Advice for booking tests

Further to a previous post, I was interested to receive an email from the DSA regarding unofficial booking sites:


Unofficial driving test booking websites: advice for customers
Directgov is the only official driving test booking website.
Other websites offer driving test booking services, but might charge extra administrative fees on top of the Driving Standards Agency’s (DSA) fee. Those websites are not run by or connected to DSA or Directgov.
DSA recommends that all learner drivers book their driving test through the official booking service on Directgov by visiting direct.gov.uk/drivingtest.
If you have used an unofficial website
DSA gets complaints from customers who have used unofficial booking websites. In most cases these websites are doing nothing illegal. This means that DSA’s powers to respond may be limited.
If you have used an unofficial booking website, you might have seven working days to cancel your order and get all your money back. However, this will depend on the terms and conditions of the website you used.
You can find more information about your consumer rights on Directgov. You can also use template letters to complain to businesses. Each letter includes details of the law that you want the trader to follow.
* Internet, mail order and telephone shopping
* Making a complaint - what to do first
* Create a complaint letter from a template
What DSA is doing about unofficial booking websites
DSA takes consumer protection very seriously. So, DSA is:
* protecting its trademarks to make sure they are not:
o used to advertise unofficial booking sites in search engine results
o used as part of website addresses for unofficial booking websites
* asking the Advertising Standards Authority to make sure unofficial booking websites are following the rules in the UK Code of Non-broadcast Advertising, Sales Promotion and Direct Marketing
* asking local Trading Standards to investigate those unofficial booking websites that appear to be misleading consumers
DSA reminds learner drivers on Facebook
What DSA is doing to promote the official booking service
DSA makes improvements based on learner drivers’ feedback to promote the official booking service. For example DSA:
* made sure that the official Directgov website pages appear at the top of search engine results where possible
* created videos showing how to use the practical test booking service – videos are being developed for the theory test booking service too
* reminded learner drivers on Twitter and Facebook about using the official booking service on Directgov.

Glad to see they're taking this issue seriously and giving out advice!