Complaint Review: California DMV

I'm from California and moved to WA for a few years.  Came back to California so had to register my car here again.  Registered the car and everything was good until several months later when I received a "Notice of Intent to Suspend Registration in 30 Days" (or whatever it's called).  Turns out, they were going to suspend my registration for not having auto insurance.  I have never, ever been without auto insurance. 

I contacted my insurance company - they said they report weekly to the DMV - and the would make sure to fix the problem.  30 days later I received a notice that my registration was expired due to no auto insurance and I was not to drive the car (as if).  I called my insurance company again - the guy was smart enough to tell me to check the VIN on the registration.  Sure enough, it didn't match.  I double checked the form I filled out to register the car (of course I kept a copy), and I wrote down the VIN correctly. 

This started my nightmare with the California DMV.  I called the Sacramento office many, any times and was told many, many different things re how to fix this.  Finally, one employee managed to get the suspension lifted and said all you have to do is a VIN verification at the DMV.  I thought I might as well register the car a little early while I was there.  I stood at the Costa Mesa DMV for over 3 hours after doing the VIN verification while the employees meandered around slowly.  The lady took my money, gave me stickers and said the registration would have to be mailed from Sacramento.  The registration never showed up. 

I called the Sacramento office weekly - sometimes twice a week - for 2 1/2 months straight - always getting a different person with a different story.  Registration never arrived of course.  I also wrote 2 letters which were ignored, and I sent 2 emails through the DMV website which were all ignored.  On 3 separate occasions, I was told by 3 separate Sacrament DMV employees that I would receive a call back "within 5-7 business days" to correct this issue.  Not one call ever came in - it was a lie to get me off of the phone.

I finally got online and contacted the agency that oversees the California DMV and emailed a complaint.  Got a response and low and behold, got an email from a "supervisor" at the Sacramento DMV apologizing and promising to fix the problem immediately.  Once again, the registration never arrived.  I ended up having to email this "supervisor" (and copying the lady from the agency that oversees the DMV).  The "supervisor" even lied once, saying it was mailed out on a certain date - of course it never arrived - because it was never mailed.  She said she would print it again and mail it out again.

Guess what - I received it in the mail today and - - - - wait for it - - - - the DMV got the VIN wrong again!!  They mixed up a few other numbers!!

Everything you hear about "protected" jobs for people who work for the State of California couldn't be more true - what a joke - I would have been fired long ago for this type of behavior.  Mind you, they took my money darned fast - just never gave me what I paid for.  The California DMV stole my money.  Not to mention the time I have spent trying to fix their stupid, sloppy protected employee mistakes.