The “Water Cooler” is a feature on Claycord.com where we ask you a question or provide a topic, and you talk about it.
The “Water Cooler” will be up Monday-Friday at noon.
Today’s question:
Rhode Island DMV is considering a $15 walk-in fee for people who come into the DMV to renew their registration, which is something they can do online. They’re doing this in an effort to shorten lines at the DMV.
QUESTION: Do you think California DMV should consider charging a fee for in-person services if it’s something that can be completed online?
Talk about it!
65 comments
They should go back to hiring people based on the top scorers getting jobs and not this equal opportunity BS back so we can have an efficient DMV system like we used to have. You don’t see the EE approach to the pilots that fly fighter jets or people that play in the NFL.
Not yet.
The way that equal opportunity employment works is that all of the people chosen for a given position are pulled from a pool of qualified applicants, and often have scores or qualifications that match their “non equal opportunity” colleagues.
Until we live in a world where we can send the same college application with different “ethnic” and “non-ethnic” names and both people have an equal chance of getting the position (spoiler alert: they don’t), I think we need to continue the use of “equal opportunity BS”.
You’re right Jessica. Just look at the way Harvard screws Asian applicants.
Rollo Tomasi, you mean gives undeserved advantages to unqualified legacy admits.
No, I wrote exactly what I meant.
Show a person who doesn’t do it online if they can, especially when the lines surged to 3 hour wait times last year. The only reason I’ve set foot in a DMV in years is because they f’ed up my paperwork so badly and getting through on the phone is painful.
Painful phone for them too Mamba. After they flooded the market with New Vehicles anything over 3 years pops up to them as obsolete.
No! We pay enough fees already.
It costs the state more to have staff and a building/physical infrastructure to perform tasks that can be done online MUCH cheaper. Incenting people to do renewals online makes fiscal sense.
@Cal
How do you address the very real possibility that lower income people as well as the elderly are more likely to have no access to online processing?
@Rollo Tomasi
What’s more difficult for a low income or elderly person: spending three hours at a DMV to which they have travel to in person, or spending 20 minutes at a public library to which they have to travel in person?
Computers at libraries are considered “public” and you are advised by security experts NOT to enter personal information on computers that are public, especially credit card numbers. So, I wouldn’t think the library would be a good place to do DMV transactions. DMV has also announced on their website that they will be charging a fee for credit card use, so it will be cheaper to write a check and mail it in.
It is also sort of unrealistic to expect an elderly person with absolutely no computer experience whatsoever to go to the libeary and renew their DMV paperwork there. In fact, I know people who don’t have computers on purpose and won’t get within ten feet of a computer, they dislike them so much. They want nothing to do with computers or cellphones.
@ Led:
You’d have to ask one of them. I’m sure the answers would vary.
@Led They write a check and mail it in. Or, they make a DMV appointment. There is no three hours waiting around to either of those options.
If it can be completed on-line or via kiosk then why not charge a walk in fee. Oh yea. This is California so it can’t be done. That fee would adversely impact low income people who can’t afford on-line access or the people lacking the ability to read the instructions on the kiosk.
No, it would not be fair to those who do not own a computer or smart phone, or to those who are not online or have access to the internet. There are some folks that are intimidated by computers and the internet, and then there are the ones who don’t trust putting their info on the World Wide Web.
The California DMV already does it’s best ripping us off, they don’t need to add another money making scheme.
One reason I do my registration in person is because I want to get my sticker and not have it lost in the mail.
Exactly, this is discrimination.
And some who do access to a computer or smart phone don’t want to put a credit card information in the hands of DMV or anyone else in this manner.
I’ll make an appointment on line for walk in service, not hand out my credit card. For annual stickers, AAA does a decent job without charging a fee for that anymore.
Anon,who does this discriminate against?
Is this racist?
Will you blame the orange man?
Do tell(you won’t)
If you don’t own a computer or a smartphone, it is still easier to go to a local library and use the free internet there than it is to spend hours at the DMV.
