Anyway!
Learned a lot about how MOTs are policed today!
You may remember I said the guy who answered the phone at the MOT testers wasn't one of the usual blokes?
Well I got there and chatted to the owner who i have known for at least 30 years.
Turns out that during lockdown, when the station was closed and the staff furloughed, the tester who normally did mine, was doing tests on the quiet, he had keys to the place (as MOT manager) and under normal circs this would have gone unnoticed, but VOSA picked it up as an anomaly, due to lockdown. So he was guilty of fraud, both of furlough and of defrauding the garage as he wasn't passing on any of the fees. Normally, when he did them evenings or weekends, he'd put the money under the cash box for the owner to find on a Monday morning.
THEN it turned out he was doing them "away" from the MOT testing place. and one car in particular had been tested and passed even though it hadn't moved from Harwich which obvs is nowhere near Poole! Number plate recognition tech hadn't picked it up in either direction.
So now they knew he was doing bent MOTs.
I thought that the tech was connected direct from the garage but no, apparently not any more. Now, with just their card, an MOT tester can log on anywhere and give a pass to anyone! Mad!
We discussed his motivation for doing this as he had no mortgage, no wife, no kids, no need that we knew of.
But he did give about 3 different reasons for doing it, one of which was that he had done an MOT for one or more "travelling people" and it looked as if subsequently they had him by the nuts.
They looked into his log and it went back so far he is into it all for tens of thousands.
So he'll probably end up inside.
So strange, as I have known this bloke for well over 20 years. and in fact my last MOT last year, for Wifey's car, may have been one of the last he did.
And the garage owner treated him so well, he was even going to leave the garage to him in his will, as he has no kids either. £300 to add a codicil to his will to remove this!
Made for an interesting MOT!
Rest of the day was also fun.......
He got greedy an got busted, seen it before with testers including one of my mates
Maybe, like many jobs, the first time you do it it takes you a while, then the second time you reach for the right tool at the right time and use it right, with confidence.Aye the tax is a killer but can claim back for other stuff.
It would have taken me another day to cut the whole deck out from scratch im not sure
why its taken him a week to prep it. Ive done loads of these types of repairs perhaps he
doesnt have the experience?? Like most things if you know how your trade its a breeze.
I could get one job a month like this & work for 2 days & live on that
Sounds like he was lucky just to get a 2 year ban!Oooft
done a test for an undercover vosa inspector. Said to him Jim said youd do a quick mot for
me..
Car on ramp didnt do a full test inspector in
the car doing the lights ect... car had faults which he overlooked or didnt find.
Chap drove away with a new mot then came back 10 mins later flashed his id
advised him to stop testing but couldnt stop him although it would be better for
his case. Got a 2 year ban.
Now he only does his mates cars lol
A much bigger job than I had imagined. All posts for adjusted fence positioning and gates now in position although half of them have yet to be concreted in as the mixer snapped its belt half way through the job. Tomorrow they are going to finish the concreting so that they can continue with the fencing and then 'attack' the gates. The oak posts were so heavy they had to use the mini digger to transport and erect them! The gates were declared as smart and well constructed but recommended that I didn't try to treat them until they were in situ. Tomorrow is another day!Hey DD! did you get your teak-oiling done OK?
Happy with your new gates?
Or have I got the date wrong, yet again?!
Wot fun!
Sorry to disappoint you but we don't live anywhere near each other - he's one end of the county and I'm t'other.Wot fun!
Not! when a belt snaps.
But yes oak is heavy stuff, innit?
So you and this bloke are off to get your jabs together? Tork about blind date!
Who's driving who?
And is he married, or otherwise in a relationship?
(Music from Grease) "Tell me more, tell me more, tell me more!!!"
Ah well, You can't blame me for trying!Sorry to disappoint you but we don't live anywhere near each other - he's one end of the county and I'm t'other.
That's just the technology used to interface. The important thing is the logging in. It limits the number of tests you can do by time. Previously peeps rolled through testing as fast as they wanted, which opened up the option of breaking the rules more easily. Now the details are live yer got to follow the minimum test time. Its also logging time and date to the garage and persons card. The new system is a good thing. Been around a number of years now.Sounds like he was lucky just to get a 2 year ban!
I was amazed to discover that MOT testers can test their own cars. sounds completely bonkers to me. although if one gave himself a pass and then was caught out, he'd lose his licence for ever.
I get the feeling the computerised system was better when the terminal had to be "hardwired" in the testing station. Looks like VOSA or the Dof T trying to save money by allowing testers to do it from a tablet, with a card, PIN etc. shortsighted as feck!
My answer to that is 'you and who's army'? I'm out for the quiet life now - very quiet!Ah well, You can't blame me for trying!
Usual routine 'ere as we enter day 2 of the gates saga although the canines are not keen on being limited to a small part of the garden - I have no sympathy and have told them to be grateful for what they have been given as many dogs don't even get that much for all of their lives. My advice seems to fall on deaf ears.
Yuk!Ah well, You can't blame me for trying!
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