Well after all the concerns I had over the brakes on my estate on the general help section I took the car for it's NCT ( MOT ) and it passed all the checks for a pass with flying colours
However ....... the tester handed me a fail sheet .
Reason written in small print at the bottom of the sheet under visual fail was " Incorrect VIN " .
So we enter into a rather odd conversation about this issue as the car has been tested 12 times in this agency run government station and the issue has never occured or been raised before . Unlike UK here all cars have to be tested in one of these stations which are staffed and run by the most sullen , unapproachable and uncommunicative people you will find.
The reply I get is " ah , there's a new system now".
It seems that if there is any discrepancy then a fail cert is issued and the burden of proof and the effort involved in rectifying the situation falls upon the owner.
The tester handed me a sheet that I had to post , no e mail or telephone call centre snail mail only
, to the Revenue Commissioners on the other side of the country.
This sheet has a section in that the tester is asked , in his opinion , if the VIN on the car is genuine to which he scrawled a 6 year old child like Y for yes. He said that he had no doubt that the car was genuine and that the problem was the VIN registered on the National Database but the problem was mine .
So here we are in this simple somewhat backward little country. I have a car that has been registered 14 years ago in this country , tested in the same station 12 times , confirmed by the government approved tester that the VIN is genuine and correct and untampered with and that the problem ( which he refused to actually identify other than being incorrect ) was not on the car but on the national big brother database.
In order to plead my case I have to submit my registration document ( leaving me at their mercy ) , a begging letter carefully suggesting , to avoid incurring the wrath of some cretinous uncivil servant ,that the problem may be at their end and the said sheet from the tester along with printed , signed and dated photos showing the virgin steel around the floor stamp and untouched rivits on the dash top plate showing the VIN.
The "request" letter states in a rather overbearing and mildly threatening manner that any request to amend the database will take up to 21 days but possibly longer if the investigation requires it.
So through no fault of my own I have a car that is passed as perfectly roadworthy but cannot be used due to an error in a database somewhere in the bureaucratic world of the irish civil service. In this country no NCT = no insurance cover whilst on the road.
I started a thread on an irish car site expecting to be told that it'll be cleared up in no time and was horrified at the stories /replies from many of the regular members re their dealings with the revenue commissioners.
It would seem their intransigence and unwillingness in accepting blame is legendary.
It would seem that I am living in a country blessed with a guilty until self proved innocent doctrine staffed by civil servants ,whom it seems ,cannot read and then correctly write 17 digits in a row.
Thank goodness that we've pushed the button on the two year plan to move to South of France and away from this miserable ,wet and simple little country.