Legalised kleptocracy - driving test ticket touting
Discussion
So this piece on the BBC stood out:
Driving test backlog sees exams sold for over £200
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-61265729
Unbelievably, our wretched Government has allowed a system to arise in which driving test appointments can be block-booked then re-sold for profit.
This is just madness. There is no world in which this can be justifiable. There's no "value add" here, there's no market efficiency. This is just allowing "scalping" to happen with the blessing of the powers that be.
This is just another example of the country we've become, where "deregulation" has just become another term for allowing profiteering at the expense of the public for no possible benefit to the public.
Given Government's dogmatic desire to cut 20% off civil service headcount (despite Brexit meaning we need more people just to do the work that was done by the EU), this is our future if we don't do something about it.
I'm simply staggered. Am I alone?
Driving test backlog sees exams sold for over £200
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-61265729
Unbelievably, our wretched Government has allowed a system to arise in which driving test appointments can be block-booked then re-sold for profit.
This is just madness. There is no world in which this can be justifiable. There's no "value add" here, there's no market efficiency. This is just allowing "scalping" to happen with the blessing of the powers that be.
This is just another example of the country we've become, where "deregulation" has just become another term for allowing profiteering at the expense of the public for no possible benefit to the public.
Given Government's dogmatic desire to cut 20% off civil service headcount (despite Brexit meaning we need more people just to do the work that was done by the EU), this is our future if we don't do something about it.
I'm simply staggered. Am I alone?
I wrote to DVSA to ask why they have not extended the time limit on the Theory Test as they currently expire after two years.
My son has some friends whose Theory has expired so they can't take the practical, and when trying to book another Theory Test, it's six months wait. You cannot book a test until you have a pass on the Theory.
They should extend the Theory expiry date by two years something like they did with MOTs.
They replied that "they had no plans to extend the validity of the Theory Test pass.
Absolutely no forward planning at all.
My son has some friends whose Theory has expired so they can't take the practical, and when trying to book another Theory Test, it's six months wait. You cannot book a test until you have a pass on the Theory.
They should extend the Theory expiry date by two years something like they did with MOTs.
They replied that "they had no plans to extend the validity of the Theory Test pass.
Absolutely no forward planning at all.
The booking system is ridiculous.
I'm trying to book a test for my wife. The only way to do it, according to her driving instructor, is to place a booking anywhere in the country at some future point in order to pay the fee and supply license details, and then download an app (which cost approximately £10) which is API driven and notifies on the event of cancellations in the desired area and timeframe. The app then automates the process of re-booking your test which costs nothing. However you need to grab an available booking in seconds before it disappears.
I now have one held for September.
This is a testing centre in a small rural market town. I could probably secure one somewhere else if desperate, but my wife won't be familiar with the roads.
I don't understand why open API access and block bookings are being allowed such that third parties are able to come in, rig the system and profit exorbitantly. It should be a simple case of one booking per provisional license holder. The DVSA could stamp this out easily.
I suspect its a just a plain old case of corruption as the app developers will be absolutely creaming it.
I'm trying to book a test for my wife. The only way to do it, according to her driving instructor, is to place a booking anywhere in the country at some future point in order to pay the fee and supply license details, and then download an app (which cost approximately £10) which is API driven and notifies on the event of cancellations in the desired area and timeframe. The app then automates the process of re-booking your test which costs nothing. However you need to grab an available booking in seconds before it disappears.
I now have one held for September.
This is a testing centre in a small rural market town. I could probably secure one somewhere else if desperate, but my wife won't be familiar with the roads.
I don't understand why open API access and block bookings are being allowed such that third parties are able to come in, rig the system and profit exorbitantly. It should be a simple case of one booking per provisional license holder. The DVSA could stamp this out easily.
I suspect its a just a plain old case of corruption as the app developers will be absolutely creaming it.
Edited by theboss on Wednesday 1st June 13:26
This isn’t new, my son used a searching app to get a cancellation date after his original test date came through for about five months ahead. It shortened it to two months but only cost a few quid. Interesting that it appears to be Instructors on the make (acknowledging some are apparently fake)
Camoradi said:
I've read the article and can't see any reference to Government action which has enabled this to happen. It sounds as if someone has written some software to exploit the current high demand. Hopefully DVSA will find a way of blocking this.
It's not so much a case of action but inaction. They've created a system which is wide open for exploitation. I shouldn't need to buy a third party app to integrate with their systems to tell me when a free slot has come up, and it should not be possible for anyone to block book and 'resell' booking slots.Imagine if the NHS opened patient booking systems in a way that allowed somebody to book every slot at your GP every morning (automatically by API so in a few microseconds before the phone could ring) and then made them available by a third party app.
theboss said:
Imagine if the NHS opened patient booking systems in a way that allowed somebody to book every slot at your GP every morning (automatically by API so in a few microseconds before the phone could ring) and then made them available by a third party app.
I'd probably have more chance of getting an appointment that way!theboss said:
Camoradi said:
I've read the article and can't see any reference to Government action which has enabled this to happen. It sounds as if someone has written some software to exploit the current high demand. Hopefully DVSA will find a way of blocking this.
It's not so much a case of action but inaction. They've created a system which is wide open for exploitation. I shouldn't need to buy a third party app to integrate with their systems to tell me when a free slot has come up, and it should not be possible for anyone to block book and 'resell' booking slots.Imagine if the NHS opened patient booking systems in a way that allowed somebody to book every slot at your GP every morning (automatically by API so in a few microseconds before the phone could ring) and then made them available by a third party app.
