Booking a driving test on MTO's new website? Get ready for a long wait, instructors say
Driving instructors are expressing concern about the Ministry of Transportation's (MTO) new online booking system for driving tests, saying it is still not working properly, even though the ministry says it has fixed the glitches on the website.
"Since they changed the system, they have been having problems with it," Noel Wilks said.
Wilks, a driving instructor who spoke to CBC News Tuesday at the ministry's DriveTest office in Downsview, says he's been trying to book six students for driving tests on the website for the past two weeks with no success.
"Once you put in your e-mail address, you go, you put your numbers in, and at the final line for you to finish, to say complete, it goes blank... Even last night I tried to book and after I put my Visa in, I got nothing. Nothing. I started over, the same thing."
The ministry says it replaced the old online booking system on September 12 but it was overwhelmed by the volume of transactions.
MTO says it has since fixed the technical problems with its website bookings.
But both new drivers and driving instructors say the site is still not working, and booking an appointment through the DriveTest call centre is almost as frustrating.
"Online is not good. They said there was a problem. Yes there was a problem. I call call centre ... I wait something like 20 minutes, 25 minutes. Wait, wait, wait," said John Ghafari, a driving instructor.
But the ministry told CBC News Tuesday the wait time to speak to an agent at the call centre is about 15 minutes, and booking a road test takes about three minutes.
MTO says the new system books approximately 2,000 online appointments a day and says it.is unaware of any current issues with the website.
The ministry says customers who've had trouble booking or were improperly charged should contact DriveTest.
Wilks says he's been telling his students to go to a DriveTest office to make an appointment in person. He says it could take as long as three hours standing in line, but you have a better chance of walking out with a date and time for your driving test.
