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Troubled Rollout Of New Inspection System Costly For Drivers, Service Stations

BOSTON (CBS) - Service station owner Dick Sullivan spends hours on hold trying to get through to the Registry of Motor Vehicles with questions about his new state-issued inspection equipment that was rolled out October 1.

"This right here is a lock showing the machine is locking us out preventing us from gaining access to it," he explained.

He needs the vendor to give him the information he needs to get into the system, saying garage owners have no ability on their own to unlock it. It's prevented him from doing inspections at Sully's Automotive in Westford all week which accounts for more than twenty percent of his business and it's been costly.

Dick Sullivan
Dick Sullivan of Sully's Automotive (WBZ-TV)

"At least $1,000 to $1,500 a day and that's a minimum," said Sullivan.

The troubled rollout has also been costly for driver Laura Moye. She was slapped with a $40 ticket when she parked in downtown Boston with an expired inspection sticker, but not for lack of trying. "Yesterday my husband waited two hours and finally got a pass on the test," she said. "Then they tried to print it out and sixteen times the mechanic couldn't print out the new sticker."

Inspection sticker
Note left on windshield about expired inspection sticker (WBZ-TV)

Now she has to appeal the ticket and hopes the meter maids cut her some slack with a note she left on her dashboard. "The inspection sticker is valid," reads the note. "It's been renewed and they tried 16 times to print it out."

The state insists the system is working and that some stations may need more training. But Dick Sullivan says he's just begging for someone to answer his call. "Whether we're not trained correctly or whatever the case, the machine should still run and function," he says.

A MassDOT spokeswoman says fewer than 200 stations in the state are still experiencing problems.

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