I seem to have been waiting weeks for my renewal.....is Swansea a covid
hotspot..?

On 20/04/2022 in message <t3p5s7$uj3$1@dont-email.me> Sysadmin wrote:

>I seem to have been waiting weeks for my renewal.....is Swansea a covid
>hotspot..?

DVLA is run by the modern version of Red Robbo and has been on Covid
holiday or strike for months. It took 7 months to renew my driving licence
as I don't have a passport and I've moved and need to change the address.
The online system doesn't recognise the licence and the extraordinarily
unhelpful person on web chat said I had to do it by post - have to go to a
Post Office for the form - and it will take 10 to 12 weeks.

--
Jeff Gaines Dorset UK
That's an amazing invention but who would ever want to use one of them?
(President Hayes speaking to Alexander Graham Bell on the invention of the
telephone)

On 20/04/2022 15:37, Sysadmin wrote:
> I seem to have been waiting weeks for my renewal.....is Swansea a covid
> hotspot..?

No, it's a trades-union hotspot. One of the last bastions of
full-on 'feck the customers' establishments where most of the
staff are 'working' from home to add even more delays to those
people who were silly enough to send stuff back by post.

I renewed my driving licence online and it came back in about 10
days.

On Wed, 20 Apr 2022 15:46:20 +0100, Andrew wrote:

> On 20/04/2022 15:37, Sysadmin wrote:
>> I seem to have been waiting weeks for my renewal.....is Swansea a covid
>> hotspot..?
>
> No, it's a trades-union hotspot. One of the last bastions of full-on
> 'feck the customers' establishments where most of the staff are
> 'working' from home to add even more delays to those people who were
> silly enough to send stuff back by post.
>
> I renewed my driving licence online and it came back in about 10 days.

This is an online renewal because I am over 70.

On 20/04/2022 15:37, Sysadmin wrote:
> I seem to have been waiting weeks for my renewal.....is Swansea a covid
> hotspot..?

I moved and so had to send off my old non-photo licence. I have a UK
passport, so that makes it easier. I was staggered at how quickly it
was done, just before xmas 2021, in three or four days. Bastards, I was
looking forward to a good moan.

--
Cheers
Clive

Andrew wrote:

> On 20/04/2022 15:37, Sysadmin wrote:
>
>> I seem to have been waiting weeks for my renewal.....is Swansea a covid
>> hotspot..?

Not recently

<https://coronavirus.data.gov.uk/public/assets/frontpage/images/map.png>

> No, it's a trades-union hotspot. One of the last bastions of
> full-on 'feck the customers' establishments where most of the
> staff are 'working' from home to add even more delays to those
> people who were silly enough to send stuff back by post.
>
> I renewed  my driving licence online and it came back in about 10
> days.

yep, I've transferred 3 vehicle registrations online and they all came back
quickly, but they seem to operating a LIFO "cram them in the corner" approach to
bags of mail.

On Wed, 20 Apr 2022 16:00:36 +0100, Clive Arthur wrote:

> On 20/04/2022 15:37, Sysadmin wrote:
>> I seem to have been waiting weeks for my renewal.....is Swansea a covid
>> hotspot..?
>
> I moved and so had to send off my old non-photo licence. I have a UK
> passport, so that makes it easier. I was staggered at how quickly it
> was done, just before xmas 2021, in three or four days. Bastards, I was
> looking forward to a good moan.

All my previous renewals have all been returned quickly, can only assume
they have a huge backlog.

Sysadmin wrote:

> Clive Arthur wrote:
>
> All my previous renewals have all been returned quickly, can only assume
> they have a huge backlog.

<https://youtu.be/PZZ8SqKcNwk>

On Wed, 20 Apr 2022 14:51:25 -0000 (UTC), Sysadmin <jon@home.net>
wrote:

>>
>> I renewed my driving licence online and it came back in about 10 days.
>
>
>This is an online renewal because I am over 70.

A few weeks ago I renewed my over-70 licence (online) on a Thursday
and the replacement arrived on the following Monday.

On 20/04/2022 16:47, Peter Johnson wrote:
> On Wed, 20 Apr 2022 14:51:25 -0000 (UTC), Sysadmin <jon@home.net>
> wrote:
>
>>>
>>> I renewed my driving licence online and it came back in about 10 days.
>>
>>
>> This is an online renewal because I am over 70.
>
> A few weeks ago I renewed my over-70 licence (online) on a Thursday
> and the replacement arrived on the following Monday.
+1

On 20/04/2022 15:51, Sysadmin wrote:
> On Wed, 20 Apr 2022 15:46:20 +0100, Andrew wrote:
>
>> On 20/04/2022 15:37, Sysadmin wrote:
>>> I seem to have been waiting weeks for my renewal.....is Swansea a covid
>>> hotspot..?
>>
>> No, it's a trades-union hotspot. One of the last bastions of full-on
>> 'feck the customers' establishments where most of the staff are
>> 'working' from home to add even more delays to those people who were
>> silly enough to send stuff back by post.
>>
>> I renewed my driving licence online and it came back in about 10 days.
>
>
> This is an online renewal because I am over 70.

