Bureaucracy in action - Will I never learn?
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What else would I expect?
As some of your are aware, I recently sold my business and this left me with a number of vehicles to dispose of. Fortunately, the individual who took over my business was willing to purchase 6 of the trucks.
As with any vehicle sale, the titles must be transferred to the new owner of the vehicle. This of course required the dreaded visit to our Department of Motor Vehicles. All of the offices in town are packed with people waiting for their ticket number to be called, and usually eats up several hours of time to complete the required business. The new owner and I both were required to be there at the same time, so we chose to drive 45 miles to a small town that has its' own DMV office. I have used this location before, and things always went smoothly, but times change I guess.
We were standing there in front of the door that was supposed to open promptly at 8:00AM. It was almost 8:20AM before a gentleman appeared at the door to open for the day. He had remnants of that white powder stuff you find on doughnuts on his lips and mustache. We followed him into the office and he disappeared into a back room. It was 8:45 when he came back out and sat down in a chair behind the counter. He looked up and said, "You need to take a ticket from the machine over there." We asked, "Why, we are the only one's in here." He said, "That is a department requirement so they can track how long it takes us to do each transaction." So we went and pulled a numbered ticket out of the machine and went back to the counter. He was messing with some papers on his desk and ignored us for another five minutes. Then he looked up at a display on the wall and loudly called "Number One." Gee, it was now only 9:00AM and we were the lucky holders of Ticket Number One.
I then explained we needed to transfer 6 titles from myself to the new owner. He quickly stated, "I am only allowed to transfer 4 titles at a time for any customer." I again reminded him we were the only one's in the office, but it made no difference. I gave him 4 of the titles and he did his thing, collected our money, and suggested we come back tomorrow for the remaining two titles. I told him it was almost a 100 mile round trip for us and could he possibly do it today since we were already there. He thought for a minute, then said, "You will have to take another number." We went back to the ticket machine, pulled another ticket, and surprise, we had ticket number 2.
We walked back over to the counter where he was once again fooling with some papers on his desk. He ignored us for a few minutes, then looked at the display on the wall, and called loudly, "Number Two." We handed him the ticket and he then asked what we needed, like he had never seen us before. I was starting to lose my cool, but really didn't want to make another 100 mile round trip and waste half of another day, so I was patient. I said, "We need to transfer these remaining two titles." He took the titles, did his thing, collected our money, handed us back the paperwork, put a closed sign on his desk, and disappeared into the back room again. Since it was now approaching 10:00AM I would guess it was his morning break time. We didn't hang around to see if he came back out with more doughnut fuzz on his lips.
We did accomplish what we set out to do, but on the way home discussed what lousy service we had just received from a State employee. If there had been anywhere else to go to get this done without another 50 mile drive and a couple hours wait, we would have walked out right in the beginning. I'm fairly sure the man we worked with is an exception, but it was a great reminder of how good customer service is not foremost in the mind of many government agency employees. They are the only game in town and they know it. We will either deal with them, or just forget the whole thing and they know this. I'm sure it is nearly impossible to fire a State employee for just poor performance or attitude, unlike in non-government jobs. I question if someone actually complained about the service they received if anything would happen?
This is also a classic example ot what happens when there is no competition. Competition is a good thing, and it keeps everyone on their toes. I would love to see this part of the DMV turned over to not one, but several private companies to perform these tasks. I'll bet it would be a much nicer experience for we customers.
Thanks for reading.
Mike
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Don't get me started. There is a syndrome in bureaucratic organizations of any kind. I call it the low watt power trip. It is driven by certain spirits, like "I am sorry, you can't get there from here, I am in your way", "as per so and so or such and such", "It is not in the computer that way", and (like you said) "Come back on Monday".
Next time, take doughnuts!
Hilarious
Bob
WD - When a guy would rather have a prostrate exam by a female doctor than go to the DMV, that pretty well tells the story. Even sadder is the fact many of these State employees think they are overworked and underpaid.
Bob, you are a genius. Next time I will take a box of doughnuts with me and buy my way through the system.
Government of ANYTHING is failure! Government employees almost can never be fired! We need management that has to answer to someone in all government offices! Productivity doesn't apply to tax payer money therefore they have no reason to be courteous or use common sense! I have seen this type of behaviour for years and it drives me crazy!
