12th February 2013

At the end of January I had a problem in that I couldn’t tax the Westfield because the online system said it needed an MOT. I phoned the DVLA for assistance and they suggested that if I came down with the V5 I could tax my vehicle.

I should add that prior to this I sent a very detailed letter to the Bristol office explaining why I thought it was registered incorrectly, what steps were taken in building it and details of another Mazda SDV Westfield registered through that office correctly just 9 months earlier. I am yet to receive a response (1 month wait now).

So I got to the local office and end up in the following conversation:

DVLA: “It needs an MOT”
Me: “But it was only built last year and it got IVA’d in August”.
DVLA: “The V5 shows it was IVA’d but that’s not an MOT”
Me: “So how did it get taxed six months ago? Anyway, that’s the problem, it’s registered incorrectly.”
DVLA : “Then you’ll have to write in”
Me: “I did that in August, and then again in January when you failed to correct it”
DVLA: “I’ll go check”

Obviously at this point I’m getting my hopes up that the guy at the counter just needs to get an update for all this and I’ll be on my way.

DVLA: “It was registered under the points system.”
Me: “And that’s been done wrong.”
DVLA: “Send us a letter detailing what was done and we’ll have a look”
Me: “I’ve done that”
DVLA: “Ok you’ll need to send one including the V5”
Me: “Swansea told be specifically not to send in the V5”
DVLA: “We’ll need the V5”
Me: “Well it’s in your hand”
DVLA: “And we’ll need a letter saying what’s been done”
Me: “I’ve done that, sent it in last month”
DVLA: “We’ll need the V5 too”
Me: “But it’s in your hand right now?”
DVLA: “We’ll need a letter saying what’s been done”
Me: “You’ve got that too, I sent it in last month”
DVLA: “And we need the V5 too”
Me: “It’s in your hand, you’ve got it.”
DVLA: “I can’t sort it over the counter sir”
Me: “I’m sorry but I genuinely don’t understand, you’re asking me for stuff you’ve already got.”
DVLA: “We’ll need a letter and the V5”

By now, I’m absolutely confused. I decided to call it quits – these guys will be out of the job come the end of the year and I get the impression they genuinely couldn’t give a sh*t because of it. Kind of understating but massively frustrating. I’ll phone up Swansea later and see if I can’t get them to book me a meeting with the guy that does the registrations there. The start of todays conversation did say I take it up with Swansea as they do the registrations so I had to point out to him that Swansea told me to take it up with you because your office registered it and so only your office can fix it.