I can't believe I'm saying this, but Kudos to the Washington State drivers licensing office.

"This is what we'll show whenever you publish anything on Kinja:" (hkt00)
10/06/2020 at 23:04 • Filed to: Land of OPPOrtunity

Went to the DMV today and it was by far the quickest and easiest licensing experience of my life.

Had an appointment for 2:40. Arrived early, around 1. Asked if I should check in now and come back later, or just come back closer to my appointment time. They invited me in on the spot. A quick Covid questionnaire later and I was in the waiting room with no one ahead of me. Less than a moment later they called my number. I walked up, handed over my documentation, they verified it, and I was back out the door.

Mission accomplished. Probably less than 15 minutes, all-in.

Permanent card arrives in 2 weeks.

I’m impressed.

DISCUSSION (11)

Chan - Mid-engine with cabin fever > This is what we'll show whenever you publish anything on Kinja:
10/06/2020 at 23:22

Congrats and safe motoring!

ranwhenparked > This is what we'll show whenever you publish anything on Kinja:
10/06/2020 at 23:23

I’ve had a couple good experiences with DMVs over the years, I think because expectations are so low going in, when it works out very well, you leave even more impressed. I remember transferring my license from Pennsylvania to New York took all of about 5 minutes, and everyone at the office in Albany was pleasant, courteous, and professional. It was only later I realized that they got my address wrong, with a house number that didn’t even exist on my street.

Fun fact - when they sent me a corrected license, there was no provision for sending the old one back, so, even though I have since moved to Delaware, I still have an alternate NY license that appears valid for the next 3 years - which may prove helpful in this age of internal migration restrictions.

MiniGTI - now with XJ6 > This is what we'll show whenever you publish anything on Kinja:
10/06/2020 at 23:31

I’ve actually had pretty consistently good experience here in Illinois as well, though I think careful consideration of time of day is always helpful.

subexpression > This is what we'll show whenever you publish anything on Kinja:
10/06/2020 at 23:33

In Missouri the offices are run by contractors. My local DMV went from miserable to minimal wait from one year to the next because somebody else got that contract . T he new one adjusted the hours so that you didn’t get 90% of the people trying to pack in to the same 4 hour window every week. They even put up a big “new management” banner to let people know they didn’t suck as much .

Thanks to the county not having their shit together , I couldn’t renew my plates online . They weren’t nearly as awesome as yours, but I can’t really complain. They managed how many people were in the office at a time, they had the few weatherproof chairs they could find lined up outside with reasonable spacing , and since I needed plates not license half my wait was actually because I showed up just before opening in the morning .

Full of the sound of the Gran Fury, signifying nothing. > This is what we'll show whenever you publish anything on Kinja:
10/06/2020 at 23:35

Appointments make things so much easier. People complain about the DMV all the time, but this one simple change makes it a painless experience. My experience, at least in CA, was pretty much the same - show up before the appt. time, get things done, and get out before the scheduled time arrives. And it’s not like paying $500/hr to cut lines at Disneyland - it’s something available to absolutely everyone at zero cost. If you don’t do the appointment thing you have nobody to blame but yourself.

facw > Full of the sound of the Gran Fury, signifying nothing.
10/07/2020 at 02:26

Everyone with a computer or smart phone, which still isn’t actually everyone. And with many libraries closed due to covid, those people have even fewer options.

But yeah, the mere fact DMVs are designed around the expectation of a long wait is failure. Lots of ways to address it (some which aren’t even especially expensive), and so it’s a real embarrassment that almost universally suck.

Full of the sound of the Gran Fury, signifying nothing. > facw
10/07/2020 at 03:41

I’ve been using this service since the late ‘90s, so it predates smartphones and the use of the Internet for everything.

I figure that DMV workers are in a no-win situation: if there’s slack time, people will see them as sitting around doing nothing, but if it’s constantly busy they’re incompetent for not being able to handle things. Where I live now they seem to have outsourced much of this work, but then there are added charges to the bill to cover this. I’d rather make the appointment and save quite a bit of money, and let the state workers handle things.

Eric @ opposite-lock.com > This is what we'll show whenever you publish anything on Kinja:
10/07/2020 at 04:25

If this is WA, I have always been pleasantly surprised by how well they run here, especially in areas with lower population...

CivicWagonEngineer > This is what we'll show whenever you publish anything on Kinja:
10/07/2020 at 09:56

W hat’s this “permanent card” business? I have to get a renew my license by the end of the month and would like if I never have to worry about it again

This is what we'll show whenever you publish anything on Kinja: > CivicWagonEngineer
10/07/2020 at 11:51

Sorry, I misspoke. It's still got a 6 year expiry date but I left the office with a temporary document. The actual card arrives by mail, supposedly in approximately 2 weeks.

CivicWagonEngineer > This is what we'll show whenever you publish anything on Kinja:
10/07/2020 at 14:00

Ah gotcha. Just FYI, you can renew your license online as well. I did it this morning and it took about 5 minutes, and the card just get’s mailed to your house. Super convenient and another win for WA DOL