The Student Room Group

Driving examiner was inappropriate and unprofessional - worth reporting?

Hi all,
My girlfriend passed her driving test today (HOORAY!). However, the examiner was an utter muppet. She misunderstood him and took the wrong exit off a roundabout, to which he yelled "**** sake, what the **** are you doing?". From that point on, he would laugh out loud any time she made a small mistake. When asked if he was happy enough with her reverse around the corner, he said "what the **** do you think? drive on."
At the end of the test, he totalled up her minor mistakes, found it wasn't enough to fail her, and said "You've passed. I can't ****ing believe it either." He then threw the pass certificate at her and said "You should give yourself 30 ****ing minutes when you're driving to the shop", and then slammed her door so hard that it bounced back open.

Obviously everyone is telling her she should report it, but she's worried that they would re-investigate her examination and ask her to carry it out again. I think this is highly unlikely, but it's a reasonable concern. Is it remotely possible that they would ask her to re-take the test? Even so, is it even worth reporting him?

Many thanks.

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Reply 1
Original post by Ghost
Hi all,
My girlfriend passed her driving test today (HOORAY!). However, the examiner was an utter muppet. She misunderstood him and took the wrong exit off a roundabout, to which he yelled "**** sake, what the **** are you doing?". From that point on, he would laugh out loud any time she made a small mistake. When asked if he was happy enough with her reverse around the corner, he said "what the **** do you think? drive on."
At the end of the test, he totalled up her minor mistakes, found it wasn't enough to fail her, and said "You've passed. I can't ****ing believe it either." He then threw the pass certificate at her and said "You should give yourself 30 ****ing minutes when you're driving to the shop", and then slammed her door so hard that it bounced back open.

Obviously everyone is telling her she should report it, but she's worried that they would re-investigate her examination and ask her to carry it out again. I think this is highly unlikely, but it's a reasonable concern. Is it remotely possible that they would ask her to re-take the test? Even so, is it even worth reporting him?

Many thanks.


I very much doubt they'd make her take her test again - if he's found to be incompetent then they aren't exactly going to make everyone who took their tests with him redo them, it'd be completely unfair. If she's really concerned she could write an anonymous letter to the driving centre, but either way she needs to report him, his behaviour was totally unnacceptable. Your poor girlfriend!
No I don't think they would if you just focus on the bad language and the door slamming and not mention the actual specifics of the test. Was he drunk or something?
I would report him, he sounds like a horrible person and enough to put another person off during their test, causing a possible failure when they would have passed with anyone else. I don't think they would ask her to redo her test, because the test sheet would show that only minors were commited and there weren't enough of them to fail (not 100% sure on this though).

EDIT: As someone else said earlier in the thread- she could do it anonymously if she knows the details of the examiner (i.e his full name)
(edited 13 years ago)
I deffinately think she should report the examiner, wether or not she will have to take the test again im not sure. If she does have to take it again i dont think she will have to pay anything. What did her driving instructor have to say when she told him/her about what had happened?
Reply 5
Original post by Tuppenny
I very much doubt they'd make her take her test again - if he's found to be incompetent then they aren't exactly going to make everyone who took their tests with him redo them, it'd be completely unfair. If she's really concerned she could write an anonymous letter to the driving centre, but either way she needs to report him, his behaviour was totally unnacceptable. Your poor girlfriend!


Thanks for the input. I feel so bad for her :frown:. She's passed her test and should be ecstatic, but instead she feels miserable! Apparently she was in tears throughout the test - not because of the stress of driving, but simply because of how he was acting. It was pure intimidation. Hats off to her for passing under such circumstances - I'm sure even some of us more experienced drivers would fail if we were put through that.
Reply 6
if he was found to be incompetent or guilty of misconduct then she would have to re do the test (no extra cost), even if he didnt act in her favour, its happened before
Reply 7
Original post by Ghost
Thanks for the input. I feel so bad for her :frown:. She's passed her test and should be ecstatic, but instead she feels miserable! Apparently she was in tears throughout the test - not because of the stress of driving, but simply because of how he was acting. It was pure intimidation. Hats off to her for passing under such circumstances - I'm sure even some of us more experienced drivers would fail if we were put through that.


I think if she's been that upset an anonymous letter is the way to go - the last thing she wants is the stress of possibly having to take her test again. Either that or you could make a complaint on her behalf but refuse to give her details. What a horrible situation to be in.:frown:
Reply 8
She could try sending an email off to the people that investigate illegal driving instruction - it's not neccessarily the right place but they could pass her concerns on and she could stay anonymous.

http://www.direct.gov.uk/en/Motoring/LearnerAndNewDrivers/LearningToDriveOrRide/DG_4022528
Oh my goodness, that's disgusting. I'd absolutely report it without a doubt. If nothing else comes out of it, at least there'd be a chance that nobody else would have to endure what your girlfriend's been through today.

On another note - your girlfriend should be sooo proud of herself for passing under those conditions. She must be one very skilled driver. Hats off to her, seriously.

Good luck if you decide to report it. His full name should be on her certificate, if I remember correctly.
(edited 13 years ago)
its not a fail to go the wrong way.
she has the pass certificate now, they cannot take that away (unless she is speeding etc...)
report it! now! if she passed it while she went through all of that, i highly doubt that she would fail if she had to take it again anyways, even though i highly doubt that they would make her take the test again.
That is really bad - if anything he probably put her off with his behaviour.

I would report straight away, she won't get it taken from her because she has technically passed the test.
get her to report him, she shouldnt have to re-take her test but if she was good enough to pass the first time she'll be fine :smile:
Your poor gf! at least she passed and her confidence wasn't ruined! I'd deffo report it tbh
Examiner sounds like a complete prick and needs taking off the roads. Anonymous complaint is the way to go.
I don't know the answer but am trying to find out the best way of handling this. I will hopefully report back later.

Emma
Reply 17
Original post by Emma-Ashley
I don't know the answer but am trying to find out the best way of handling this. I will hopefully report back later.

Emma


Thanks Emma :smile:
Reply 18
Report report report.
An anonymous complaint may well be ignored and if not it will be very difficult to act upon. A formal complaint is the way to go, they won't make her retake the test. One possibility would be for her to have her driving instructor make a complaint - my instructor told me about an examiner who used to be rude and abusive, once a formal complaint was made by my instructor he was sorted out.

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