I wonder who came up with the 'block booking' wheeze? Are there any MPs whose relatives run a driving school?
theboss said:
download an app (which cost approximately £10) which is API driven and notifies on the event of cancellations in the desired area and timeframe. The app then automates the process of re-booking your test which costs nothing.
..
I suspect its a just a plain old case of corruption as the app developers will be absolutely creaming it.
If it's fed by an API you could do it yourself. Probably cost you more than a tenner in time and effort, of course...
I suspect its a just a plain old case of corruption as the app developers will be absolutely creaming it.
Camoradi said:
I've read the article and can't see any reference to Government action which has enabled this to happen. It sounds as if someone has written some software to exploit the current high demand. Hopefully DVSA will find a way of blocking this.
One test booking per provisional licence holder is all that's needed. An easy test to implement. Massive penalty for fraudulent use of a provisional licence ID to do it.theboss said:
Camoradi said:
I've read the article and can't see any reference to Government action which has enabled this to happen. It sounds as if someone has written some software to exploit the current high demand. Hopefully DVSA will find a way of blocking this.
It's not so much a case of action but inaction. They've created a system which is wide open for exploitation. I shouldn't need to buy a third party app to integrate with their systems to tell me when a free slot has come up, and it should not be possible for anyone to block book and 'resell' booking slots.Imagine if the NHS opened patient booking systems in a way that allowed somebody to book every slot at your GP every morning (automatically by API so in a few microseconds before the phone could ring) and then made them available by a third party app.
Scotty2 said:
I wrote to DVSA to ask why they have not extended the time limit on the Theory Test as they currently expire after two years.
My son has some friends whose Theory has expired so they can't take the practical, and when trying to book another Theory Test, it's six months wait. You cannot book a test until you have a pass on the Theory.
They should extend the Theory expiry date by two years something like they did with MOTs.
They replied that "they had no plans to extend the validity of the Theory Test pass.
Absolutely no forward planning at all.
My son got caught by this. Couldn't get a test, and then his theory ran out. It was then difficult to book a theory test as they were also in demand.My son has some friends whose Theory has expired so they can't take the practical, and when trying to book another Theory Test, it's six months wait. You cannot book a test until you have a pass on the Theory.
They should extend the Theory expiry date by two years something like they did with MOTs.
They replied that "they had no plans to extend the validity of the Theory Test pass.
Absolutely no forward planning at all.
He then failed his theory by one mark, so had to it again. Once that was passed he then had to try to get a new test date.
Add the lockdowns it was nearly 2 years between his driving instructor first saying he was ready for his test, and actually passing!
98elise said:
theboss said:
Camoradi said:
I've read the article and can't see any reference to Government action which has enabled this to happen. It sounds as if someone has written some software to exploit the current high demand. Hopefully DVSA will find a way of blocking this.
It's not so much a case of action but inaction. They've created a system which is wide open for exploitation. I shouldn't need to buy a third party app to integrate with their systems to tell me when a free slot has come up, and it should not be possible for anyone to block book and 'resell' booking slots.Imagine if the NHS opened patient booking systems in a way that allowed somebody to book every slot at your GP every morning (automatically by API so in a few microseconds before the phone could ring) and then made them available by a third party app.
Given someone paid for the API to be created and specified with gaping loopholes in it, then left it open to be abused, and someone is managing to make a ton of money off this situation, it isn't difficult to imply what the motivation was and is.
Either that or it's a stunning coincidence that someone invested effort in implementing a digital facility that seems to exist only to be gamed for profit.
Either that or it's a stunning coincidence that someone invested effort in implementing a digital facility that seems to exist only to be gamed for profit.
skwdenyer said:
98elise said:
theboss said:
Camoradi said:
I've read the article and can't see any reference to Government action which has enabled this to happen. It sounds as if someone has written some software to exploit the current high demand. Hopefully DVSA will find a way of blocking this.
It's not so much a case of action but inaction. They've created a system which is wide open for exploitation. I shouldn't need to buy a third party app to integrate with their systems to tell me when a free slot has come up, and it should not be possible for anyone to block book and 'resell' booking slots.Imagine if the NHS opened patient booking systems in a way that allowed somebody to book every slot at your GP every morning (automatically by API so in a few microseconds before the phone could ring) and then made them available by a third party app.
This sort of thing is dealt with by civil servants, not members of the government.
pquinn said:
Given someone paid for the API to be created and specified with gaping loopholes in it, then left it open to be abused, and someone is managing to make a ton of money off this situation, it isn't difficult to imply what the motivation was and is.
Either that or it's a stunning coincidence that someone invested effort in implementing a digital facility that seems to exist only to be gamed for profit.
There seems to be a legitimate case for block bookings (driving schools) so it's the fact you can claim to be a driving school without any verification that's at fault, and that an unusual situation has created a demand that wouldn't normally be there.Either that or it's a stunning coincidence that someone invested effort in implementing a digital facility that seems to exist only to be gamed for profit.
98elise said:
There seems to be a legitimate case for block bookings (driving schools) so it's the fact you can claim to be a driving school without any verification that's at fault, and that an unusual situation has created a demand that wouldn't normally be there.
That's my understanding too.Gassing Station | News, Politics & Economics | Top of Page | What's New | My Stuff