Thanks Alder. I imagined it would probably be something like that.
mrkazman:
Excellent post. I would request Admin to Sticky it.out of curiosity, which company did you use…to help other noobs as well if they are in the same location as yourself.
Cheers
I used a company imaginatively called “hgv driver training centre”, literally the first name that appears on Google when you type anything to do with hgv training and I’m sure many more people on here would have used them also, so I’d be curious to hear if they found them as useless as I did.
Positive points about the package was cost - found it to be cheapest around (insert “you get what you pay for” joke here). But, in reality this meant the training school I trained with was cheap (“A1 Hughes driver training”, and Martin my instructor was excellent)
Bottom line is HGV driver training center do their very best to market themselves as their own school, and from there promise they get the earliest booking slots for all the tests over your average joe and it’s just not true. I actually tested this before booking my cpc2. I found out the earliest dates I could get myself prior to ringing them to tell them I wanted to organise the cpc2, and surprise surprise, there dates matched the ones I got myself! Access to earlier dates my arse.
There are, of course, absolutely genuine trainers (us included) who really do look after everything from medical to test pass. The best advice is to only book having visited the trainer or, if that’s not possible, only to book on rock solid recommendation.
If anyone is unsure whether or not they are considering a broker, just ask to visit. You’ll soon find out!
BTW, to the OP, it’s mirrors BEFORE everything - not after!!
Pete 
[quote=“alder”. I downloaded the POI to my tomtom which shows me on screen which places take keyfuels. [/quote]
can anyone explain to a luddite how ■■
Key fuels have a phone app which is handy if you can’t find the book But if you see a morrisons you’re on a winner.
I was warned off of third party agents while I was doing my tests. They book the worst times and sometimes in locations really far away. They charge a lot more than if you book it directly and they try and sell you re test packages as well which obviously become void if you pass first time! I stayed well clear of them after they pretty much had a go at me for wasting their time and telling me to just book it already!
I don’t hand ball as much as possible. You’re a driver. … If you hurt your back you’re buggered!