Bob Jones: Soviet service alive and well at AA

No, it's not a queue of motorists at their local AA office but a Soviet-era Moscow butchery. Both groups probably waited the same amount of time to be served, though. Photo / AP

As a lobby the Automobile Association does a good job, but its virtual monopoly on driver licensing is dire

Three decades ago Labour freed up our economy, then stagnating under the burden of distortionary taxes and monopoly controls, which in the memorable words of David Lange, made us the equivalent of a Polish shipyard.

As a regular visitor since the 1960s I was familiar with the Soviet Union and its satellite nations and knew that was an exaggeration, but only in one sense, namely private ownership of most economic activity. Otherwise, the outcome was similar, namely no competition leading to lousy service, mediocre goods and high prices. Given that the average age of Kiwis is 27, many have no idea how awful things were. Well, like visiting a museum to view the past, there's one way younger people can find out, as I shall explain.

Two months ago I received a letter from the New Zealand Transport Agency advising that my driver's licence would expire in late November. I collected the medical certificate my age requires, and bowled along to the Wellington AA office. One staff member was serving and eight people were queued ahead of me. I waited 20 minutes while the assistant did God knows what with the same person. Assuming a problem I shot off for an hour then returned. The assistant was now dealing with the second person in the queue, which had grown to 12 people. As it was 3.30pm, there was no way most would be dealt with that day, but the uncaring AA staff let them stand, saying nothing.

I waited three days and returned. An identical lengthy queue confronted me. The AA are lessees in one of my buildings and as my staff are constantly in them, I had them monitor the situation. Their daily reports were always lengthy queues before one assistant.

So I tried the Lower Hutt office, three times over a fortnight, there to find the same situation. On the first visit I encountered a staff member bullying an old lady in her 80s. She had entered half an hour earlier and stood behind the person being served in the driver's licence section. She pleaded in vain but the staff member was having none of it. Get in behind the then 10 people waiting she ordered, this in a queue facing a different section. It was vintage Soviet Union behaviour.

For a third time I tried last week. There must have been 20 people crammed in the small office. I edged in and asked a staff member when they open in the morning and if there are always people waiting. "Only four or five," she said.

No business would last with that pre-1984 non-service, but it's a natural consequence of a monopoly. Today, top service is a prerequisite for commercial survival.

Take department stores whose very survival is threatened. Britain's Marks & Spencer combat this with outstanding customer service and I was delighted for their sake to read of a profit boost in their latest accounts.

On the other hand, Australia's David Jones have tackled the problem by staff cuts. I once bet a Sydney staff member $100 he couldn't buy a pair of shoes inside an hour in David Jones. A bunch of us went along to watch the hilarious scene that ensued. Predictably, I won the bet. They're doomed unless they wake up.

Or take the Irish discount airline Ryan Air. Its principal, Michael O'Leary, always openly laughed at the flood-tide of complaints, relying on low prices to keep them coming. Last year he was persuaded to try a decent service approach. Profits have lifted a third by the strategy, in his words, of "not pissing people off".

But back to the AA. This licensing service should go to tender. Retail chains, supermarket companies, the banks et al will all be in it. My problem was solved when a friend mentioned that the AA wasn't the sole licensing authority as widely believed, and vehicle testing stations were also empowered to issue licences.

I shot down to the Lower Hutt one. Not one but two charming young women leapt to it and had me relicensed in 10 minutes. They said 90 per cent of the people entering are absolutely furious, recounting similar frustrating AA stories.

If the Wellington region situation is the same nationwide then the cost in lost time queuing is scandalous. If it's the AA's approach elsewhere, then the Transport Minister should cancel the AA's licensing role.

The irony is that the AA is a service organisation and presumably does a good job with breakdowns, etc. or they'd have disappeared.

As a motorists' lobby they've also been invaluable in urging higher motorway speed limits plus ridiculing the Wellington City Council's ludicrous proposal of reducing speed limits in the city to 30km/h.

Thus it's a pity they're spoiling their reputation with this non-service cost-cutting disgrace.