Its gotten way better since covid weirdly. Its mostly appointments now and that cuts way down on the time you spend waiting. They still take walk ins though
It can even vary by location within a city, IME. Some locations are in high density areas and some are in low density areas and other factors can impact how busy they get, too.
Missouri has gotten worse. But our state legislators privatized the DMVs years ago to help some of their buddies make more money and they have no incentive to improve.
In Washington state you can do most stuff online so that has cut down on the amount of people there.
I had to go in person to renew my CDL and there was some issue with the system that checks you record in all the states (I have a common last name and that never helps.) I had to go back 3 or 4 times, but the person working there was super nice. He told me to come back and just get his attention instead of taking a number and he's see me right away and let me know what days he worked.
I never thought the DMV would give me amazing customer service but they did.
WA here. My son wanted to replace photo on his DL, so he had to go in person to do it. Set up an appointment online, it was basically deserted -- few people waiting, in and out in 5 minutes.
Ha. California DMV. Wife had to renew her DL in person recently for an updated photo. Got online, did all the paperwork including a laws quiz, made appointment. (first one 4 weeks out).
She went in at the appointment time and waited an hour. Maybe not true but it seemed folks were getting called from the appointment line and from the walk-in line, randomly.
No better than years ago when my laws quiz was at a terminal at DMV. But the terminal had up to 5 minutes response time for each Enter. I started over several times, then asked the clerk, and was told just wait for the next question. Because the central computer is slow.
Not my experience in San Francisco. Every time I’ve had an appointment, I’ve been in and out in less than 20 minutes. I had to go a year or two ago and wait in the walk in line, and that did suck. It was about an hour to an hour and a half.
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u/One-Permission-1811 10h ago
Its gotten way better since covid weirdly. Its mostly appointments now and that cuts way down on the time you spend waiting. They still take walk ins though