Union warned SAAQ its new online system wasn't ready, training was inadequate

The union representing 2,200 employees of Quebec's auto insurance board (SAAQ) says it had warned managers that the new SAAQclic service was not ready, and that training had been inadequate.

The SAAQ has been plagued by long line-ups and frustration from drivers two weeks after launching a new online system.

Now, the government is trying to cut down on wait times and lineups, but the problems persist.

Jacques Boutin showed up at a SAAQ service centre in Pointe-Claire at 6:20 a.m. Monday.

"I’m here first, so I’m ok. That’s why laughing because I’m the first one and I hope everything goes well," he told CTV News while waiting in the lineup.

Like so many others, he could not book an appointment online.

"We tried. My wife is a computer whiz and she tried over and over. I said ok I'll try I'll put in french see if it works. It doesn’t work."

In the hopes of reducing lineups and wait times, the SAAQ is implementing some changes. It will gradually deploy 150 workers to help out at busy outlets.

Operating hours are also being extended, and on the weekends there will be appointment-only availabilities.

"I came on Saturday, they were closed. I cannot make an appointment on the internet. I called, I’ve been on the line for three hours nobody answers and they hang up the phone. it’s impossible," said another client, Hamid, who only gave his first name. 

In late February, the SAAQ unveiled its new SAAQclic system, but prior to its launch many of its services were shut down, creating a backlog.

"The system was shut down for three weeks. During these three weeks, there were 430,000 transactions not made. It was impossible to respond to that," said Christian Daigle, president of the SFPQ union.

Daigle said SAAQ was warned the new system could be problematic, but the government didn't listen. 

"The training was last-minute training. Even right now, they said that 150 people will come and help. They’re training right now these people. I don’t even know if they were able to get 150 persons to respond positively," he said.

Ashly Bernstein showed up to the SAAQ on Hymus Boulevard at 5 a.m. in order to sort out an issue with her driver's licence. But by early afternoon she was still waiting.

"This has been going on for a week. I haven’t been able to drive. I’ve had other people driving my car for me," she said.

"I have kids I have to take care of this. they have to get to school. I have to get to work and they don’t care in there."

The SAAQ says people who have appointments only need to show up 15 or 20 minutes beforehand.

"We hope that the measures we put in place.. will reduce wait times for clients," said Dave Leclerc, the SAAQ's vice-president of strategic marketing.

Leclerc says line-ups have been reduced in the Gatineau region, but for the Montreal area he can't say what impact, if any, these new measures will have and when the line-ups will disappear.

It’s expected the backlog of transactions won’t be sorted out until late April.