Beware of the DMV!! (long)

[Joe G.]

My truck registration is due before the end of March. This year I noticed that the tag on my license plates had expired the first week in June. I asked my wife if she had sent in the money for the renewal. She didn't remember doing it and there was no record of a check. We usually get the renewal notice a couple of weeks before it is due and she complains about the cost. Not this year so she called the DMV (it was Friday) and asked about it. Low and behold they said we had sold the truck!! She spent an hour of argueing on the phone with them and explaining over and over again that we had not sold it. It was in our gargage. We had been in posession of the truck since it had five miles on it. We had never had a loan on it since we paid cash. They finally admitted that there had probably been a mistake made somewhere. The next thing they said was to not drive it until it was settled. WHAT!!! I have to go to work 300 miles away in Roseville for four days the next week. Someone was supposed to call us on Monday with the results of the investigation. I went out to see the CHP to ask what I could do to avoid being arrested for car theft if I got pulled over for the expired license plate. After quite a bit of conversation I found out that the registered owner of the truck lives in Turlock. The officer called the DMV and talked for a while with them. Then he sent me over to them. I managed to get a "registration" with a note on it and new tags for the truck just before they closed.



No call on Monday. I was home again on Friday so I went down there again. The guy I talked to finally found something about it. Checked the VIN on the truck, made a bunch of phone calls, and told me that someone would call about in on Monday.



Repeat for two weeks with different clerks! NO calls from anybody!



Then the project I was working on was over so I was home all of the next week. I went in just as the doors opened. Most of the clerks weren't there. I didn't recognise the woman behind the counter. It turned out that she was a supervisor. At this point I was not using my normal excellant and polite social skills. She became irate that it had not been taken care of and got on the phone to Sacramento. They had NEVER heard of the problem! She asked them to fax her copies of the transaction records. She also found out that the guy in Turlock had a big mess trying to register his Chevy!! Since March!!! I don't think he knew he owned a Dodge.

Anyway, we got a call from the supervisor who was fixing the mess a couple of days later. She told us it was all taken care of. Today I got the new registration in the mail complete with the new sticker. Now I have the one on the truck and a spare one! My truck is officially mine again. I hope they get the poor guy in Turlock fixed up too.



The moral of this story is "DON'T BELIEVE ANYTHING THE CLERK AT THE COUNTER TELLS YOU IF YOU HAVE A PROBLEM!!" They forget you the second you walk away from the counter. Find a boss even if you have to make a scene.

 

[Shooter]

Every year or two when I renew my tags I have to get duplicate stickers unless I get there before the the guy that has the same licence plate number I have, then I get the originals. The DMV has taken care of this, by issuing one of us a new set of tags w/ different numbers every year for the last 10 yrs Yea right.

It makes it fun trying to go see Bill K.

 

[EMDDIESEL]

My friend was arrested at a NY DMV. After waiting on line for several HOURS he was told he was missing a form, she said he had to take it, fill it out and go to the back of the line. He did not like that idea, he pulled her over the counter by her shirt. He spent 2 days in jail for that "Episode". I bet he gets great service at the DMV now though

 

[Deezul1]

For those of you who live in CALIF (as I used to) here is a way to keep some of your license plate money. If you have a shell on your truck (topper or whatever) it can be registered as a house car and the commercial plate fee is not required. When I did it the savings was about $200. 00 a year and that was on a 20 year old truck. Its a bonus if you belong to AAA as they actually try to help rather than see how many problems they can cause you. It would be worth joining for one year just to do the change over, once its done you just renew like normal.

 

[Chris N5CWM]

Computers are great but..

. .computers are only as smart as the idiots that

input the data!



What a mess.



-Chris

 

[Brandon]

Turlock ???????????//





maybe it was that wiz1 character

 

[gitchesum]

When I had to re-new my registration, it came out to about $68. 00. No biggie, in Louisiana we only re-new every 4 years. I wasn't even thinking when I paid the re-newal online that it was only good for one year. It hit me when I got the sticker for my plate. Expires 2002. Wait a minute, I just bought the truck in September of 2000 and I've already re-newed my plates.

So off I go to the DMV. THey took one look at my registration and told me it was because of the vehicle weight. I siad it wasn't much heavier than a regular pick-up. She goes "18,000 pounds is certainly heavier than a regular pick-up"

18,000 pounds?? Wait a minute, ain't no way in heck my truck weighs 18,000 pounds. She asked what type of truck it was(as if it wasn't already on the registration paper I gave her). I told her it was a 1 ton dually. That's when the light bulb came on. "Oh, someone must have made a mistake" No kiddin. Too bad I can't do anything until the registration comes up for re-newal.

At least now i know to check those kinds of things. Now the registration will be good for 4 years instead of 1.