Theory Driving Test
Options
Hi, did you know that the theory driving test costs £31
I now know of 3 people that have paid between £35 and £68!!!!!
This variation only happens when booked on line.
Apparantly what is happening is people are googling 'theory driving test'. This brings up hundreds of results including paid adverts at the top.
These adverts are actually for companies acting as agents.
These agents are free to charge what they want as a 'booking fee'.
Young people are using these agencies thinking they are dealing direct with the DSA and are spending their hard earned money unnecessarily.
These agencies are not operating outside of the law but I feel we should let as many people as possible know about this legal scam.
The same situation also occurs when looking for the practical tests as well.
The government website is dsa.gov.uk you can then navigate through to test page.
The DSA are aware of this issue but who knows what or if anything can be done.
I now know of 3 people that have paid between £35 and £68!!!!!
This variation only happens when booked on line.
Apparantly what is happening is people are googling 'theory driving test'. This brings up hundreds of results including paid adverts at the top.
These adverts are actually for companies acting as agents.
These agents are free to charge what they want as a 'booking fee'.
Young people are using these agencies thinking they are dealing direct with the DSA and are spending their hard earned money unnecessarily.
These agencies are not operating outside of the law but I feel we should let as many people as possible know about this legal scam.
The same situation also occurs when looking for the practical tests as well.
The government website is dsa.gov.uk you can then navigate through to test page.
The DSA are aware of this issue but who knows what or if anything can be done.
0
Comments
-
Not just the theory test - my son was nearly caught out when booking his driving practical test - same thing happened. Its terrible that they are allowed to scam people like this.0
-
There seems to be loads of money to be made acting as an agent booking theory tests. So much so that I'm even thinking about making a quick site in FrontPage and chucking a PayPal link on it!
0 -
You would need to very dim to not realise that these are agencies, and not an official government web site.
They are not a scam, they are selling a service, just like say a travel agent would.
Nobody is forced to use them.0 -
You would need to very dim to not realise that these are agencies, and not an official government web site.
They are not a scam, they are selling a service, just like say a travel agent would.
Nobody is forced to use them.
Thats a bit unfair, being 17 usually means you have very little experience (if any) of beurocracy and if you find the price is say £55 then you're likely to pay that £55. Yeah so they don't look like official government agencies- neither does the counter at Boots, but when they charge you a £7.20 prescription fee you don't have to check the Lloyds Pharmacy next door and the dispensary at the district hospital to be sure £7.20 is right. Remember a 17 year old, provided they are in education (most are), has not yet in thier life so much as paid a prescription fee. For most teenagers learning to drive is thier first ever meaningful payment to a government body- of course they're not paperwork-savvy yet (we don't teach it in schools y'know). The whole point of doing a theory test is to gain access to the world of motoring- at that point you are going to know nothing/very little. If that wasn't the case there'd be no need for a driving licence at all.I refuse to be afraid of the big bad wolf, spiders, or debt collection agencies; one of them's not real and the other two are powerless without my fear.
(Ok, one of them is powerless, spiders can be nasty.)
As of the last count I have cleared [STRIKE]23.16%[/STRIKE] 22.49% of my debt.
0 -
There is a similar "scam" with buying birth, marriage and death certificates on line. I am into family history and the times some poor soul has told me they cant afford to keep buying the anything up to £50 for a certificate - when in fact the certs were £7 each from the official GRO online. I can assure you people taken in by the site were definitely not dim.
I dont think you need to be dim inactive, Ive looked at those pretend driving test sites and its only after you have put in your details and got further on that it was obvious to me that it wasnt right.0 -
I dont think you need to be dim inactive, Ive looked at those pretend driving test sites and its only after you have put in your details and got further on that it was obvious to me that it wasnt right.
C'mon, they are clearly not government web sites, most of them look like something a kid of 5 has put together.;)0 -
Thanks for the useful tip!0
-
Best things to do for the learner driver is to ask their instructor for the latest details i.e prices/website/phone number.0
-
Well I've just googled driving theory test booking and other than one single sponsored ad at the top, which I fail to believe any teenager these days would fail to recognise as an ad, the first two results are the official dla sites, and the third result is the official direct.gov site. You have to scroll down to find anything else and clicking on the next couple they are so obviously badly done commercial sites (covered in google/Amazon ad links for example). Unless a teenager has been raised in a cave with no internet access, I find it hard to believe they'd get confused.
Older people not used to the internet so much, maybe.Cash not ash from January 2nd 2011: £2565.:j
OU student: A103 , A215 , A316 all done. Currently A230 all leading to an English Literature degree.
Any advice given is as an individual, not as a representative of my firm.0 -
^^^^ Wasn't like that before.....perhaps dsa have got google and other search engines to sort it out.0
This discussion has been closed.
Categories
- All Categories
- 343.5K Banking & Borrowing
- 250.2K Reduce Debt & Boost Income
- 449.9K Spending & Discounts
- 235.6K Work, Benefits & Business
- 608.6K Mortgages, Homes & Bills
- 173.2K Life & Family
- 248.2K Travel & Transport
- 1.5M Hobbies & Leisure
- 15.9K Discuss & Feedback
- 15.1K Coronavirus Support Boards