CASA medical delay
 

Has anyone else run into this issue recently?

For the last three weeks, I've been chasing up AvMed for my medical (which they inform me is all okay).
Apparently the issue is that their system 'isn't lining up payment receipt numbers properly'. Allegedly, the system thinks the medical hasn't been paid for (it has) and therefore won't allow it to be printed.

On three seperate occasions now, an unfailingly polite and helpful-sounding person at AvMed has assured me that they'll get their IT folks to fix and get it out to me pronto. No such luck thus far.

Has anyone else struck this, or am I truly as unique as a series of alarmed-looking teachers used to tell me? ;)

Cheers
Spin

Yep! Had and passed my medical last November, CASA promptly deducted from my credit card the said fee then nothing. Rang them 2 weeks ago asking for it's whereabouts and got the same story. Told that they would send it straight away manually. Waited and waited with baited breath.
About a week and a half later two certificates turn up in seperate envelopes on the same day. One to stick up each nostril I imagine.
I have dealt with many government depts over the years. There is no doubt that CASA is the most incompetent dept by a country mile.Who will ever forget the desk calendar they sent us with an entire month missing,amongst other memorable blunders and displays of incompetance.:ugh:

I had EXACTLY the same experience - don't know whether to frame the second one or what?

Did mine at the end of Jan and got it back 2 weeks later.

Add me to the list.... Medical done Dec 14..... Arrived Jan 30.

Absolute BS! did my FAA.... got it the Spot! did my JAA... 11 days and it came from the other side of the planet.

Unfortunately, the empire builders have no incentive to change and it will only get worse, their constant mantra is safety, there is no such thing as service.

Yeah, I received two certificates too. The replacement one arrived before the original. Gotta love their work!

Avmed is currently a nightmare: my medical was at the end of October last year, and my certificate (finally) arrived last Friday :roll eyes:

Apart from losing my medical in their internal IT lockup mid December, when I called a week ago to enquire how much longer I was given the 'failed to print on 29th January' excuse. I was then advised that there was no way they could identify which medicals had failed to print and therefore relied on us to ring and alert them :eek:

On top of the CMO moving the goalposts without reference (Blood sugar test anyone? Criteria was shifted from 6% to 5.5%, go spend more $$$) the system is fats becoming Alice in Wonderland stuff. To be told they have to process 30,000 medicals a year doesn't fill me full of confidence :=

Actually had a great experience this year. Did my medical a month ago and had the certificate in my hand just over a week later. :D

I had my medical in Early Nov last year, sent all the credit card details along with it so that it would go through without an issue. Changed my credit card in Late Dec. Received my medical in mid Jan. Received a letter from CASA, in late Jan, saying that my credit card details where incorrect and that they wouldn't process my medical until I paid them.... :}

Wouldn't know their @rse was on fire until you told them. Even then they'd probably not believe you! :ugh:

Medical 17 November DAME OK CLARC says medical is issued, still not here, something about the computer is Kaput initial delay but now have a PDF copy and a delegates letter saying the PDF is OK to carry as evidence of the certificate.

Amazingly inept, taken a series of Emails to avned to get any sense into the situation.

Fort Fumble at its best !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I got four identical letters from them regarding my medical. Two of them even turned up in separate envelopes on the same day. Still waiting for my certificate and my medical was in the middle of November.

I just had my renewal last week, going to ring them tomorrow to pay by CC. Maybe I should ring them up and tell them i've already paid for it, see if I can play their ineptness to my advantage? :E

Side question - when I did my first medical I did a class 1 in order to ensure if I wanted to do my CPL I could, figuring at least when it lapses to a class 2 I can keep doing my PPL. Because of a poor lung volume test, they made me see a lung specialist, which between bookings etc dragged the process out another two months.

In the end the diagnosis was just a smaller than normal lung capacity probably as a result of my childhood asthma, but otherwise fine. Eventually AvMed approved it. When I got the certificate the date of commencement was from the day I first saw the DAME (some 3 months earlier), not the date CASA finally approved it (*groan*). My condition was apparently so special it was marked as "approve by CASA only" - and both the class 1 and class 2 expirations were the same date, only a one year certificate.

Has anyone else experienced this? "Special" approvals apply to both class 1 and 2 with the Class 2 being only one year (or in my case, effectively only 9 months). I don't relish the idea of having to see a lung specialist and chase approvals every year for what seems to be a fairly minor issue.

SgtBundy, I've had a similar experience however I got a Class 1 with no such restrictions and they had a restriction of "for CASA audit" on the Class 2 with one year (ends up being 9 months as you say) expiry instead of two. When I queried it I was asked if I was flying commercially, "yes" was the answer .. so, the Class 2 doesn't matter. My reply was to the effect that one day I will get sick of dealing with them so may decide not to renew the Class 1 ... the clerk was quite helpful in general but wasn't her decision.
I should add that I have no complaint in my case. However the process should be swifter and more sensible in general.
Been a month since I paid for my last renewal so I guess mine is in a pigeonhole somewhere.

CLARC urgently needs some business process modelling, it is a mess, public servants at their worst.

I did my medical in early November, no certificate by mid-Dec. Rang CLARC, they reckoned they hadn't got the paperwork from the DAME, several phone calls, faxes, weeks later and DAME had to re-submit paperwork not once, but twice.

Eventually medical certificate turns up in January, but guess what, CLARC charged fee to credit card in early November - and they claimed they hadn't got the original paperwork - my Ar$e.:ugh::ugh::ugh::ugh::ugh::ugh::ugh:

Costs of requesting a review
 

Does it seem unreasonable that CASA is charging $150 to review a medical decision?
Even if you agree with CASA's dubious argument for charging a fee every time they look at something, if they have got something wrong, shouldn't they do it for free?
I would have thought that normal princples of administrative fairness should apply i.e. people who have been adversely affected by an administrative decision should have the right to request a review without being dissuaded by doing so through the application of a finanical penalty?

Fullreverse Same here - when my certificate didn't arrive I rang to enquire - was told they hadn't received paperwork from the DAME. I got the DAME's secretary to fax a copy. She was over helpful and said they would have another look for the original. This led CLARC to say that as the original had not been missing long enough to be declared lost, they couldn't process my medical based on the faxed copy.
Oddly enough, my credit card was debited shortly after I did the medical. How can this be?

Accounts get it first clearly, kaching......then it gets lost. Sux huh.