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Post by ncynotts on Mar 20, 2006 21:56:45 GMT
I couldn't agree with the last two posts more. We never used to ask permission to start a test, why should it be required now. We all know what we are testing, and how to test it, a phone call to siemans and a 12 digit number wont change the quality of the test.
Anyway rant over ... off to bed to prepare for tomorrows fiasco
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graham
Nominated Tester
Posts: 331
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Post by graham on Mar 20, 2006 22:42:29 GMT
Well one of my testers logged in at 3pm to do a (full) retest. He still could not log out and print at 6pm.
The bad bit is thats 2 slots lost. The really bad bit is the test is still on his card and he went on holiday this evening. I'm goint to have enough to do tomorrow covering his work load without having to sort out that one.
Siemens are well named (if spelt incorrectly) cos they are right w***ers for putting this system in place.
Graham
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motdave
Nominated Tester
Posts: 242
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Post by motdave on Mar 20, 2006 22:45:11 GMT
Crazy.
Why must we stop testing for hours on end and twiddle our thumbs while VOSA & Siemens play ping-pong over the decision to invoke Emergency Testing.
We are the ones at the sharp end. We have to explain to customers that we can't test their car because of a telephone fault in Newcastle or wherever.
We should be able to decide whether or not to self-invoke Emergency Testing.
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Post by ianwills on Mar 21, 2006 8:21:42 GMT
Its about time we got togather and went forward with this outside this forum ? when i write to VOSA / SIEMENS its always a single case and i am bullyed to one side ? " well this is it and if you dont like it then close" as a very large ( 5 lane ) testing station with 7 testers it cost me big time yesterday and last monday ? now its not about last night its about Next Time ?
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Tom
Nominated Tester
Posts: 227
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Post by Tom on Mar 21, 2006 9:23:22 GMT
If 19,500 test stations each lost 3 tests yesterday at £44.15 per test
That's £2,582,775 of compensation fees that Siemens would have to fork out...
Surely it would have been cheaper to invoke Emergency Testing within 10 minutes of the system failing ?
Who makes the decision to invoke ET, and why wasn't it done yesterday ?
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addy
Nominated Tester
Posts: 76
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Post by addy on Mar 21, 2006 9:27:36 GMT
hi i still can not test i can not talk to anyone or even cancel my test from yesterday our other tester can now test but i am stuck what a sh t system why cant we test the old way and then when its fixed do the 5 min test as someone has mentioned addy
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addy
Nominated Tester
Posts: 76
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Post by addy on Mar 21, 2006 13:09:56 GMT
still after all morning can not talk to the help desk i think they should move it abroad addy
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motdave
Nominated Tester
Posts: 242
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Post by motdave on Mar 21, 2006 14:22:26 GMT
still after all morning can not talk to the help desk i think they should move it abroad addy The press should be informed about the MOT fiasco - They'd have a field day laughing at the mockery that MOT computerisation has made of the MOT test scheme. I searched for news items of the system failure, but failed to find a thing.
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addy
Nominated Tester
Posts: 76
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Post by addy on Mar 21, 2006 17:11:14 GMT
hello i got my smart card clear of the test that was stuck on it at 1.45 nearly 24 hours after the fault WHAT a joke ADDY
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dcspringlane
Nominated Tester
NT/ QC/ MANAGER/ DOGSBODY
Posts: 14
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Post by dcspringlane on Mar 21, 2006 18:06:28 GMT
VOSA TOLD US TO SEND INVOICES TO THIS ADDRESS FOR LOST TEST SLOTS
MOT COMPUTERISATION & COMPLIANCE BARCLAY HOUSE CROYDON STREET BRISTOL BS5 ODA
IF ALL TEST STATIONS SEND IN PAPERWORK FOR EVERY SLOT LOST THEN MAYBE WE WILL HAVE A CHANCE OF COMPENSATION MAYBE VOSA SHOULD COME TO TEST STATIONS AND APPEASE ALL OUR IRATE CUSTOMERS WHO THINK WE ARE TAKING THE P**S
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alan
Nominated Tester
Posts: 5
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Post by alan on Mar 21, 2006 20:55:28 GMT
hi everyone its about time the public were aware of our problems,as it is them who we are trying to give a service to, maybe tvs watchdog may be intrested! my boss today is returning a tv set which he has had for 1 month,and now its knackerd!.... he wrote a letter saying it " it is not fit for the purpose" . so dont you think we should all send our faulty computers back and faulty software?......... lets get back to writing the mots out with books and pens, i love books and pens............ WHY FIX SOMETHING,WHEN ITS NOT BROKEN!!!!!!!!
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Post by manautos on Mar 25, 2006 7:21:37 GMT
Extracts from “WHATCAR?”
“Urgent action is required to fix the Government's MoT computer system, which has left testing stations unable to complete MoTs.
The Retail Motor Industry Federation (RMIF) says two failures of the new Vehicle and Operator Services Agency computer system this March risked putting confidence in the Government body at rock bottom.”
