- Joined
- Nov 6, 2007
- Messages
- 12,859
- 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 
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
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".
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..."
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
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
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".
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..."
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