If you have a 'bio' passport, did you tick the box that allows
DVSA to use your passport photo and details ?

On 20/04/2022 16:35, Sysadmin wrote:
> On Wed, 20 Apr 2022 16:00:36 +0100, Clive Arthur wrote:
>
>> On 20/04/2022 15:37, Sysadmin wrote:
>>> I seem to have been waiting weeks for my renewal.....is Swansea a covid
>>> hotspot..?
>>
>> I moved and so had to send off my old non-photo licence. I have a UK
>> passport, so that makes it easier. I was staggered at how quickly it
>> was done, just before xmas 2021, in three or four days. Bastards, I was
>> looking forward to a good moan.
>
> All my previous renewals have all been returned quickly, can only assume
> they have a huge backlog.

My on-line renewal took 4 working days but I believe the delays are if
you cannot use on-line or if you don't have a valid (modern) passport
with a photo in the data base as they use the passport photo on the
driving licence.

Recent TV investigations show massive back logs of mail piled high in
the offices and older mail stacked well behind the more recent arrivals.
It appears to be a very unsafe Covid place to work, according to the
unions. It's also staffed mainly by the Welsh!

--
mailto : news {at} admac {dot} myzen {dot} co {dot} uk

On 20/04/2022 15:37, Sysadmin wrote:
> I seem to have been waiting weeks for my renewal.....is Swansea a covid
> hotspot..?

I had to send medical details which means on-line isn't an option. I
sent everything off on January 25th. I still haven't got my licence back.

I emailed and asked what goes on. Got this:

This is a system generated acknowledgement - Do not reply to this email.
We can appreciate you contacting us to check the progress of your
application.
Paper applications are likely to take between 6-10 weeks to process, but
there may be additional
delays in processing more complex transactions. There is no need to
phone to chase up your
application during this time as we are dealing with all paper
applications as quickly as possible
and in the order in which they are received.
You can check www.gov.uk/guidance/dvla-coronavirus-covid-19-update for
information and
updates on our timescales.
As you have already sent your Drivers Licence application into us, you
can check if it has been
issued by using our view driving licence service at
www.gov.uk/view-driving-licence. The
‘licence valid from date’ will be the date your last licence was issued.
Once your licence has
been issued please allow 2 weeks from the 'licence valid from date' to
be received.
Due to the volume of mail received here each day, it is not possible for
us to confirm receipt of
your application.

They send a reference number that you use to chase up your application.
But when you use it the website says it has to have 14 digits, and it
only has 8!

Bill

On 20/04/2022 in message <9ja06h1usmt2mgpnt6e2tp3np0u57378q6@4ax.com>
Peter Johnson wrote:

>On Wed, 20 Apr 2022 14:51:25 -0000 (UTC), Sysadmin <jon@home.net>
>wrote:
>
>>>
>>>I renewed my driving licence online and it came back in about 10 days.
>>
>>
>>This is an online renewal because I am over 70.
>
>A few weeks ago I renewed my over-70 licence (online) on a Thursday
>and the replacement arrived on the following Monday.

That is only possible if you have a passport, if you don't then you have
to go through the paper process.

--
Jeff Gaines Dorset UK
If you ever find something you like buy a lifetime supply because they
will stop making it

In message <xn0ngunafa1kntb00n@news.individual.net>, Jeff Gaines
<jgaines_newsid@yahoo.co.uk> writes
>On 20/04/2022 in message <9ja06h1usmt2mgpnt6e2tp3np0u57378q6@4ax.com>
>Peter Johnson wrote:
>
>>On Wed, 20 Apr 2022 14:51:25 -0000 (UTC), Sysadmin <jon@home.net>
>>wrote:
>>
>>>>
>>>>I renewed my driving licence online and it came back in about 10 days.
>>>
>>>
>>>This is an online renewal because I am over 70.
>>
>>A few weeks ago I renewed my over-70 licence (online) on a Thursday
>>and the replacement arrived on the following Monday.
>
>That is only possible if you have a passport, if you don't then you
>have to go through the paper process.
>
However, it seems that the passport still has to be current. Mine had
expired a year earlier, and I had to fill in the paper form.
--
Ian

On 20/04/2022 in message <A+FYloC+0FYiFwhI@brattleho.plus.com> Ian Jackson
wrote:

