VTNZ Te Awamutu - VTNZ Te Awamutu 1423 Alexandra Street

Had a fantastic experience at this VTNZ, I sat my full licence there today and Alan my tester was super awesome and put me at ease. Would highly recommend this VTNZ to anyone sitting their licence!!

The testing instructor I had was very rude. I've have had this person in the past, once with a support person, and once without. They show a completely different face once there is no support person around. Quite friendly around my support person, but very very cold and rude when I was alone. A support person shouldn't be necessary for someone to be polite, but at VTNZ Te Awamutu they unfortunately are. I was nervous due to this testers rather cold manner, as most are in Te Awamutu because we've all heard stories/experienced their unpleasant manner. It feels nearly silly getting assessed when we know she is set out to unnerve and fail us. Also when speaking the hazards, the instructor asked me to speak the hazards but didn't tell me when to stop. My testing officer would sometimes say thank you bluntly. Then after a few thank yous she said when I say thank you I mean that's enough... She never said stop, a thank you could mean anything. It was my first time taking the full licence test, I wasn't aware being a mind reader was part of it. Is it that hard to state clearly; please state the hazards here/please stop stating the hazards? I was failed for everything possible under the sun, even the things I know I did to a T such as; keeping left when turning left and keeping right when turning right. I was criticized for going too slow and affecting traffic around me, yet I had traffic in front of me so couldn't go any faster. Also top tip, don't go at 4pm - you're most likely to fail as there is no allowance for peak traffic time in this test. I've been driving for nearly 10 years now, close and far, I am a confident and careful driver. But to have 11 improvements needed was just ridiculous. When I asked for more understanding and reflection about things I failed on, I got a very rude response. And I feared anything I said could cause me to be failed in the future, as we know how rare it is to find a rightful tester. Surely with all these fails she gives, resulting in people needing to pay to resit, VTNZ could afford to send her to a people skills course. It's unfortunate there is no way to know who will be your tester. The only way to not get the same tester is to make a formal complaint through vtnz. I put a complaint through but didn't get any proper outcome from it. I retook my test, with a different tester, and had a completely different experience. It was just shy two weeks from my last test and I hadn't driven in-between (I'd lost my nerve after my last test, and with petrol prices this high I walk where I can). This tester said he couldn't fault me for a single thing, nor any improvements to work on. He said I am a very good driver. He also had very good communication and explained everything very clearly from the start. I wish I had him for my first full licence test, because he is what a tester should be like. We are taking this test with a complete stranger, so it should be someone who has people skills to allow the driver to be comfortable. So how did I get two such vastly different outcomes when my driving skills were essentially the same for each test...? P.S. due to covid they aren't allowing a support person go with you even though the text reminder says they just need a mask and vaccine pass. Don't let that catch you off guard.

My driving test the other week was the best I could have hope for, it was at 4pm and I aced the traffic. The lady driving tester was fair and had some great feed back on were I could improve

Such a great experience. The warrant staff were awesome! I had my 4 month old with me and they went over and beyond. So helpful so thank you.

VTNZ Te Awamutu is one of the best. Lovely friendly professional staff who go the extra mile with their service. Its very unfair that people can come onto google, leave a bad review about VTNZ staff members, and personally run them down!! :(

Went to give my driving test last year 2021, I had the same lady who took my driving test today, I found her very rasist and rude.Her name is Debbie. Last year before the start of my test, I heard her saying another failure candidate and this time she was again as my tester. I was very confident but she failed me by saying I was driving slow on 40 instead of 50 speed zone and that was only 1 critical error she told me about and went off by saying better luck next time. And then in my email she added 2 extra critical error about exceeding the speed which she didn't mentioned when she was in the car. I find her behavior demoralize the driver confident.

The customer service representative who served me today was very unprofessional, unhelpful and had a condescending manner about her. She made me feel as though I was a huge inconvenience. If it weren't for her colleague, we may not have got what we needed done. I must say the gentleman and woman who served me there a few Saturdays beforehand were absolutely lovely and informative. So I can't say it's a reflection of the whole team, but I'm willing to pay the extra petrol to go elsewhere in future.

After calling 8 different VTNZ centres in the north island with nobody picking up the phone, this branch was the only one to answer. Leslie was a wonderful help on the phone! She was kind, knowledgeable, and happy to guide me through the process and costs of getting an unregistered bike back on the road.