Booking an MoT is almost impossible
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THERE IS A ludicrous situation concerning MoT appointments in this area. You cannot obtain an appointment anywhere at short notice, i.e two weeks.
I have May, June and July appointments confirmed, mainly between Vosa stations and authorised testing facilities (ATFs), and went online to book August appointments on Friday 25 May and the state-of-the-art web site was down again.
We maintain an awful amount of horse boxes that require an MoT. I tried local Vosa stations as well as ATFs in Buckingham, Daventry and Evesham, and the only appointment was in Leicester. By the time I have travelled to Leicester, plus fuel and technician, it makes for a very expensive MoT. How many more service and MoT providers in this area have the same problem? At one Vosa station on a Friday they had no testers at all, as they were out at ATFs – how can that be?
Vosa keeps on about using ATFs, and there is a possibility in the future of one in this area, but that does not help the present situation. We are all aware of the economic climate, but how are commercial garages to offer and provide a service to the transport industry if the governing body is unable to provide us with an adequate service?
I have been an independent garage owner for over 35 years and it has never been harder than it is at the moment to book a simple MoT test for commercial vehicles.
Peter Haines Peter Haines Engineers Banbury, Oxfordshire