It's that time of year again...I had to renew my vehicle registration. I got paid today and got to watch all that overtime money I busted my butt for flushed down the government toilet. That in itself is bad enough, but for some reason the system wouldn't let me renew my boat registration online.

It's a little old 16' fishing boat with a 25 HP outboard. It costs me $25/yr to register (although the trailer is $68/yr... something that could only make sense to a burocrat). I've always renewed it online in the past at the same time as my other vehicles, and never had an issue. So I called the DMV hotline number to see if they could tell me why I couldn't pay online. After being on hold for 45 minutes, I finally got someone who told me I had to go into a branch to renew it, but couldn't tell me why.

So I drove 30 minutes into town, took my number, sat in the herpacephalitis infected chairs for 15 minutes, and finally got to talk to a person face to face. He told me there was no issue with my registration, had no idea why it wouldn't have allowed me to update it online, took my $25, and I drove the 30 minutes home with my paper that says I'm allowed to use my own boat for another year.

Don't worry, they're from the government and they're here to help.

I feel your pain. For years, I would renew in person in Hamilton County. Every year, I would dread the visit to the BMV, it was painful, the employees were rude and it always took a minimum of 30-45 minutes. I would almost rather have a root canal, than visit the BMV.

About 10 years ago, I decided to try the closest BMV, although it is in Clermont County (Milford).

OMG..............................What is this place, it is not like any BMV I have been in before.

They have an employee walking through the line, asking each person what they are there for and confirming they have the appropriate paperwork, before they get up to the counter.

I have never spent more than 15 minutes in this location.

I even thank the employees as I leave.

I swear, the Milford, Ohio BMV is best I have ever had to deal with.

Sorry for the thread drift.

I know you couldn’t, but the last three years I’ve paid online. No more dealing with the jerk offs at the dmv. But then again I was always one of the few who would throw the hatefulness back at them. Made the experience a little more bearable.

quote:

Originally posted by P-220:
I feel your pain. For years, I would renew in person in Hamilton County. Every year, I would dread the visit to the BMV, it was painful, the employees were rude and it always took a minimum of 30-45 minutes. I would almost rather have a root canal, than visit the BMV.

About 10 years ago, I decided to try the closest BMV, although it is in Clermont County (Milford).

OMG..............................What is this place, it is not like any BMV I have been in before.

They have an employee walking through the line, asking each person what they are there for and confirming they have the appropriate paperwork, before they get up to the counter.

I have never spent more than 15 minutes in this location.

I even thank the employees as I leave.

I swear, the Milford, Ohio BMV is best I have ever had to deal with.

Sorry for the thread drift.

I will say that the employees I interacted with today, both on the phone and in person, were pleasant and professional. It's just the fact that I have to waste 2 hours of my life to pay $25...after already having paid $425, that is the source of my aggravation.

quote:

Originally posted by P-220:
I swear, the Milford, Ohio BMV is best I have ever had to deal with.

Sorry for the thread drift.

The Independence BMV is a close second. I've never had to wait more than 5 minutes and stuff is done quick.

 
Any of you AZ residents close enough to Wickenburg to make an easy drive will find a hidden gem in our local MVD office. It's right on US60/Grand, just as you enter the south side of town. Three clerks, often so "unbusy" that only two are manning desks. In and out with no headaches. Just don't go on a Monday morning, or around the 15th or end of the month. I usually go midmorning during the week. They have to remind me to take a number instead of just walking straight up to their desk (sometimes a pick of two idle clerks), because they use the numbers to keep track of patrons serviced. I usually linger for some chit-chat, because I know two of the three clerks.

Illinois ?

Move to Montana. We only register boats, trailers, RVs, campers, ATVs, Sidexsides one time. Once your car or truck is over 10 years old, you get a permanent plate.

Plus no sales tax.

Mike

quote:

Originally posted by 92fstech:
although the trailer is $68/yr

Does your state allow you the option of a permanent plate on your trailer?
$75 here, one-time. You can't transfer it if you buy a new trailer, but it does save some money and hassle if you keep a particular trailer for more than three years or so.

No permanent plates. And where we're really getting dicked is the county wheel tax. Trailers are $40/per axle (so before the wheel tax, I paid $28/yr). They enacted the wheel tax about 5 years ago to help pay for road upkeep, or so they said. Roads still suck, and now they're talking about raising it more. But the county highway dept got a brand new office building last year, go figure.

quote:

Originally posted by 92fstech:
But the county highway dept got a brand new office building last year, go figure.

Sounds just like the local banks and insurance companies... good grief, they've got some nice buildings these days!

Don't come to Michigan. My county has a population of 191k. We have a total of ONE Secretary of State offices here. Our new Secretary of State Benson campaigned on the promise of shorter times, instead just the opposite. And as per usual, she blame previous state administrations for the problem.

https://www.bridgemi.com/michi...aits-lines-are-worse

There was a proposal several years ago to issue CPL's through the S of S, fortunately this is still handled by the county clerks offices.

Recently had the misfortune of having to go to two different California DMV offices (for different reasons). One office (but not both) had multiple large signs up in the office that said threats of violence against the DMV staff would be prosecuted. They actually had those signs! What does that tell you about how bureaucratic, inefficient, and wasteful of "customers' time" that specific office is to have received the number of threats that would result in these signs? Maybe I've led a sheltered life, but I never saw that in any other office or business in my long adult life!

^^^^^^^ Did these signs also bear the standard California Prop 65 warning that it may cause cancer?

Was it printed on paper and cardboard from a Certified Organic Free Range Sustainably Harvested and Paying a Living Wage in a Carbon Neutral Facility powered by Renewable Energy?

Inquiring minds just want to know.

Was the ink and dye used Soy Based?

So, my registration cards and stickers arrived in the mail today. There was one envelope that contained the boat registration, and another with 4 registrations...one for the boat trailer, one for my enclosed trailer, one for my truck, and one for the Suburban. The registration for the Impala is missing.

I logged into the website and double-checked to confirm that I had paid for it along with the others. I did. It shows that it's paid through Nov 2020. I'm going to wait a few days to see if it randomly shows up in it's own envelope, but I'm not optimistic. I'll probably end up having to waste more of my time calling them to get it sorted out.

Awesome.