“A VOSA spokesman said: 'Computerisation helps to tackle fraud and the menace of uninsured driving. The project has been rolled out across the country with the final garages expected to be operational by the end of March.
'There have been two minor incidents over the past fortnight but motorists should still have received their paper MoTs without delay. Procedures allow for garages to issue paper certificates and to update the database at a later stage. The issues have now been resolved and all garages are back online.'”
From the “SUN ON LINE”
But the RMIF said there had been two partial collapses of the computer system this month, which had left many of the 19,500 test stations unable to operate.
The federation said that the Vehicle Operator and Services Agency (VOSA) had said that the number of stations affected was minimal.
But the RMIF added that the VOSA view of the problem did not tally with the “huge number of calls” it had received from its members.
“VOSA must take urgent action to address the problems caused to many, if not all, MOT testing stations by repeated failure of the new computerised regime,” said Ian Davis Knight, head of the RMIF’s MOT technical operations team.
He went on: “Immediate steps must be taken to improve its new system and associated support procedures before customer and trade confidence hits rock bottom.”
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daveh
Authorised Examiner
My snooker room
Posts: 87
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Post by daveh on Mar 25, 2006 11:51:50 GMT
Copy of a letter received from Siemens
Thank you for your comments regarding the incident affecting Mot computerisation this week. We have every sympathy with the frustration you feel when you experience difficulties with the system which often leads to delays in getting through to the service desk. We are especially concious of the embarrassment this causes when you have a customer waiting and you feel helpless. At the beginning of this week a series of unrelated incidents occurred which, together, caused a rapid and significant drop in performance. Although the problems were resolved very quickly, they resulted in a massive increase in the number of calls to the service desk both in Durham and Glasgow. This flooded the resources of the service desk and emergency testing had to be instigated. The underlying reasons for these incidents are very complex but rest assured we are doing all we can to ensure that these are not repeated. Your concern, quite rightly, is the impact on your business of not being able to complete a test, principally because you cannot get through to the service desk. Recognising that this is a real issue, VOSA and Siemens are investigating how testing might be continued on your VTS device without resorting to fallback or emergency testing. Unfortunately, at some stage, IT systems will fail, our investigations are therefore aimed at reducing the impact of this to an absolute minimum.
No return address, no contact numbers
DaveH
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Post by ianwills on Mar 25, 2006 13:19:48 GMT
The federation said that the Vehicle Operator and Services Agency (VOSA) had said that the number of stations affected was minimal. ?? did anyone on here NOT go down ??
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motdave
Nominated Tester
Posts: 242
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Post by motdave on Mar 25, 2006 14:17:24 GMT
Just received a letter of apology from Siemens Service Team: They state that Emergency Testing was instigated. I wasn't able to test under Emergency Testing. No incident number was given on the help desk nor from VOSA local office for the 3 hours that the system was off. Reason for Editing: Just read Daveh's post. Looks like its a standard letter.
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spanner
Nominated Tester
Posts: 191
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Post by spanner on Mar 25, 2006 18:40:06 GMT
Just read this ; Finally, on 23rd March, Mr Alex Fiddes, VOSA’s executive in charge of the MOT, has announced that should any future computer failure last more than 15 minutes then Emergency Testing will be declared, with an ‘incident number’ available as a recorded message at the front end of the Siemens ‘hot line’ number which MOT Testing Stations use should they experience problems. At MOT TESTING we are pleased that our own efforts coupled with lobbying more generally from the trade has, at last, persuaded VOSA to take this action.Taken from www.motester.co.uk/
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Post by Dave Hill on Mar 25, 2006 22:35:09 GMT
There is another way!
Instead of cowering to customers & apologising, perhaps if we all pull the doors down & say "Sorry not today" Then public pressure will be applied to VOSA instead of Mr Garage Owner or NT.
Most of us have got plenty of other things to be getting on with anyway hey? If you are a test station that doesn't do repairs then I sympathise.
Regards
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spanner
Nominated Tester
Posts: 191
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Post by spanner on Mar 26, 2006 2:46:39 GMT
Dave,
If we could survive without the MOT I'm sure most would tell VOSA where to stick it but sadly to a lot of smaller garages the MOT is the bread & butter. With new cars so easy to buy, 3 year warrenty and 20,000 mile servicing theres not so much to be getting on with unless you prefer to be spending a day doing a head gasket or 4hrs on a clutch. Know which I'd rather have!
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Post by Dave Hill on Mar 26, 2006 12:59:06 GMT
Spanner
You are right mate. I was feeling a bit bloody minded when I wrote that & I can see now that it’s not a realistic proposition for many, to "pull the doors down"
Regards,
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Post by manautos on Mar 26, 2006 16:55:05 GMT
Worked yesterday. Logged on to VTS device and got a file download from "SIEMENS". Could be a bad Monday yet again!!!
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