Bureaucrats

Everything has been quiet on the build front - but behind the scenes its been fun and games with VOSA.

The chronology goes something like this:

Note - at every step the test reference is shared with VOSA which has details on the type of test, its current status etc.

21st March	- IVA Test #1 at Gillingham   Failed with 7 items to correct
26th April	- IVA re-test at Gillingham   Failed with 1 item - emissions to correct
30th April	- Rang VOSA contact centre and enquired around moving the car back to the factory and taking the outstanding emissions test local to Nottingham - they confirmed this would be ok (*1) - Rang & Mailed GBS to check if they were ok to take the car; adjust the ECU/Emissions and take it throughthe test in Nottingham - they confirmed this would be ok.
2nd May	- Now decided to drive the car up to Nottingham so... - Rang the Insurance company to check my cover - I was good until Monday 6th - Rang VOSA again to check it would be ok to move the car and take the remaining test item at Nottingham, they said it would be ok, but could not contact Nottingham who were all on courses. - Rang GBS, they contacted Nottingham VOSA direct who agreed in principle the remainder of the test could be taken there.
3rd May	- Took the car back to GBS in Nottingham
7th May	- Rang VOSA contact centre to request the paperwork is moved to Nottingham - Gillingham test centre called me back to explain Amateur builds cannot be transferred - Rang VOSA contact centre and escalated to the team lead who agreed to investigate - VOSA contact centre team lead rang me back and confirmed the advice they gave me on 29th April & 2nd May was wrong - amateur tests could not be transferred. - We discussed the option of a full re-test at Nottingham & provided I paid I was told that would be ok, The team lead also agreed to simply transfer my existing application to Nottingham to avoid a lengthy wait for re-processing (*2).
15th May	10:52 - Rang VOSA contact centre to request the application for a full re-test was moved to Nottingham as per their offer on 7th May. They confirmed this was ok & Gillingham would call back in a 'couple of minutes' 13:00 - Rang VOSA contact centre, since I received no call from Gilingham. The contact centre confirmed they would ask again and send Gillingham an email. 13:10 - Gillingham test centre called me and said a new application form would be required, they would not be able to transfer theirs to Nottingham. 13:30 - Rang VOSA contact centre team lead who confirmed he would investigate and get back to me. 16:00 - Nottingham test centre called me to indicate they could not accept a transferred application and the best route would probably be a re-application direct from GBS. 16:40 - Rang VOSA contact centre team lead; He confirmed the application could not be transferred & I would have to re-apply (*3). He apologised for the conflicting information supplied & Invited me to submit a complaint via the VOSA email address. 16:50 - Rang GBS to update them; they shared a couple of other contacts atVOSA head office who might be able to help. 16:50 - Rang the VOSA head office who recommended I call in the morning.
16th May	10:40 - Called VOSA head office and spoke to the applications team who investigated options 17:05 - VOSA head office called back and said any re-application full or not would have to be taken at the Gillingham test centre, i.e. even if I start again with a new form the test would have to be through Gillingham. He invited me to make this request via email where he 'might' be able to give an alternate messsge quote "if you know what I mean" 17:14 - Called GBS to update them - hold everything until I come up with a new plan
21st May	Email request returned - confirming the same message - any re-test full or partial must be at the original station. Included an apology once more for the conflicting information.

The end game & lessons:

1. If you begin an amateur build IVA test at one station - it has to be completed at that station - this is documented on the fail form.
2. Any re-application for IVA on the same vehicle at any point in the future must be taken at the same testing station as the first test.
3. Don't trust anything the VOSA call centre tells you - double/triple check with the testing stations themselves, it seems like the testing stations are the place policy and decisions are made. The call centre are helpful - but only for putting you through to other people. (see highlighted items above *1, *2 & *3 where the call centre gave me bad information)
4. Its cheaper to take the car through via the factory option!

To be clear - everyone I speak to at VOSA is working to Policy except the call centre who give out inaccurate information which led to me moving the car to the other end of the country.

The VOSA rules are documented in the small print on the fail form (for partial re-test anyway) - I didn't see this originally, hence asking questions all through the process.

The VOSA Policy is immutable - even when mistakes are made, in my example by the call centre, they cannot work any exceptions to help you out of the hole they helped drop you in.

The plan:

I think the only option is to bring the car back to Kent and find a local mechanic who can work with me on it... I need to take a step back and think through though. There is no point me taking the car to any test station, I have tried and failed twice to adjust mixture.

When do get the car on the road I'm going to try and claim some sort of record for the highest mileage vehicle to get registered!

Post Script (September 2013)

I made a formal statement/complaint to VOSA about the above process, did not argue that the rules were wrong, but merely that I was misled at various stages.

To their credit they did offer to compensate some of my financial loss & address their internal procedures.