They're everybody's favorite whipping boy, and apparently with good reason.
Two weeks ago I mailed in my check and the paperwork to get a handicapped parking placard. Yesterday I called to find out why I hadn't received it; after all, roundtrip mail takes only two days to downtown, so what's going on with the other 8 working days?
The first time I finally got to speak to a human, I was put on hold and then disconnected after 5 minutes. I called back and was on hold approximately 20 minutes before getting to speak to another person. To avoid disconnecting me, she just set the phone down to go check--but didn't tell me that's what she was doing. I could tell I hadn't been disconnected, but it was somewhat disconcerting to have no one at the other end of the line for about 10 minutes.
She came back and said she couldn't find my paperwork, and since there's no fee with it there's no further way for her to check if it was received. I told her that since it's a temporary placard there *is* a fee, and I enclosed it. She asked, "can you check your bank to see if the check has cleared?" But don't do it yet, because it takes four weeks to process these placards.
Lefties, don't come back at me about how I support cuts and the like. You don't really want to try to justify why it takes 4 weeks to see a form filled out by a doctor, see an attached check, and put a piece of plastic in an envelope and mail it, do you? Four weeks. One month.
Pathetic.
I can guarantee you they were just as inefficient before cuts were made. Our daughter lives in Sacramento as well, and had the joy of dealing with them last year. A transaction that should have been quick and easy took a very long time.
ReplyDeleteI try not to do business with DMV by mail or internet. The closer you get to the heart of the swamp in Sacramento the worse it is.
ReplyDeleteAnd the second rule is to avoid large DMV offices. After living in the Bay area for years, it's almost refreshing to deal with the smaller offices in the Gold Country. I wouldn't say it's great, but the staff up here seems interested in getting the job done, an attitude sorely lacking in the big city offices.
Down here it works really well.
ReplyDeleteLicense plates are handled by the county tax office -- including handicapped plates and placards.
Bring in the completed paper work and walk out with the plate/placard. Total wit time? Well, depends on the office, the date, and the time -- but my experience getting my wife's was somewhere around 10 minutes.