Driving licence application

Money-Saving-King

How would that work? Once they've filled it out and sent it to the DVLA the website itself they can't cancel it and the customer will get the driving licence regardless.

Pollycat

I suggest you contact OFT and tell them that these companies should be saying this on their website - and, in your opinion, as they are not making this clear, they are not operating legally or trading legally (your choice of words) and they should instigate another investigation.

gb12345

Perhaps if the "poor consumer" learnt to read what they are signing up for before they pay their money then sites such as these wouldn't exist because no one would use them.

My 55 year old brother (who is not Internet savvy) recently traveled to Turkey, who have introduced the option of an e-visa that you pay for online. He did a search on Google and got the usual list of "value added" sites and ended up on one by mistake. But unlike all of the moaners on this and the other related threads - he took time to read up on what the site was offering and realised that it was not the official site and went back to Google and located the correct site.

All it took was a few minutes of his time and a bit of common sense - something that seems sadly lacking in the majority of the posters who end up using these sites.

gb12345

What do you expect the bank/credit card company to do about an authorised charge for a legal service.

You might get lucky and get a chargeback like Ky-An claims to have, but in the majority of cases, either the bank will tell you there is nothing you can do or the service provider will provide proof that it was you that authorised the transaction and agreed to their terms and the chargeback will be rejected.

Money-Saving-King

How can they offer cancellation rights? Once they've done it for the customer they've done it. If the customer then cancels they'll get a driving licence for free because you can't phone up the DVLA and say "oh my customer has changed their mind".

Why can't you understand this? Once they've filled it out and sent it to the DVLA it can't be cancelled!!

Buzby

This is old ground. For those prone to making hasty decisions, cancellation rights are no problem. The site explains that your application (and fee) will be saved for 7 days with nothing being done.

However, they can tick a box and have their order processed immediately - but this waives their rights to cancellation and the order processed without delay.

Fully compliant - and as expected, 90% will spot the box and tick it for 'speedier service'.

And fully compliant. We've been there before.

shop-to-drop

Do these websites actually provide a service that anyone would use if they were fully aware of what they are paying and what they are getting?

If not then they should certainly be shutdown. I was almost caught out by a similar one when trying to apply for a provisional license for my son. I got all the way to the payment section and it seemed expensive so I went back to check.

The problem with terms and conditions being on the home page is that if you use google you often bypass the home page which is what happened to me. I thought I was applying direct to dvla. I had no idea these spoof government websites existed until this happened to me a couple of weeks ago.

Money-Saving-King

shop-to-drop wrote: »

Do these websites actually provide a service that anyone would use if they were fully aware of what they are paying and what they are getting?

Seeing there are people on large salaries in the UK who can often pay people to run round after them and pay them to go and buy a loaf of bread then yes. There will be people who will use this because their time is worth more money so it makes sense to pay someone else to do something for you.

Pollycat

shop-to-drop wrote: »

Do these websites actually provide a service that anyone would use if they were fully aware of what they are paying and what they are getting?

If not then they should certainly be shutdown. I was almost caught out by a similar one when trying to apply for a provisional license for my son. I got all the way to the payment section and it seemed expensive so I went back to check.

The problem with terms and conditions being on the home page is that if you use google you often bypass the home page which is what happened to me. I thought I was applying direct to dvla. I had no idea these spoof government websites existed until this happened to me a couple of weeks ago.

Did you read my post #18 on page 1?

That details an investigation by OFT and their findings.

In short:

The OFT found that in most instances the sites investigated carried statements explaining the nature of the service provided and disclaiming any official status or affiliation with the government.
The OFT also worked with central government to help official government websites appear more prominently when searched for online.
The OFT prioritises its work in accordance with its published prioritisation principles. Broadly speaking, it focuses its efforts and resources on deterring and influencing behaviour that poses the greatest threat to consumer welfare
Based on the results of its investigation and the improvement in online searches, the OFT has concluded that potential for significant consumer detriment is low and there is insufficient evidence of breaches of consumer protection legislation to warrant prioritising formal enforcement action in this instance. It may reconsider its decision in the future if it receives further evidence of suspected infringements, or its prioritisation assessment changes.

So if OFT have concluded this, who is going to 'shut them down'?

I would urge anyone who has 'further evidence of suspected infringements' to report them to OFT.

But currently - without that 'further evidence' - OFT feels that this is sufficient action:

The OFT is, however, concerned that people visiting a website that charges for processing applications for a government service may not always be aware that they can save money by going direct to the government, so has issued a consumer alert to help raise awareness and warn people to be cautious when entering their card payment details online.

powerful_Rogue

wantmemoney wrote: »

The smoke and mirror waffle you have selected from their site has not been 'upfront' with what they actually supply and more importantly are not supplying.

For example: "We are not affiliated with DVLA" wouldn't mean anything to many people.

why even mention (if not to intentionally confuse) the price of the driving license if their 'service' doesn't include supplying it.

It truly does seem like a race to the bottom sometimes. Its not my fault that someone dosent understand what a word means! There are plenty of online dictionaries.

Failing that, do you not think the part directly after which you failed to mention might not give it away?

The checking service we provide can be obtained from the DVLA directly at a reduced fee or you can apply without a checking service where there will be no checking fee payable.