You’re at the test centre. This is it, you’re all prepared, you’ve just put in a good hour before your test, all your manoeuvres were perfect, your roundabouts sublime. Poised at the other end of the phone are friends and relatives, all waiting for the good news.
You’ve taken the day off work so that you can celebrate your success, all the hard work has come down to this next 40 minutes, you’re ready, its time, out comes the examiner, he calls your name -
and tells you that your test has been cancelled.
This unfortunately happens sometimes, and there’s not much you can do. The reasons for cancellation are varied. It may be that an examiner has been taken ill, or one has been delayed returning from a previous test, or maybe there’s been a mix up with the bookings service and there’s been a double booking.
Whatever the reason, having your test cancelled literally at the last minute is very stressful and all that usually happens is that you’ll receive a re-scheduled test date within 2 to 3 weeks, so your test fee is not lost.
But what about the costs other than your test fee, such as the time off work, as well as the cost of your instructors car, plus any extra driving lessons you require for practice before your re-scheduled test. All this can add up, so not only are you disappointed with the test not happening, you’re out of pocket as well.
There are a couple of things you can try if you are unfortunate enough to be in this position. Try ringing the D.S.A straight away while your instructors still with you. If he’s available they may be able to fit you in with another test date within a couple of days, or even the same day in some cases.
Or what you can do is ask at the test centre if there’s a chance of taking your test at the end of the day ( after the last official test time ), if your instructors available and there’s an examiner willing to do it, then you will have to contact the D.S.A to make the test time official.
You also need to be aware you may have to pay an extra fee ( approx £13 ) because the test is ‘Out of hours’. But balanced off against either taking your test the same day, or waiting 2 to 3 weeks it has to be worth it.
Hopefully nothing will go wrong on your test day but if it does and you end up disappointed at the last minute, try to get your test to take place as soon as possible, after all its not your fault so why should you suffer financially and emotionally more than you have already? Good luck!
