They have been waiting months for a refund from SAAQ

At the end of September, Lisette Marcotte stored her sports car on SAAQclic, the new SAAQ digital portal. By taking her Toyota Supra on the road, she received a $309 credit for the overpaid registration fee.

Ms. said that this reimbursement is a formality. Marcotte believed. After all, her husband quickly got a check for the two vehicles stored on SAAQclic. “He doesn't really have a problem,” she said. The following week, he received his plaque credits.

But Lisette Marcotte had to follow the SAAQ by all means possible. She presented her situation at two service centers in Donacona and Saint-Raymond. Talked on phone for hours and also spoke to SAAQ agents.

Then, in an online conversation dated January 9, a SAAQ employee Ms. Marcotte confirmed the suspected computer error: “I can confirm that I have been informed that the technical team is working to find THE. bug Go to your file and issue a refund as soon as possible.

But by the end of the following month, she still hadn't received the check from SAAQ. “I am now waiting for more than five months for the plate credit that is due to me,” Ms. Marcotte wrote to the SAAQ. I wonder if I will live long enough to see the outcome of this matter.

Finally on March 19, six months after storing her vehicle at SAAQclic, Lisette Marcotte received her reimbursement. For her, it was “unacceptable” that the new SAAQ computer system would force consumers to wait months before receiving a refund.

Three times the norm

Ms. The 180-day wait for Marcotte violates SAAQ standards, which provide reimbursement periods between 15 and 60 days, “depending on the client's situation,” suggests SAAQ spokesman Gino Desrosiers.

But Ms. Marcotte's case is no exception. While computer errors have accumulated since SAAQclic's launch, other SAAQ customers have had to wait longer than expected to receive their reimbursement.

Rimouski resident Martin Hughes qualified for the credit after overpaying $680 for a cleared motorcycle registration. After 2.5 hours on the phone explaining the error, he finally got confirmation that he would be refunded.

However, the motorcyclist had to wait four months to get his reimbursement, credited to his account.

Two weeks later, he got a new call from SAAQ.

“There, they said to me: 'Mr. Hughes, I just took charge of your file, that doesn't mean you'll be reimbursed.' I told him that I had already received my refund. The guy was shocked and said that he hadn't seen it in my file! I don't know if I would have been refunded twice.

– Martin Hughes, resident of Rimouski

According to Martin Hughes, he was told that “platform issues” were to blame.

Duplicate payment

Isabelle Bouchard paid for her son's registrations three weeks before his driving test. But on the day of the test last August, her partner told the SAAQ that she had not been paid for the plates.

Proof of payment from a banking institution is not sufficient. Had to pay for the plates again. With no appointment nearby, the driving test took place a two-hour drive from the family home on the north coast. There is no question of going back and trying to sort everything out before the new meeting. Plates so paid again.

“Later, I called SAAQ several times to try to resolve the payment issue, but I was never able to resolve it,” said Ms. Bouchard laments. Attempts to contact SAAQ were still unsuccessful. The banking institution that made the initial payment cannot do anything because the money has already been paid to SAAQ.

Recently, Isabelle Bouchard's partner waited four times for more than an hour hoping to speak to an employee. The couple still doesn't know when they will be able to get back their payment of more than $150 made nearly eight months ago. “It doesn't stop me from eating,” Ms. Bouchard stated. But it's still my money.”