I wonder if recent changes to the DMV just took place in New Jersey, because going there now is a walk in the park. They are so quick and efficient that it is mind-boggling.
AR - Most everyone I am acquainted with dreads having to visit any Government run office. The attitude displayed by the employees and gross lack of productivity most likely trickles down from above. The employees act no differently that is expected of them by their supervisors.
BP - All I can say is you are very fortunate with the DMV in New Jersey. Perhaps they would be willing to loan some people to us for training purposes?
This made me smile. I can remember an incident of several years ago when I was trying to contact the Provincial Health Commission for something to do with one of my foster kids. I phoned and phoned but the line was always busy. Finally, frustrated and fed up, I called the number for services in French (remember Canada has 2 official languages and must provide services in both.) That line was answered on the second ring. "Bonjour," I said and then changed to English, only to be told this line was for services in French only. I argued that the English lines were busy and I was unable to get through. "Too bad," said the clerk, in perfectly adequate English. "This line is for service in French, only. Good bye." "Attendez," (wait) I yelled before she could hang up on me. And so it came to be that I spent the next twenty minutes explaining my problem in my long-unused and painful French. So yes, such stories of idiotic officialdom can be found everywhere. Thanks for the amusement. Lynda
Lynda - I guess this situation is pretty much worldwide. I loved your story. It was great the clerk had to suffer through your less than perfect French to take care of your problem for you. What a cool idea.
It's worth a try because I swear it's like poetry in motion! When I went to re-new my license the whole process, including presenting all these forms of ID and taking my picture, took 5 minutes!
Bad example Old Poolman. Sounds like fun to me.
WD - Looking back and laughing about it makes it better. I do however still have teeth marks in my tongue from biting it so hard. You would be proud, I never once lost my cool all the way through this disaster.
I am proud! I would have trashed the place. The DMV in Florida is efficient. It is big business here with all of the people paying tax to register cars they bought years ago up north.
Just like the exam . . . bend over and take it.
WD - We seem to be learning the "bend over" routine a little better every day. Heck, when enough time passes we may even learn to enjoy it. But I sure hope I don't live long enough to reach that point.
Its been a long time since I've actually been to our DMV here in Virginia. We're able to handle most things through mail, internet, or at the dealership (profit driven, so automatically more efficient). The last time I was at one of our DMV offices I was amazed by the amount of traffic that went through, and by how well it was organized and laid out. Total time inside, maybe an hour, with 30 to 50 folks processed in front of me.
Are all Arizona government employees like that, or did you just get the bad apple that day?
Jim, I suspect I got a guy who had a bad night or a fight with his wife that morning. This is a very small office in a rural location, so perhaps to him two people in the office at one time is too much pressure. He knew what he was doing once we got him started. I have dealt with some very nice people at DMV, so can't say they are all like him.
OP - I reckon the more things change the more they stay the same. Red tapers always amaze me.
Great Hub.
The Frog
Mike,
truly funny. I wish my dealing with government agencies recently went that good. Nightmares when you have to deal with government.
Your experience sounds like something from a Carol Burnett spoof. I can just see Tim Conway as the man in charge. If reading this didn't make my BP go up, I'd be laughing instead of my mouth hanging open in incredulous amazement. Whenever I see rudeness in a customer-service employee, I go to the top with my complaint. I'd have an email to the head of the DMV fired off. I've found the one area that the dismal economy helps is valid complaints about an employee. There are too many people out of work for this kind of malcontented head-case to continue to hold his job. Everytime I have a miserable customer service experience, I think about the fact I am without work. And, I am continually amazed that these kind of employees retain their jobs! What's wrong with this picture?
George, In all fairness I should also write a hub regarding some of the outstanding service I have received from this same agency. I guess it just depends on which one takes care of your issues. I'm also sure many of the employees are fed up with some of the red tape they are forced to live with. In this case, the limit of 4 transactions would work well in the large and busy offices, but could be ignored in a rural office with no other customers. No shades of gray in their rules however. Thanks for stopping by and the comment.
Amy, always a pleasure and long time no see. I thought about writing a complaint letter, but changed my mind. With the sale of my business, my life should become easier and much less frustrating. I am tying the final ribbons on the sale, and now am going to practice this retirement thing and see if I can learn to enjoy it. So from now on I will just let experiences like this go by and ignore the unpleasant one's. Starting next week, I will have all day, every day, with nothing but time on my hands.
