The SAAQclic platform is still experiencing setbacks, as users recently encountered an inaccessible online service and appointments were canceled without warning, our Parliamentary Office has learned.
One mother was unable to reach the branch near her home and even had to drive two hours for her son’s driving test in recent weeks.
As for him, a motorcyclist from the south coast of Quebec had his appointment with the SAAQ canceled twice without warning (see other text).
Despite her efforts, Isabelle Bouchard was never able To her son Christopher Gauthier for his practical exam at the Sept-Îles branch. After three hours on the Internet and an hour on the phone, the resident of Port-Cartier on the north coast lost hope of reaching the service point 45 minutes from his home last July.
“The system ran continuously. I tried several times over several days. I never managed to get an appointment for Sept-Îles. And every time I called, I couldn’t reach the line,” she explains in an interview.
However, the small family wanted to settle the matter before the start of the school year, when Christopher had to start CEGEP in Sept-Îles, served by a single bus morning and evening.
Two hour drive
Isabelle Bouchard therefore contacted the branch in Baie-Comeau, two hours away, where she quickly got an appointment.
But when she arrived there on August 23, Ms. Bouchard’s worries were not yet over. “The plaques [d’immatriculation] seemed unpaid,” she says. However, she assures us that the payment she made three weeks earlier was actually credited to her bank account.
The mother therefore had to pay the amount of $154.39 for the second time within less than a month, otherwise her son would not have been able to take his driving test in the family car. “There was nothing to do. It was like you had to pay it all over again and probably get a check one day,” she said.
Reimbursement?
Four weeks later, Isabelle Bouchard still has no news of a possible refund. “I don’t even dare to call, it takes so long,” she says disillusioned.
However, registration on the SAAQclic site went quite well, she emphasizes. “I found the system quite user-friendly. There are a lot of checks with ID documents, but I still think the system is good,” she emphasizes.
It must be said that this former federal official was already “burnt” by the Phénix salary system fiasco. Although she left Correctional Service Canada in 2018, she still receives regular notices from the federal government, including a recent demand for $3,000.
Like many Quebecers, she is one of the customers affected by the Desjardins data breach.
Her bad experience with SAAQclic did not reassure her. “It’s a loss of trust in computer systems,” she summarizes.
His appointment was canceled without warning
François Caron couldn’t wait to ride his motorcycle through the streets of Quebec. But on the day of his final exam at SAAQ, his appointment was canceled without notice.
Things had already started badly when the Lévis resident went To for his road test online.
“I tried to make an appointment on SAAQclic but couldn’t. I tried it several times,” explains the vocational school teacher.
François Caron therefore decides to call the branch directly, where he is given an appointment for August 25th.
But when the day comes, the future motorcyclist notices in the SAAQclic system that it is canceled without explanation.
A permit before winter
On the phone we explain to him that an agent will call him back to arrange another appointment. “But I want to get my driver’s license this fall, I don’t want it to last until next year,” notes François Caron.
Two days later, without any news, he reported personally to the branch on Avenue Saint-Jean-Baptiste. “They told me: You’re not the only one this happened to,” he says.
Photo agency QMI, René Baillargeon
François Caron is surprised not to have been informed of this cancellation. “Making a query in a database to find everyone whose exam has been canceled is easy in my head,” explains this trained programmer.
A new date was set for September 8th, but when the day came… it was canceled again in the SAAQclic system. Determined to ride a motorcycle before the cold season, François Caron still showed up at the branch where the test was still scheduled. He came out with his driver’s license in his pocket.
Browser in English
At SAAQ, we confirm that several users have experienced an unpleasant surprise when showing up at the branch in recent weeks.
“After an investigation, we discovered that the use of the browser in English by a customer who wanted to make an appointment prevented their appointment from being finally recorded in the system,” explains a spokesperson.
The state-owned company ensures that unfortunate users are offered another appointment “as quickly as possible”.
A solution has now been found. “However, customers who made an appointment before August 24th remain affected by the problem,” writes the SAAQ.
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