And you’re ok with people who can’t figure out a computer out driving on the road?!?!
“And you’re ok with people who can’t figure out a computer out driving on the road?!?!”
Far, far better than teens and moron adults who can’t keep their faces out of their “smartphones”
Exactly! Here’s a fun fact… should they get lost or stolen thru the mail, you are charged $57.00 them replaced! Now remember that’s not only stickers, but registration paperwork too.
People were driving long before computers were invented. You don’t need to know how to operate a computer in order to drive a car. Geez!
If the DMV starts charging a fee for in-preson matters, I recommend they also start paying patrons with appointments who end up waiting anyway. How about $25 after a wait of 10 minutes, another $25 after 5 minutes more, and $50 more for every additional 15 minutes they have to wait?
No more fees. We are taken to the cleaners hourly by everyone else. We pay for them to have jobs. Will they give us our ID or licenses less the $15 additional fee charge? Don’t think so. Enough said. Come on folks push back.
Believe it or not, many people still do not have a PC or a smart phone. The DMV should not charge more for doing the job they are supposed to be doing in the first place.
I notice the other day the DMV now wants to charge extra if you use a credit/debit card to renew your registration. We have done this with a credit card for some years now, but now they want to charge extra.
We wrote checks and mailed it to them.
They should not charge for this service.
Best to take a number Joseph.
Isn’t standing in line punishment enough. Also , lots of older people have trouble with doing it online, so they get punished also?
Not a terrible idea… aside from when they fail to send your renewal notice and you’re are unable to renew online for one of many reasons. Also.. renewals take a minute to complete; not sure how much this will help, but at least its something.
Registrations could also be handled by subcontractors as it is in other states. I’m sure they’re too paranoid to allow this to be done though.
You can already do it all at AAA. They need to expand that, or make the process less of a pain. I re-registered a vehicle a week or so ago. I was at DMV for 3 hours because half of the people there couldn’t speak English and they were accommodating them by bringing other staff over to help. Not sure how you can read street signs if you don’t know the language they are printed in. The whole system is ridiculous and they take way too long to get anything done.
@Me I’m sorry, which DMV did you attend? This is a gross over exaggeration for conservative effect. I lived in SoCal for several years and did not experience anything like this at the DMV. Just spend several hours between three DMVs out here and did not have that experience either.
I think that you’re the type of person who likes to exaggerate things they’ve seen in order to fit your own doomsday narrative.
Or maybe it’s because I’m smart enough to be bilingual and understood everything everyone was saying? Sorry you can’t understand.
I’m bilingual. Does that make me smart like you?
@Jessica
I’m trilingual due to my parents and the additional one from school. Does this make me three times as intelligent as you? The fact that you feel superior to the poster you’re referencing speaks volumes about your character. I suggest smartening up by learning some people skills.
@Jessica:
How would knowing what was being said mitigate the wait time experienced by Me?
And while we’re on the subject, smart people don’t shift from second person pronouns to third person pronouns (then back again) mid sentence.
@Jessica. Last time I went to DMV to pick up a drivers guide for my daughter. The DMV had a guide in every language, except English
How about a $15 discount for doing it online?
EGG-zackly CL
Now we’re talking.
I do my registration at AAA. Less wait & I get my sticker on the spot.
How about opening more DMV offices with competent people running them.
that’s great but when they send you a notice that you have to come in to renew your registration …..then what do they pro rate the fees ….for that 15 dollars …????
yet again though …the dmv is using our tax money to stay afloat
and and charging fees and now are charging a door fee ….lol what ….a double dip on top of fees ….I believe is illegals ..well accept illegal is a sketchy word that means nothing now …absolutely nothing when a state gov just refuses to be legal or expect anyone else to either.
accept when it comes to paying up …lol well at least the public does …we pay for all gov vehicles as well …including state vehicle ….sooo yeah 2 standards …
you wanted this and now you got it ….fun huh
So basically a fee to steal money from the poor an elderly.
