bex77

This probably won't come as a surprise to anyone, but dealing with the Massachusetts Registry of Motor Vehicles office still sucks. Big time. I've had to deal with them twice in the past week and I am not happy.

Last week I had to get my car inspected, and I couldn't find my registration. I had an online receipt saying I'd renewed it last summer and to keep the email until the form arrived in the mail, but I don't think it ever arrived, as I am usually on top of stuff like that. So I got online to get another copy. They charge $25 to mail you a copy. I figured that's because it's a special form with a raised signature. It took them a week to mail it, and it was a photocopy of an online document. That I could easily have downloaded and printed for free. *sigh*

They don't mail out renewal reminders anymore, so I didn't know my license was expiring. It croaked on Tuesday. I just happened to notice yesterday while dealing with the registration that finally arrived in the mail.

This morning, I got to waste almost two hours at the Watertown Mall to renew my license because my photo (which still looks exactly like me) was "too old." So instead of being able to do it online in two minutes, I had to take off from work. And because they've closed the registry branch that is 10 blocks from my house, I had to drive to Watertown and go to Registry office.

I downloaded the license renewal form online so I had it ready to go and drove to the wilds of Watertown. I got there half an hour before the office opened, and ended up in the long line behind more than 100 people, down past the office and all the way down the hall of the mall and around the corner. There was a nice man there handing out numbers and forms. And they had opened the gate so the first 50 people could have a seat. Which meant I got to stand for almost the entire time.

They gave me number B239, meaning I was part of the B line for renewals, and there were 38 people ahead of me. They started calling people up at 10 am sharp. And worked through 30 people in the first 45 minutes. Then they stopped calling up any license renewals while they started helping people there for the 11 am learner's permit tests. So they didn't call any B200's for another 15 minutes.

I finally got called at 11:07 am, having gotten in line at 9:30 am. The clerk was cheerful, and took a horrible photo of me, without my glasses, to replace the better one that's "too old." I took the vision test. And paid $50. And they don't give you a license, you get a piece of paper that says you'll get something in the mail in a couple of weeks.

I am usually a patient, understanding person, but this severely tested my limits in dealing with logistical bureaucratic buffoonery. Please don't let me have to deal with them for a long, long time!!!