The biggest problem as I see it is these government run agencies have no competition at all. They truly are the only show in town. Many of these government employees could not keep a job in a competitive environment. They have never been required to produce more than the bare minimum, and are almost impossible to terminate. However to be fair, there are some outstanding employees working at these agencies, they are just not the norm.
I can see your frustration being unemployed and seeing someone's poor performance where you know you could do a much better job. I hope and pray you find what you need.
Sounds like typical govt ineffeciency to me. I, too have had to wait an extreme amount of time in govt run dept of all sorts. It seems to me those people spend more time on coffee breaks than actually working. If I had performed ANY of my jobs as badly as they do, I would have been fired.
geordmc - The sad part is this type behavior is something we have come to accept as normal. We all know that complaining to most government agencies is a guarantee your paperwork will immediately be moved to the bottom of the stack. I guess as long as we accept this, and do nothing about it, we are getting exactly what they have trained us to accept.
Funny stuff! The Arizona DMV, as slow as it is, is still far better than it was just ten years ago. Most transactions can now be done on line.
WillStarr - I later learned there are some 3rd party places here in town that will do it all for you for a small fee. They are not bogged down with the red tape rules and regs the DMV employees are forced to live under. Next time, that is where I will go.
@Old Poolman - sorry to hear of your issues, best of luck from here out
but...
You are a selfish wuss for letting that guy get away with it. Like Nopants, I will suffer a lot of unnecessary self-inflicted pain instead of letting bobble-heads like that get away with it.
But, on the other hand, I never have been accused of being the sharpest knife in the drawer.
And retirement isn't so bad - lots more sex.
GA
GA - I guess over the years I have learned there is a time to fight, and a time to play the game. Knowing when to apply which policy takes years of living and learning. In this case, getting this task completed was only one of a hundred things that had to be done in a relatively short time span. There was no way this idiot could cost me any more money, but he could have sure cost me more time, and the time was worth more. So I sucked it up and let him win this one.
Now that I am really retired and have plenty of time, it would be a completely different story. Hey, based on your closing comment regarding sex, this retirement thing may not be so bad after all.
Sadly this sounds more like a comedy skit from SNL than real life....especially the part about having to take a number...twice! Voted up and awesome!
weestro - Looking back, it is funny as heck. But at the time it raised my blood pressure a bit. Thanks for the comment.
Unfortunately OP, your experience is the rule of thumb instead of the exception to the rule. There is a complete lack of accountability from top to bottom throughout government, which breeds this incompetence and contempt towards those they serve. Apparently, none of these government workers quite grasps who pays them and how the whole system works.
Thanks OP...have a great day!
Lions Den Media - Thanks. I wonder how many government employees could survive in the competitive world of private enterprise? But, there are some excellent government employees, so I am not saying they are all bad. We are all quick to report poor service, but seldom take the time to write up excellent service. This was just a very frustrating experience at a time I had a million things to accomplish is a short time. That is why I wrote about it.
You're right, not all gov employees are bad. And I've been in similar situations at the state and federal level. But the bottom line is that gov. employees lack accountability and as such generally deliver an inferior product. I mean we only need to look at the TSA, Secret Service, IRS, GSA, Justice Department, FBI etc. The problem is that the standard line is "I'm just doing my job following protocol", which is precisely what your guy at the DMV was doing --- following procedure. And I believe this to be a fundamental objective within government in which they desire people to simply follow procedure instead of thinking and reasoning. It is merely a trait that I find alarming throughout society.
Sad but true. I suspect that the expectations placed on government employees is less than placed on private enterprise employees. They also work within a carefully constructed box of rules and regulations and are not allowed to cross the line for any reason. That is where they have to call a supervisor.
TheManWithNoPants Level 7 Commenter 3 months ago
Mike,
Good hub, my man. The next time you have to go to the DMV. Come down and get me. With me being with you, you wouldn't have gotten out of their until just past noon. The difference is we would have walked out with big smiles, and the guy behind the counter would have been popping valium like it was M&M's. See with me, and I think you know this, it's the rule of ten. For every pound of flesh I give up, I take 10 pounds of theirs. Thats just my rules of the game.
Good stuff, my man!
Jim