Through no fault of my own my Digi Card malfunctioned the other week. I duly contacted the DVLA that morning (Thursday) and was given a reference number to cover myself in case I was stopped by VOSA. They said they would send me a form so I could get a replacement card. The person on the phone did say that I could also get a form from the local DVLA office or from any VOSA test station but due to the shifts I was working I couldn’t get to either.
Anyway after five days (Tuesday) the form arrrives and I sent it off the next morning. Naivley I thought this would give then plenty of time to issue a new card and get it back to me. I phoned them yesterday to see where my card was and they said they had posted it that morning. Unfortunatley that was the 15th day so I’m now out of work until the card turns up. The postman has already been so I’ve already lost 2 days work ie today and Monday. I was offered a full week at DHL Hatfield which I had to knock back due to this.
I was just putting this down to bad luck but it wasn’t until I got back to yard last that the duty manager told me I was the 3rd driver in the last month or so that had had this problem. Perhaps this could be investigated by the journalists at T&D as it sounds as though the DVLA are having some problems with issuing driver cards.
Someone needs to investigate why these cards keep going wrong in the first place, I wonder how many defective cards have to be replaced each year costing drivers work? It is a complete farce the whole digitacho thing and needs scrapping if they can’t get it right.
This happened to me last year over Xmas and new year . It took just over a month to get my card back after countless calls to DVLA. They could not care less that I was unable to work for all that time and kept fobbing me off . What made the situation even more frustrating was the fact that I sent them the faulty card by Royal Mail Special Delivery , so I knew for a fact they had my card at 09.41 the following day
I rang VOSA for advice , but to be fair the 15 day rule was all they could quote back at me .
Luckily , my firm were understanding and as I am salaried , I lost no money BUT … what the hell would a driver do if he was on for a small firm ■■ The gaffers not going to let a truck stand idle , so he either pays an agency man , or worst case , gets another full time driver in !!
I wrote to complain , but got nothing back…what a suprise eh ■■
I’m still angry about the way I was treated , so if anyone wants some anecdotal back up …count me in
jimti:
Someone needs to investigate why these cards keep going wrong in the first place, I wonder how many defective cards have to be replaced each year costing drivers work? It is a complete farce the whole digitacho thing and needs scrapping if they can’t get it right.
Good idea. This is the 2nd card I’ve had that’s malfunctioned.
I think alot of has to do where you keep your card if you keep them in your wallet next to your bank cards the magnetic strip on them can affect the digi card
I had a coach driving job promised for the summer, but I had to make my bus license.
No problem - thought me naively as it was march or so only.
Long story cut short: It took DVLA 4 months to give me bus entitlement and on the top of that, I have now my british counterpart with a invalid GB driver number!So I wasn’t able to enroll for my theory tests. Finally I managed to do it after ages spent on several call centres, but I wanted it to be fixed. It took another 2 months fight with them to put it straitht but I gained only that they told me “Oh, it will be all right, any problems just call us and we’ll explain it to whoever might be concerned”.
I don’t need to say that I never did that bus license, as due to not being able to work as a coach driver, I worked for agency for much lesser money and due to poor amount of work, I ate all my savings intended to be spent at my bus course?
I complained, but off course noone is to blame and “I can’t prove that I got any troubles of that”.
But they apologized, as every client is very important to them.
Robertthegreat:
I think alot of has to do where you keep your card if you keep them in your wallet next to your bank cards the magnetic strip on them can affect the digi card
I used to keep my card in my wallet, and had 3 cards malfunction, the latest card has worked fine for sbout a year now because I keep it in a separate card holder.
When i used to work in a transport office, I used to download the digital cards and used to ask a driver where he kept his card. if he told me in his wallet, i would explain about the credit cards affecting it, and that I had all his bank details on my screen in front of me, and I was just buying a plasma TV from Argos on his card!
you can go over the 15 day rule ask DVLA for a further reference number they should supply this to you so you can contiune driving so lose no money or work
this was covered in the DCPC on drivers hours & digi tach rules
but DVLA are taking there time with things atm
say you have lost a job through this and are the willing to pay your wages it will son be there
Ive had one malfunction on me, my depot keeps all sorts DVLA forms so i didn’t have to wait on that - waited about 8 days for the card. I think you can also download the forms if you have access to a printer.
When i got mine i expected it to have another 5 years on it but it still had the same expiry date, Thats the DVLA making sure they still get their 5 yearly tax off me i guess.
I got mine free from Sanef in a lucky bag. I use them for credit cards, driving licence, digi and phone top up cards
Are they only available in pink
I have a separate pocket in my wallet where I keep my digi card, I only use it when I drive our 7 1/2 tonner, but it has gone wrong twice, not a big problem as I might only use it once every couple of months, but if I relied on it I would be stuffed. I think the problem is with the Stonebridge tacho in the truck as our other drivers have had the same problems as me. Mine has never been stored with other cards and is well protected in my wallet.
But no matter why they go wrong, at the end of the day they shouldn’t. My bank card doesn’t keep going wrong, my fuel card doesn’t keep going wrong, so why should my digi card? It is because they have been either badly designed or badly manufactured. The outcome is they are just not up to the job and this needs sorting out.
Why should honest workers loose money and work because they have equipment that keeps failing through no fault of their own. Equipment that was, because of Brussels, rushed into production to fix another problem (fiddling) yet are vulnerable themselves just because they were not tested enough to be fit for purpose and reliable enough.
Every single day lost through these cards failing should be compensated by Brussels.
I kept my 1st card in my wallet and when i got my new unit with a digi tacho, the 1st time i put the card in it came up card malfunction.
when i got my new card i kept it in a card holder i got while on a course and its been fine for 2 years.
about 2 months ago i went into work, went to get my card and couldn’t find my card,went straight home again to look there,still no luck.
so i did the 2 printout thingy. that night (monday) i applied online and paid for a new card, and specified to collect it at the VOSA office in the area where i new i would be on thurs/fri, on the thursday afternoon i popped into the VOSA office and it was there.
so if you really need it in a big hurry and you can afford the £38, declare it lost or stolen online and get a new 1 in a week and just do the 2 printout thingy until it arrives.
my card lasted 4 years until i put it with my bank card oops! posted first class recorded delivery monday afternoon got new card friday mornin. not bad that. tried to ring them for a reference number to cover my crack but it was all recorded messages■■?
