You and me against the world, Kid...

I've found myself embroiled in something of a battle.

It started with a driving test. During that test, my pupil was driving along a road that split into two lanes, one of which went towards the Mersey Tunnel, the other, towards Birkenhead. The examiner should have told her which way to go in good time, but for some reason, failed to do so. Eventually, my pupil asked him which way she should go. Instead of telling her, the examiner responded by asking her if she'd ever gone through the tunnel on a driving lesson. I was there. I was sat in the back of the car, watching it all happen, and to me, his tone was aggressive and badgering. It felt to me like he'd been caught napping, and had responded by pushing the blame away from himself, and onto my pupil. At any rate, her standard of driving deteriorated markedly after this incident, and she picked up both a serious fault, and too many "minor" faults.

At the end of the test, after telling her she hadn't passed, the Examiner consoled her and told her she needed to be more confident. After he'd left the vehicle, I took her home, and while driving back, we discussed the incident. My pupil was unhappy about it, and felt that his actions had badly knocked her confidence.

So I decided to contact the DVSA to ask for a retest, and to ensure that she didn't get the same examiner next time. I composed an email, explaining what I'd seen, and asking them to investigate. Technically, an appeal on the grounds that the test was incorrectly conducted should be done through a magistrates court, but generally, if a complaint is made to them and they find something didn't go right, they will sort out a free retest without the rigmarole of going through the courts.

Appealing is not something I did lightly. If I put a complaint in against a particular individual, I then have to meet that same individual in the course of my job on a fairly frequent basis. And this particular examiner is generally ok. We get on well as a rule. My sitting in on frequent tests is a standing joke between us.

Yet I'd seen this happen, and to me, it clearly breached the guidelines. Those guidelines state this:

Examiners should ensure their instructions are absolutely clear. Candidates must not be left in any doubt about the route to be taken. Directions should be given in good time, especially where marking of traffic lanes indicate an option. At complex junctions and gyratory systems, a request simply to turn right or left may not be enough to indicate the route clearly.

Candidates should not be given any grounds to complain of being flustered or uncertain. If you are aware a candidate has dyslexia or dyspraxia you should tactfully establish if it affects their driving and if any adjustments are necessary. This may include confirming directions by pointing or using hand signals.

https://www.gov.uk/guidance/guidance-for-driving-examiners-carrying-out-driving-tests-dt1/01-the-practical-driving-test-and-extended-test-for-cars

My pupil had to ask for directions, so I thought it would be straightforward. The DVSA would read my mail, speak to both the examiner and my pupil to establish what had happened, offer her a retest and an assurance that she would be given a different examiner, and presumably give the examiner extra training to ensure that a future lapse of attention was dealt with differently.

Off went my email, and I quickly got an automated confirmatory mail through telling me that in order to deal with my enquiry, they would need a couple of bits of information, driving license number and test reference number. I'd forgotten about this, so I contacted my pupil through facebook, asking for these details, and when she'd sent them to me, I added them as a further email.

Time passed. Nothing happened. More time passed. Nothing continued to happen. After about 9 days, I phoned them. The customer service person I spoke to asked me when I sent the email. I told her, and she informed me that I would have to wait for 10 working days. I had to call back in another 3 or 4 days. I explained that I was concerned that my pupil had not been contacted but the person on the phone insisted.

Well, OK then.

So I called again a few days later. I spoke I think to the same person. Once again, she asked me when I sent the mail, and after establishing that ten working days had passed, she put me on hold while she made some enquiries. After some minutes she was back, and told me that the details I had provided were wrong, and that the DVSA had sent out an email to me telling me this a couple of days after I sent my mail. I had my PC in front of me, and I looked, both in my main email account, and in my spam/trash folders. There was no mail from them on or around the date she claimed one had been sent. She advised me to resend my mail with the correct details.

Once again, I contacted my pupil, and after carefully checking, she realised that she'd got one digit of the reference number wrong. I sent a new email off, but now I made a mistake. Instead of sending her license details, and the now amended test reference, I accidentally sent the reference number twice.

Once more I waited, and as the days stretched out, I wondered what on earth to do. As the ten working day limit for the new mail approached, I had a look at the mails I had sent, and at this point realised that I'd put in the wrong details in. I sent an addendum with the corrected information.

This time, the response was pretty swift. The next day, I got a mail back telling me that the DVSA had spoken to the examiner, and had decided after listening carefully to what he had to say that we had no grounds for appeal. It also said the following:

We received your email on 7 October however, [my pupil's]’ driving test reference number was incorrect. We requested this information on 18 October and we received it on 20 October. We have no record of any further emails. We have 10 working days to reply to enquiries and complaints; today is the tenth day.


This runs contrary to the customer service lady's assertion that a mail was sent  informing me of my error a couple of days after my original mail.

So here's an uncharitable view of what's happened.

I've sent in a complaint, and despite being an experienced and competent instructor, who's sat in on many tests, I am being seen as a troublemaking crank. For whatever reason, the email that should have been sent informing me of the incorrect details was never sent, and this was compounded by my being fobbed off with "come back after ten days" when I phoned them, instead of them telling me that the details were incorrect. Then they gave factually unverifiable information to me about an email being sent when I phoned for a second time. After  a further error from me, they have once again failed to inform me that the details are incorrect, and nobody has taken the time to read through both emails and combine both correct details. Then, after most of the 10 working day response time, I have added the correct details, they've rushed through a judgement so that they could squeeze off a response within the target time limit. Their investigation did not include actually getting my pupils side of the story.

I've mailed a response explaining that I disagree, and that they really should take the time to speak to my pupil before coming to a decision.

And that's where we're up to.

driving lessons in North Wirral? learn to drive in Hoylake? driving instructor in Birkenhead?