later, asking me to destroy the old one, presumably someone else spotted the mistake and contacted them.

And I kept both, just for fun :D
54 litres .... what was it ... a Mosquito ?
 
I recently put a different set of vanity plates (that were on a retention certificate in my drawer) onto a car I have owned for years, whilst wanting to retain the ones that were currently on there. The online system, as good as it is, won't let you do this. When you start by retaining the current reg, the system defaults the car back to the original registration. This means that you then have to wait for a new logbook with the original reg to be issued before you can transfer the plate that you wanted to apply. It's only a matter of days for the interim logbook to arrive, but this runs the potential of having to make up a new set of plates for those few days along with insurance admin fees.

A great option when retaining plates would be to be able to choose to revert to the original reg or apply a new reg straight away.
 
I recently put a different set of vanity plates (that were on a retention certificate in my drawer) onto a car I have owned for years, whilst wanting to retain the ones that were currently on there. The online system, as good as it is, won't let you do this. When you start by retaining the current reg, the system defaults the car back to the original registration. This means that you then have to wait for a new logbook with the original reg to be issued before you can transfer the plate that you wanted to apply. It's only a matter of days for the interim logbook to arrive, but this runs the potential of having to make up a new set of plates for those few days along with insurance admin fees.

A great option when retaining plates would be to be able to choose to revert to the original reg or apply a new reg straight away.
Just keep the car safely off the road for those few days ....
 
DVLA are pretty chilled on the phone... Had 4 V5s once till they got my name correct. No clue how.

Sent from my Mi A2 using Tapatalk
 
Daughter no.2 called the HMRC help line to today.

Was asked various questions via the automated voice system. At the end of the Q&A session with the computer, there came the message 'We are very busy today. We are sorry we were not able to take your call. Goodbye.' and the computer hung-up.

After a couple of failed attempts, I told her to just write a letter and send it to HMRC in the post, like we would do in the olden days. Takes a bit longer, but things do get resolved this way.
 

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