>In message <xn0ngunafa1kntb00n@news.individual.net>, Jeff Gaines
><jgaines_newsid@yahoo.co.uk> writes
>>On 20/04/2022 in message <9ja06h1usmt2mgpnt6e2tp3np0u57378q6@4ax.com>
>>Peter Johnson wrote:
>>
>>>On Wed, 20 Apr 2022 14:51:25 -0000 (UTC), Sysadmin <jon@home.net>
>>>wrote:
>>>
>>>>>
>>>>>I renewed my driving licence online and it came back in about 10 days.
>>>>
>>>>
>>>>This is an online renewal because I am over 70.
>>>
>>>A few weeks ago I renewed my over-70 licence (online) on a Thursday
>>>and the replacement arrived on the following Monday.
>>
>>That is only possible if you have a passport, if you don't then you have
>>to go through the paper process.
>>
>However, it seems that the passport still has to be current. Mine had
>expired a year earlier, and I had to fill in the paper form.

Yep, I tried to use an expired passport too without success :-(

--
Jeff Gaines Dorset UK
All things being equal, fat people use more soap

In message <xn0nguq09a57xk100o@news.individual.net>, Jeff Gaines
<jgaines_newsid@yahoo.co.uk> writes
>On 20/04/2022 in message <A+FYloC+0FYiFwhI@brattleho.plus.com> Ian
>Jackson wrote:
>
>>In message <xn0ngunafa1kntb00n@news.individual.net>, Jeff Gaines
>><jgaines_newsid@yahoo.co.uk> writes
>>>On 20/04/2022 in message <9ja06h1usmt2mgpnt6e2tp3np0u57378q6@4ax.com>
>>>Peter Johnson wrote:
>>>
>>>>On Wed, 20 Apr 2022 14:51:25 -0000 (UTC), Sysadmin <jon@home.net>
>>>>wrote:
>>>>
>>>>>>
>>>>>>I renewed my driving licence online and it came back in about 10 days.
>>>>>
>>>>>
>>>>>This is an online renewal because I am over 70.
>>>>
>>>>A few weeks ago I renewed my over-70 licence (online) on a Thursday
>>>>and the replacement arrived on the following Monday.
>>>
>>>That is only possible if you have a passport, if you don't then you
>>>have to go through the paper process.
>>>
>>However, it seems that the passport still has to be current. Mine had
>>expired a year earlier, and I had to fill in the paper form.
>
>Yep, I tried to use an expired passport too without success :-(
>
The one that had expired had actually never been used, and as I have my
doubts if I'll ever be going abroad again, I'm debating as to whether I
should get a new one. On the other hand, the way things are developing
in the UK it seems that an increasing number of organisations need or
prefer a passport as an ID document (for all sorts of reasons, eg
three-yearly driving licence renewal), so I'm wondering if I should
simply get one for the occasional convenience it might provide. [My
wife's passport expires in a couple of months, so the same applies to
her. On the other hand, at £75.50 each, is it really worth it?]
--
Ian

On 20/04/2022 in message <bu1ehEI$EHYiFwC1@brattleho.plus.com> Ian Jackson
wrote:

>>Yep, I tried to use an expired passport too without success :-(
>>
>The one that had expired had actually never been used, and as I have my
>doubts if I'll ever be going abroad again, I'm debating as to whether I
>should get a new one. On the other hand, the way things are developing in
>the UK it seems that an increasing number of organisations need or prefer
>a passport as an ID document (for all sorts of reasons, eg three-yearly
>driving licence renewal), so I'm wondering if I should simply get one for
>the occasional convenience it might provide. [My wife's passport expires
>in a couple of months, so the same applies to her. On the other hand, at
>£75.50 each, is it really worth it?]

It's worth thinking about, £75 over ten years doesn't sound so bad?

The real issue with driving licences is the commie union man who seems to
run the place.

--
Jeff Gaines Dorset UK
I've been through the desert on a horse with no name.
It was a right bugger to get him back when he ran off.

On 20/04/2022 04:35 pm, Sysadmin wrote:

> On Wed, 20 Apr 2022 16:00:36 +0100, Clive Arthur wrote:
>> On 20/04/2022 15:37, Sysadmin wrote:

>>> I seem to have been waiting weeks for my renewal.....is Swansea a covid
>>> hotspot..?

That's what some want the public to think!

A friend had to get his MP involved before he got his three-year renewal
licence. Naturally, any driving he did while waiting was done without
the benefit of physical evidence of his driving licence.

>> I moved and so had to send off my old non-photo licence. I have a UK
>> passport, so that makes it easier. I was staggered at how quickly it
>> was done, just before xmas 2021, in three or four days. Bastards, I was
>> looking forward to a good moan.
>
> All my previous renewals have all been returned quickly, can only assume
> they have a huge backlog.

