Mrs Pie had our car MOT’d in April. She couldn’ty find the certificate and went to the garage to get another copy of it. They told her they had no record of it being issued and that it wasn’t registered in the government database. After she paid for another MOT, she found the receipt from the first one. The garage are now saying that for some reason they didn’t bother registering it when it was done initially, but seem unwilling to refund our money for the second, unnecessary MOT.

Are they legally allowed to do this?

Ask for a complaint form at the garage. They don’t usually like the Ministry looking into things and you may find they become a little more co-operative.

Dunno, but worth reporting them for not registering it if they don’t cough up

Regardless of legals, they have charged your wife for a service they didnt provide. She has a recipt to prove it as well.

Quick call to trading standards there. If you have been good enough to ask them and they have refused then release the hounds on them

Oh and a call to the local VOSA office will cause them all manner of trouble. I suspect they would be interested to know about this seeing as they are working on their behalf

you paid before it was done or they have done it?

Ask them nicely for a refund.

If they don’t pay up, ask for maybe half the price back (as you now have 6months more MOT).

If they still don’t play ball, threaten to contact VOSA or whoever it is that administers MOT’s as I can’t imagine them being impressed that a MOT cert went out the door without any record of the MOT being done.

If that fails, contact VOSA and find a new local garage for next time.

[edit] typed that too slowly clearly.

yes demand retribution and if they refuse release the hounds on them – does the receipt prove an MOT was issued or just that you paid them some money?

VOSA will take a very dim view of this. With enough complaints their licence is revoked iirc

Did they issue a certificate for the first MOT? If so then it must have been registered with the VOSA as its all electronic nowadays.

They can’t just say ‘yeah mate its passed’ and send you on your way with no documentation!

If it wasn’t registered do’s that mean you’ve been driving round with no mot?

He has a recipt but no certificate was ever issued. That means in anyones eyes, no MOT has ever been carried out. VOSA will be interested to know that a garage forgot to MOT a vehicle when requested.

Imagine if you had killed a pedestrian and then you were looking at also having no insurance or MOT thrown in. Imagine if there was a serious defect in the vehicle?

I try to stand up for garages against the piffle spouted on here but this is not defensible. If you have a recipt for the work and no cert was issued then they need to be investigated

This doesn’t really prove who is at fault here. Suppose they sent a failure sheet back, which was mistaken for an MOT certificate and then lost. There would still be a receipt for an MOT and no MOT registered as no MOT certificate was issued.
Have you seen a pass certificate?

There would still be a receipt for an MOT and no MOT registered as no MOT certificate was issued.

I think so. As has already been stated, it’s all computerised now….. including the failure sheet.

Impossible, my old man was (now retired) an MOT tester, its all computerised, on line and has to be carried out within a time limit.

Tell them to cough up a full refund for the initial test or explain that you’ll be taking it to the Ministry Of Transport.

Agree with MrNutt. Every tester has his own swipe card which he must log on to the system with. He then has a certain amount of time in which to carry out the test. If you have a receipt with a time and date on then I would ask for a refund. If that is not forth coming then a call to VOSA as your car would have had a slot booked and maybe VOSA would be able to check to see if your car reg was booked in on the day of the receipt.

As an aside ….. If you request a replacement certificate ( which I assume was the plan ) is there not a fee anyway ?
and is that fee not in the ball park of the actual MOT ?

So you could you not look on it as just getting the car done 6 months early ……. after all you do actually need a certificate even when it has been registered online in case of query ( afaik ) and either you lost it or forgot to collect it ….. just a thought ………

You will no doubt have no leverage with your threat of talking to VOSA due to no MOT having been carried out. If you wanted complain about the test result or a problem to do with a test result then yes, go to VOSA. No test having been carried out when you requested and paid for one would be a reason to talk to trading standards or mention the name of your legal representation if they refuse a refund! I am an MOT tester by the way.

Isn’t there a limitation on the number of MOT’s a year now for a car.

No limit. You can have one every day if you’re weird enough!

I should have mentioned that if the alleged test was carried out but not at the testing station you were talking to then when they tried to print a duplicate certificate the VTS device would display a message saying that the vehicle had not been tested within the last 18 months. It is possible to issue a duplicate certificate at a testing station other than that at which the original was carried out but they would need the V5 document reference number. The best option before you take any other action would be to visit the VOSA website and check the MOT history for the vehicle. Again, you will need the V5 for the document reference number.

http://www.direct.gov.uk/en/Motoring/OwningAVehicle/Mot/DG_10020539

Thanks for the replies. Garage eventually coughed up a refund when pressed a little bit harder. I don’t think the chap in charge was too happy about it though….