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AIBU?

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Original poster

Terrible public services

34 replies

Firtreefiona · 09/03/2026 12:47

I’ve been trying to book a driving test for ages and the best that I can come up with is a test centre 235 miles away in August. And that’s after many, any times of looking at different hours of different days. Is the driving test system the worst public service currently, or are others even worse? Keen to hear of worse public services to make me feel better.

OP posts:
InveterateWineDrinker · 09/03/2026 13:46

I've got nearly a million quid sitting in a late relative's bank account that I can't do anything with because the Probate section at His Majesty's Courts and Tribunals Service has been sitting on a probate application for over a year.

Amberlynnswashcloth · 09/03/2026 13:44

It seems like the government just don't care and think its all 17 year olds who can cycle to college or whatever but fail to recognise that some of us are not young, have health issue or need to drive for kids, elderly parents and jobs etc.

If it gets much worse we might see more people driving without a licence and insurance out of sheer desperation.

Catza · 09/03/2026 13:42

Amberlynnswashcloth · 09/03/2026 13:37

I'm on the apps and they don't work anymore - too slow. When I first signed-up 2 years ago I had to silence the notifications because they went constantly but now there's only a few a week at best and all unavailable by the time I've picked up my phone.

The whole system in grid locked.

Show quote history

I kept missing it too till I set it to automatically book the first morning slot at the test center closest to my house. Went to take a shower, came back to a notification that my slot was booked for 8am on the 2nd of January. Could have been the time of year, though.

Original poster
Firtreefiona · 09/03/2026 13:42

I have booked the test at the centre 235 miles away in August as it was the closest one I could get from about 50 searches. But from April you can only move your test to a test centre near the one you have booked at already, so I’ll probably cancel my booking in the hope that one within maybe 100 miles appears. I mean ideally I would book one at the test centre 3 miles away next week and I’d be earning more money and paying more tax, but the government doesn’t seem to want to facilitate that. Madness.

OP posts:
Original poster
Firtreefiona · 09/03/2026 13:37

My friend has a job she would like me to take on but being able to drive would make me so much more useful to her. The current situation is a total farce. If I wait until August the job won’t be there anymore.

OP posts:
Amberlynnswashcloth · 09/03/2026 13:37

Catza · 09/03/2026 13:22

Unless you have ideological objections, use the cancellation tracking service. I booked a test 6 moths out and signed up to the cancellation app which snapped me a slot three weeks away after a couple of days.

I'm on the apps and they don't work anymore - too slow. When I first signed-up 2 years ago I had to silence the notifications because they went constantly but now there's only a few a week at best and all unavailable by the time I've picked up my phone.

The whole system in grid locked.

Original poster
Firtreefiona · 09/03/2026 13:36

DVLA are gradually eliminating all of these apps. They hope to finally kill them all off on 31 March.

Which one did you use?

OP posts:
Catza · 09/03/2026 13:22

Unless you have ideological objections, use the cancellation tracking service. I booked a test 6 moths out and signed up to the cancellation app which snapped me a slot three weeks away after a couple of days.

Amberlynnswashcloth · 09/03/2026 13:00

You have my sympathy re the driving test backlog. I had to wait 6 months for my test in April 2025, failed due to nerves, then got blocked from the booking system due to too many searches. Despite contacting them and trying all the tricks I remained blocked for several months on all devices. In the meantime, my theory expired so I had to resit that before I could book again. Now finally booked another test at my local centre but it'll be 16 months after the last one by which time I'll be nearly 2 years from a lesson and will probably fail because of it. I just want to get on with my life - its infuriating.

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