"But you told me I had a free retest"
A customer arrives with a car that failed two weeks ago. They took it to another garage for the repair, which took longer than they expected. They assume the retest is free, or at a reduced fee. It is past the period in which that applies. The tester explains, the customer argues, and the person at the desk does not remember what was said on the day of the failure.
On another day, a regular customer who failed on a tyre simply never came back for the retest. Nobody noticed. The customer drove for weeks without a valid test, and when they found out, they blamed you for not reminding them.
Failures leave the building with no follow-up
When a vehicle passes, the job is done. When it fails, there is unfinished business: the repair, and the retest within the rules that apply. But once the customer drives away, nothing in most centres keeps track of them. The fail is recorded in the MOT testing service, but that is not a follow-up tool for your centre.
The rules about retests and fees depend on things like whether the car leaves the premises and how long it is before it returns. Customers rarely understand them, and staff may explain them differently from day to day.
What untracked retests cost
| Gap | Result |
|---|---|
| No list of failures due back | Retests missed, customers lost to other centres |
| Deadlines not recorded | Arguments about free or reduced fee retests |
| No reminder to the customer | Customers miss the window, then blame the centre |
| No slot held | Retests squeezed into a full diary |
| Explanations vary by staff | Inconsistent answers and complaints |
A failed vehicle is also the customer most likely to need a repair. If your centre does repairs, losing track of failures loses that work too.
How we build a retest tracker
- When a vehicle fails, the tester or desk records it on a simple screen: registration, customer, failure items in brief, and whether the vehicle stayed on site or left.
- The tracker works out the retest deadline and fee position from rules you set up, based on the retest arrangements that apply to your centre. We do not decide them.
- The customer receives a clear written message the same day: what failed in plain words, the retest deadline, and what fee applies if they return before or after it.
- A reminder goes out ahead of the deadline, with a link to book the retest into a slot held for retests.
- A daily list shows vehicles due back soon and ones whose deadline has passed without a retest, so the desk can ring them.
- When the retest happens, the record closes, and a failure that never came back is kept so you can see how many customers are lost at this stage.
Test results themselves stay in the MOT testing service. The tracker is your centre's own follow-up list, and it can read results from your records where the systems allow.
The same customer, a different conversation
On the day of the failure, the customer receives a message confirming what failed and the date by which the retest must happen for the fee position you explained. Before that date, they get a reminder with a booking link. They book the retest into a held slot, and the conversation at the desk is about the car, not the fee.
The regular who failed on a tyre gets a reminder, and when they do not respond, appears on the desk's call list. They are contacted before it is too late.
- Every failure recorded with its retest deadline
- Customers told the rules in writing on the day
- Reminders and held slots for retests
- A list of failures that never came back
Are failed MOTs disappearing?
- You have no list of vehicles due back for retest.
- Customers argue about retest fees after the deadline.
- Failed customers sometimes never return.
- Staff explain retest rules differently.
- Retests have to be squeezed into a full day.