Computer glitches and illness delay Kent tests
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• by Melanie Hammond
Computer problems and staff illness have combined to play havoc with annual test bookings in Kent.
At Gillingham Testing Station there is a three-month wait, according to one operator who spoke to staff there.
Another Milton Keynesbased subcontractor, who works for a large rental company, is still waiting for one of his vehicles to undergo a first-time test, even though he applied to the Vehicle Inspectorate at Swansea in early April.
'My appointment came through for 24 June at Gillingham but we didn't receive notification from Swansea until two days after the test date,' he says.
We managed to get an earlier appointment at Hastings but when the driver arrived he found that there were five vehicles booked in for Sam and only three testers available.
And when they tried to look at the vehicle details on the computer, they could not bring any information up."
But he does not blame the staff. "It is obviously a problem with the new computer system. It is causing real problems and even the staff at the testing stations are fed up with it" A Vehicle Inspectorate spokesman denies there are serious problems with the new booking system but admits that there was a "computer glitch" that day. 'Staff always tend to blame things on computers," he says, but the main problem has been at Gillingham where two testers have been taken ill unexpectedly.
"We are borrowing staff from other Kent stations to cope with the build-up.'
Urgent tests are taking priority with staff working overtime to clear the backlog, says the spokesman. Saturday bookings are also being taken in Kent but at a surcharge of £19.58 for a tractor and £12.30 for a trailer.