The DVLA are useless and damned annoying.

I was applying ' on line' for my pension and as usual, THEY NEVER MAKE IT EASY.

I needed my Driving License to prove my identity and my brother noticed it had expired back in June of this year and yet I have not heard a whisper from the DVLA concerning this, so I went on line.

Anyone whose Driving License expired before January 2021 have been given an 11 month extension, but nothing stated about anyone whose license expires after January 2021.

So I applied on-line for a new license - or so I tried - REPEATEDLY - until the system LOCKED ME OUT.

It repeatedly stated :-

Re-enter personal details

Sorry... It has not been possible to match you with your driver record based on the details you have provided.

( WHAT THE FUCK ????? I'VE ONLY BEEN DRIVING FOR 50 YEARS NEXT SUMMER... AND HAVE ALWAYS HAD A LICENSE )

Please check your details on the following pages and change anything that is incorrect.

Please consider the following when checking your details:

Check that you have included middle names if these are on your driver record

Check the spelling of names and special characters - e.g. hyphens, apostrophes

Check that one of the addresses you have entered is the address on your driver record

If you need to contact us for further support or information click here

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Tried the next day - and after 4 or 5 attempts - once again - it locked me out.

So I called my brother in frustration and he came over and BINGO - the same thing happened - IT LOCKED US OUT.

It repeatedly claims my post code and address do not link up with any details in their system and that when I put my post code in - IT DOES NOT APPEAR FOR MY HOTEL ANYWHERE yet is printed in my passport and on my driving license but the DVLA's on-line system claims I do not exist time and time and time and time again.

Dear God... I've been here 21 years and think I know MY FUCKING POST CODE....

and the house has been here since 1889 - so DON'T TELL ME I AM INCORRECT.

So I tried to phone and before you even ask, don't. The lines are busy all day and it announces for you to phone back - er - like when ??? - it doesn't even put you in a queue it just tells you to call back and hangs up.

SO NO JOY - NO HELP THERE AT ALL. USELESS.

Contacted them through a web site chat thing on the governments page and USELESS - ABSOLUTELY USELESS - you are still talking to a machine that only has several responses and questions and where NOTHING HELPS, believe me, it's a complete waste of my time.

And as usual... COVID IS BLAMED.

It is NOT BECAUSE OF COVID THAT MESSED UP THEIR COMPUTER SYSTEM.

IT IS NOT COVID THAT DENIES MY POST CODE AND ADDRESS ARE GENUINE.

IT IS NOT COVID THAT CLAIMS I DO NOT APPEAR ANYWHERE IN THE SYSTEM - even though I have had a driving license for 50 years ( OMG )

This is just a sign of an incompetent service being offered by an incompetent

civil service and where Covid - is as usual - being used as an excuse to offer an appalling service and then blame the customer if and when something goes wrong with THEIR system.

Some of you may have all day to play with a system like this and you may not have much else to do all day but have hours of your time wasted but - like most of us - I am busy busy busy and expect things to work and be done and NOT HAVE TO CONSTANTLY REVISIT THINGS THAT SHOULD HAVE BEEN SORTED THE FIRST TIME, AND NOT STILL TRYING WEEKS LATER AND DOZENS OF TIMES LATER.

IT SUCKS. BIG TIME.

So I am left high and dry wondering WTF I am suppose to do when the web site does not help, you cannot get them on the phone or through e mail and I am left wondering if I am legal to drive or illegal, - am I going to get stopped and given a ticket or has the DVLA extended application times - especially as I have not heard from the DVLA that the license is even expired yet - and as usual, I am damned annoyed and frustrated at having my time wasted and here I am, a little 6 bedroomed hotel in Boscombe and I work SO FUCKING HARD to get things right and correct and here is this multi billion government office staffed with Civil Servants whose job it is to make things right - AND THEY CANNOT EVEN RUN A WEB SITE CORRECTLY.

AND DON'T BLAME COVID.

MADDENING.

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John: I'm with you on the driving license thing. I tried and tried as you have and just like yours it would not recognise my post code. I have lived here for 42 years and think I know how to input the correct details.

I assume the DVLA are wrong as it cannot be just the two of us. Talk about a government web site getting it wrong when they have staff dedicated to just running their web site and still - STILL - it is wrong. Some dumb incompetent's civil servant being paid for getting it all wrong. Randolph

John. I read your report on applying for your Driving Licence and it got me thinking and checked my own for its expiry date and like you, mine has expired and no notice given. It was a fruitless task for the next week to try and find out on the phone and on the web site and just like you , absolutely no luck at all. I am still none the wiser and have no idea who to contact to find out. They do not answer the phone and the web site is not working correctly and I feel lost as to what to do next. It helps knowing I am not alone. It is desperately pathetic that government web sites do not work correctly.

Gary.

John: Have been trying to apply for my pension and I had absolutely no luck at all. It claims my National Insurance Number does not exist and neither does my post code or even passport number. I have lived at the same address all my life and was even born in this house 66 years ago yet apparently the house does not exist and neither do I. Utter stupidity. Fred.

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