The plates arrive

I finally received my VW number plates. They arrived in a beautiful little aluminum case, complete with a very special keyring and a certificate of authenticity. They looked so good that I even considered keeping them and buying a Volkswagen for them.


The aluminum case that the plates come in.


The inside of the case. Beautiful.


The VicRoads certificate of authenticity.


The VicRoads Signature Plates Keyring.


A close up view of the keyring. Notice the VW stamp.


The opposite side of the keyring engraved with the words 'Signature Plates'.






The plates are mounted in their own protective covers.


Can you see this plate on your Volkswagen?
How good would these look an a Golf GTi?

Another VicRoads Phone Call

Later that evening, just before 6:00pm, I received a call from the VicRoads Director of Commercial Services. He informed me that VicRoads would be honouring the contract of sale and that the plates would be forthcoming in about 2 weeks. He apologised for the inconvenience and then ended his call.

The Radio Interview

On the 12/04/07 at 9:00am I was interviewed on 3AW. The interview went well and Neil stated that he would get onto VicRoads to find out what was going on. At the conclusion of the interview, Neil's producer informed me that my details would be passed on to some TV stations should they wish to follow up with their own story.

No sooner than I had hung up the phone from 3AW, it began ringing again.
First it was Seven Nightly News.
Then it was Ten News.
Then it was National Nine News.

Then it was 3AW again. They had the Assistant Director of VicRoads on the line and thay wanted me to listen in and comment where I felt necessary. As Neil's producer put it "this is what we call a sting!"

What was to follow was truly amazing. It is a rare occasian that you hear an interviewer really go to town on their subject. Neil did a great job of painting this bloke into a corner.
Finally, what I would call the final blow, came when I asked that if VicRoads would not honour the sale to me, I would request that the proceeds of any sale by auction of the "VW" plates be donated to a charity of my nominating.

The VicRoads man refused my offer. This offer was not to be repeated.

Email to Neil Mitchell

On the 11/04/07 at 9:30am I sent an email to Neil Mitchell of Melbourne radio station 3AW.
Within 15 minutes I received a telephone call from his producer stating that he thought that this was an unbelievable story and that Neil would be more than happy to take up my cause on his program the following morning.
I was booked in for an interview on the radio for 9:00am Thursday morning.

VicRoads written response

I telephoned VicRoads on the 30/03/07 and spoke to Mr. Graeme Briggs. I demanded an explanation in writing and wanted to know where my $3995.00 was.
I received a written response from Mr. Alan Morecroft, manager custom plates, stating that:
“I advise that the signature plate ”VW” along with a small number of similar plates relating to vehicle models were reserved by VicRoads for future sale via auction or tender.”
The letter went on to inform me that the VIcRoads customer service officer overlooked this reservation and proceeded to place the order, hence human error. How convenient. Personally I think that VicRoads should buy it back from me at my nominated price.

Discussions with my Dad

Over a couple of beers with my dad, it was he who suggested that I contact Neil Mitchell on 3AW. As my dad clearly put it "This is F#%king bullshit! Send Neil Mitchell an email, he loves sinking the boots into VicRoads."

VicRoads Phone Calls

Between March 14th and April 12th, I made numerous telephone calls to VicRoads. I never requested a refund from VicRoads, although it was promised many times.

Consumer Affairs response

I sent a letter of complaint to Consumer Affairs Victoria regarding the sale of these plates.
I received a response form them on the 21/03/07.
It stated:
"Following an assessment of your complaint it has been determined the matter is not appropriate to conciliate for the following reasons:
* 'The Customised Registration Plate Applications and Agreement' clearly states that the application is not accepted unless and until VicRoads has issued the plates to you."

'What a cop-out' I thought! How can an organisation take your money, issue you with a reciept and then still have the ability to say get away with not supplying a customer with their goods?

The VicRoads Phone Call...

14 March - The day after I bought the plates, VicRoads calls and leaves a message with my wife. They inform her that VicRoads will not be selling this number plate combination to me and that VicRoads wanted to sell this combination at auction themselves. I could chose to either select another combination, be issued with a credit note or be issued with a refund.

I wanted none of this. I just wanted what I paid for.

Signature number plates go on sale to the public...

My father and I arrived at VicRoads, Sunshine at approximately 8:15am. There was a small queue of people already waiting at the front door.

Doors opened at 8:30am and I was the 7th person to get a tictet to be attended to by a VicRoads customer service officer.

At approximately 8:40 my number came up and I began to go through my list of possible plate combinations. To my amazement all of the combinations that I had listed were already reserved or sold, except for one VW! The price... $3,995.00

I bought it immediately. The sale was verified by 2 other VicRoads staff members and a receipt was issued for the transaction.

I was very excited!

The Shannons' Auction...

Five Signature Series number plates are auctioned by Shannons' at the Melbourne International Motor Show on behalf of VicRoads.

• RT sells for $12,000
• GT.0 sells for $17,000
• RR sells for $36,000
• SS sells for $36,000
• GT sells for $53,000

Signature number plates are advertised...

02 to 12 March, 2007 - VicRoads advertises the release of Signature Series Number Plates at the Melbourne International Motor Show.

This is the first time that 2-Letter, 2-Letter 1-Number & 2-Letter 2-Number combinations are offered to the Victorian Public for sale.

A display is set up in conjunction with Shannons' Motor Insurance.
On display are the following combinations:

1. GT
2. RR
3. RT
4. SS
5. GT.0