I don’t know if I agree with it, but I understand why they’re doing it. I can’t say that I blame them.
In CALIFORNIA the government expects us to pay twice for everything.
It’s not a government here. It’s more like a provincial calamity.
That’s absurd
If you were paying for decent service, they might have an argument there. However, given the service you receive, they’re already getting paid too much!
Low income people may not have computer or may not be comfortable transacting online and an additional fee would be a hardship for them. I am not low income but know elderly people who dont do online transactions.
FYI. You can mail it in too. On-line and/or stand in line aren’t the only
Options.
Heck no! We’re already taxed enough already! To go to pay is stupid! Hire competent people. The lines would go a lot faster!
No, then the workers would be out of work !!!
Not at all they should pay you 300+ DOLLARS to take your mug and greet you with respect.
HELL NO.
All I need to do is “change of address” so I can renew. Oh, yeah, I would like to make an appointment for this….. 3 mos and 3 days later…..for the first available, and ANY time of day. So I have to go in to do this.. This system is screwed up enough already. So I will go in, stand all day, change my address…. and then pay them for taking me up the a$$. uh huh.
How about it if the DMV has to reimburse you for anything more than a 5 minute wait after your scheduled appointment. I charge $100/hr. when consulting. And if they make an error? Triple damages!
The treatment we receive from the DMV is clearly a violation of the Geneva Conventions against torture and abuse of civilians. My 4 hour wait there was proof, believe me.
Agree to 15.00 fee if I could not speak the language of the country I’m in…
The last time I tried to make an appointment I was informed the next available appointment was exactly 3 months away. And you can’t make an appointment more than 3 months in advance. I needed to get my DL renewed within 2 months. Offer a discount instead.
~sarcasm alert~ That sounds like a great idea. I’m pretty sure the DMV already charges a $15 “convenience fee” for doing things on line and so they might as well also charge a $15 “convenience fee” to use a human teller or cashier. ~end of alert~
As others have already noted – this idea disfranchises many people, many of who can least afford the additional fees.
I prefer using humans as they can handle odd exceptions better. For example, yesterday I handed over a $20 bill for a $10 purchase. The cashier did not have enough change in her register and so asked the cashier in the next row if she could break a $20 into two $10s. They swapped the $20 for two $10s and my cashier handed me the $10 change. An automated system would have failed out entirely.
Today at Ace Hardware I needed a 59 cent bolt. I asked the guy in the store if I needed to fill out one of those plastic bag things with the price. He said “no,. just let the teller know the price.” At the cashier line the guy heard “59 cents” for the bolt in hand and waved me through. Two human interactions that each took about one second that would have each taken a couple of minutes or more had they been automated. Thumbs up for the Bill’s Ace Hardware on CC Blvd.
Even when there are no odd issues the human cashiers and tellers are faster. They deal with their internal systems all day long and become experts at translating what the customer in front of them at that moment needs to do into what their systems want.
WC Resident, don’t you think writing “sarcasm alert” before writing a sarcastic remark kills the effectiveness of the sarcasm? Most readers will pick up on it naturally, and for those that don’t, does it really matter to you if they get it or not?
I got this from a Claycord poster years ago:
Sarchasm: the deep divide between those able to detect sarcasm and those who are unable.
On line, kiosk, and snail mail no charge.
If you want to stand in line and pay $15 you deserve it.
This is just another way for their govt to fleece people. It’s always about the $ for these people.
I don’t know where else to put this, but it pertains to the DMV. I recommend printing a copy of your cancelled check for DMV or any other government agency.
The mail has become unreliable and some government officials will take an attitude with assistance for a variety of reasons. Two of them are: Paying with checks, and important documents getting “lost” in the mail.
If you need to get a duplicate FedID, requires a personal visit so no walk-in fee. You should be able to get a duplicate ID on line if you have had your wallet stolen and already have been through the agony of a DMV personal visit and 3 hour wait even with an appointment.
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