One can only suspect that this is the type of thing which has prompted
some ministers to call for public servants to go back to work at the
office, where all the delivered post actually is.

On 20/04/2022 04:47 pm, Peter Johnson wrote:
> On Wed, 20 Apr 2022 14:51:25 -0000 (UTC), Sysadmin <jon@home.net>
> wrote:
>
>>>
>>> I renewed my driving licence online and it came back in about 10 days.
>>
>>
>> This is an online renewal because I am over 70.
>
> A few weeks ago I renewed my over-70 licence (online) on a Thursday
> and the replacement arrived on the following Monday.

According to reports, that would be unusual.
>

On 21/04/2022 in message <jcbqh1FjkaU2@mid.individual.net> JNugent wrote:

>On 20/04/2022 04:47 pm, Peter Johnson wrote:
>>On Wed, 20 Apr 2022 14:51:25 -0000 (UTC), Sysadmin <jon@home.net>
>>wrote:
>>
>>>>
>>>>I renewed my driving licence online and it came back in about 10 days.
>>>
>>>
>>>This is an online renewal because I am over 70.
>>
>>A few weeks ago I renewed my over-70 licence (online) on a Thursday
>>and the replacement arrived on the following Monday.
>
>According to reports, that would be unusual.
>>

If you hold a valid passport there is a very quick turn round. It's when
you don't the wait starts.

--
Jeff Gaines Dorset UK
All those who believe in psychokinesis raise my hand.

On 20/04/2022 15:51, Sysadmin wrote:
> On Wed, 20 Apr 2022 15:46:20 +0100, Andrew wrote:
>
>> On 20/04/2022 15:37, Sysadmin wrote:
>>> I seem to have been waiting weeks for my renewal.....is Swansea a covid
>>> hotspot..?
>>
>> No, it's a trades-union hotspot. One of the last bastions of full-on
>> 'feck the customers' establishments where most of the staff are
>> 'working' from home to add even more delays to those people who were
>> silly enough to send stuff back by post.
>>
>> I renewed my driving licence online and it came back in about 10 days.
>
>
> This is an online renewal because I am over 70.

My similar renewal came through very quickly (in February).

On 20/04/2022 15:37, Sysadmin wrote:
> I seem to have been waiting weeks for my renewal.....is Swansea a covid
> hotspot..?

It might be worth phoning them up. I sent in the forms for my renewal early Dec and when I hadn't heard by mid-Feb started to get worried as the licence had by then expired - though it isn't actually illegal to drive on an expired licence (conditions apply).

Phoning them up in Feb was impossible - no call queue, just a message saying they were overloaded.

In March one could get in a call queue, and only 25 minutes later I was able to talk to a real human. He confirmed my application had been received and was being processed. It might have been a coincidence but I got the new licence just a few days later.

--
Clive Page

On 21/04/2022 08:42 am, Jeff Gaines wrote:
> On 21/04/2022 in message <jcbqh1FjkaU2@mid.individual.net> JNugent wrote:
>
>> On 20/04/2022 04:47 pm, Peter Johnson wrote:
>>> On Wed, 20 Apr 2022 14:51:25 -0000 (UTC), Sysadmin <jon@home.net>
>>> wrote:
>>>
>>>>>
>>>>> I renewed  my driving licence online and it came back in about 10
>>>>> days.
>>>>
>>>>
>>>> This is an online renewal because I am over 70.
>>>
>>> A few weeks ago I renewed my over-70 licence (online) on a Thursday
>>> and the replacement arrived on the following Monday.
>>
>> According to reports, that would be unusual.
>>>
>
> If you hold a valid passport there is a very quick turn round. It's when
> you don't the wait starts.

Yes... but why *should* it?

Is the DVLA run for the benefit of the population at large or just for
the benefit of those who happen to have jobs there?

On 21/04/2022 in message <jcdnjvFbr47U4@mid.individual.net> JNugent wrote:

>>>>A few weeks ago I renewed my over-70 licence (online) on a Thursday
>>>>and the replacement arrived on the following Monday.
>>>
>>>According to reports, that would be unusual.
>>>>
>>
>>If you hold a valid passport there is a very quick turn round. It's when
>>you don't the wait starts.
>
>Yes... but why should it?
>
>Is the DVLA run for the benefit of the population at large or just for the
>benefit of those who happen to have jobs there?

It happens because the process links to your passport picture, perhaps t's
fully automated?

The DVLA is run by today's equivalent of Red Robbo for his grandisement, I
think its an external agency so should be relieved of its contract and
replaced.

--
Jeff Gaines Dorset UK
It may be that your sole purpose in life is to serve as a warning to others.