NY, how do I hate Thee? Let me count the ways...


So, for those of you who follow us on Facebook, you might have noticed that I'm having some trouble sleeping tonight. I blame it entirely on an evil NYS DMV experience.

Let me start from the beginning...

Having decided to abandon our CA residency (which is a long story in and of itself which might get it's own posting some day), we agreed to get NYS driver's licenses and register our vehicles in NY. I spent about 3 hours on Thursday doing research on the NYS DMV website to determine what forms and supporting documents were necessary to bring. It required a few phone calls to DMV and our auto insurance company to get everything in order and on Friday morning we found the closest office to Ivan's work. We rendezvoused around 10am and walked to the Herald Square DMV, arriving between 10:30 and 11am. The first thing we see is a long line at a window marked "Information - Service Tickets". After doing some reconnaissance we were told that everyone had to wait in that line, explain your business, and get a ticket to be serviced. Oh, if only it were that simple. Truly, the only entrance to the DMV office was that roped off line, so we determined that the information we received was reliable.

Instead, we got to the front of that line and we were told that we had to go to a different, even longer line to get our photos taken for our driver's license and then they would give us service numbers to actually get our licenses and change our vehicle registration.

After an hour, we made it to the front of that line only to learn that there was a different "shorter" line to get the photos we needed. We did manage to get a service number for the car registration issue. Indeed, the other line was shorter - no one was in it - but there was also no one servicing that line. We asked a few people and finally after about 5 minutes someone came to help us. He looked over our paperwork and determined that the documents we brought to prove our NYS residency were inadequate because half of them had "FL 3" as part of the address and half didn't. The half that did, would have been enough to prove our residency, but neither had both of our names on it. The half that didn't were supposed to have been enough to prove our residency, but the person at the window said he couldn't accept them since they were issued by the same company. Nowhere on the website did it say that there was a restriction about bringing documents issued by different companies. We then tried explaining that we rent the top floor in a house and we get our mail whether it has the "FL 3" or not, but he wouldn't budge. He did, however, give us a service number to talk to his supervisor. So we waited some more.

The supervisor echoed the same things the first guy said, but consented to walk over with us to discuss the issue with the first guy. We had to wait some more, since the first guy was helping someone else. Eventually they relented and they approved our residency documents. Then we had to wait in line to get our photo taken. Then we had to wait in line to get a service ticket. Then we had to wait for our numbers to be called. So we had three numbers: one of each of our licenses and one for the vehicle registration. By now, we've had the number for the vehicle registration for over an hour and they still hadn't called it. Eventually they called the number for our vehicle registration. Ivan kept watching the "big board" for our other numbers to appear, but then they needed both of us in order for them to process the vehicle registration since both of our names are on the title (although, one of my questions over the phone to the DMV the prior day was precisely this and they said I could do it without Ivan's presence). Meanwhile, Ivan's number was called, so he left. It didn't matter anyways, because the special insurance card that I had requested from our auto insurance company didn't have both of our names on it, so they couldn't process it anyways. Blech.

As that was being explained to me my number for my license was called so I collected my documents and went to the next window. Finally, something was being processed. Although I had filled out a special application to get the enhanced driver's license, the guy helping me assumed that I was getting the regular license, but thankfully asked before completing the transaction. When Ivan was done with his license we double-checked what type of license they gave him and found they had done a regular one instead of the enhanced, so he had to go back and have the transaction reversed and process a new one.

Eventually, 4 1/2 hrs later, we left the DMV having only accomplished 67% of what we went there for. And they aren't open on Saturdays, so we have to go back next week with Ivan taking more time off work, to get the registration straightened out.

Labels: NY