Last Thursday at 3 p.m., the day before the long public holiday, I accompanied my eldest son to AA Centre Rototuna, where he was going to sit his first driver licence test. Due to the upcoming holiday, the centre was extremely busy, and we waited for around half an hour before our turn. We were served by a young lady at the middle counter. After handing over the application form and my son’s Chinese passport, we were told we needed to provide either a student photo ID card or physical proof of our IRD number. We informed her that we already had an IRD number, yet she stated this would not suffice — we had to present the original physical letter issued by Inland Revenue. Within two minutes of our conversation, without any clear explanation and without asking for our consent, she called over a young male staff member in a white shirt to take over our case. We later found out this man speaks Mandarin. After learning about our situation, he spoke to us in an impatient tone, telling us to step aside and search thoroughly for the required document, claiming we were holding up their work. My son grew anxious, and worried this stress would affect his performance in the test, I calmed him down and asked him to sit on a nearby counter chair to look through our paperwork. Shortly afterwards, this male staff member told us we had to leave that seating area, claiming it was reserved for theory test candidates — despite the fact that nobody was taking a test at that moment. We had no choice but to gather all our belongings, including our iPad, passports and backpacks, and awkwardly move to sit on the floor near the main entrance. At one point, I asked this male staff member if free Wi-Fi was available, so my son could log into his school account. He brushed off my enquiry bluntly and refused to give me a clear answer, simply telling me to figure it out myself. Thankfully, my eldest son eventually passed his theory test. The female staff member who issued his temporary licence at the end was incredibly kind and congratulated us warmly. I have several questions I would like to raise with you: 1. Why did the young female staff member pass our case to her colleague without seeking our permission or offering any reasonable explanation? Was she simply annoyed by our enquiry and wished to avoid assisting us? 2. Why was the Mandarin-speaking male staff member unwilling to offer even basic assistance or a few reassuring words, instead leaving us to rummage through our documents on the floor? 3. I would also like to express my sincere gratitude to the elderly lady with grey hair who kindly gave up her waiting seat for us that afternoon, as well as the friendly AA team member who issued our temporary licence at the end. 4. There were five staff members on duty that afternoon: one man and four women. The two team members mentioned above — the young woman and the Mandarin-speaking young man — appeared to be the youngest two staff on shift. Read Less

Absolutely fantastic service at this AA centre! They offer everything you might need - from driver licensing (including overseas license conversions) to insurance help and signing up for defensive driving courses. The staff here are truly outstanding – so friendly, helpful and efficient. They really go the extra mile to make sure all your questions are answered and transactions go smoothly. The whole place is clean, tidy and well-organized too, which makes for a really pleasant visit. Would highly recommend to anyone in the Rototuna area needing AA services! Salamat po! Read Less