by atomathics » Wed Jan 14, 2009 7:06 am
Most of this is a repost from the Clubroom, but I'm putting here in this thread for the sake of completeness and for those needing similar information for next year (and beyond).
In looking for a DMV in the Los Angeles area I visited two that I had heard decent things about, mostly from reading Cobra forum postings, since a lot of Atom SB100 experiences seem to be in Orange or Ventura counties. Torrance and Culver City were two that I decided to try. The best thing I did was to visit both about a week before January 2 to speak with employees and managers at each DMV.
I think this should be a mandatory step for anyone wishing to go through the SB100 process... go interview your DMV!
While the folks at Torrance knew about the SB100 process, I never got past the receptionist. She spoke with a manager and a co-worker to get more information, and she told me that they would have two or three people there in the morning to be on the phones, but I didn't get the feeling that there was a lot of interest or enthusiasm on their part.
On the other hand, the very first time I went to Culver City, the first person I spoke with at reception was aware of the process. In fact every person I spoke with from then on, two managers, two receptionists, and two "technicians" (the DMV term for people that work the counters), they all knew about the process and what had to be done on January 2. In fact, one of them, Hector, told me he'd be the one on the phones on the 2nd and had been researching and preparing during the last two weeks of December to get ready for the SB100 rush. This information sealed it for me.
When January 2 came around, I debated about going to line up at 3am, maybe 5am, or even, as Hector at the DMV had suggested, 7:20am. Ultimately, I arrived to an empty (and freezing!) parking lot at 4:30am. First in line and not another SB100 applicant until 7am! At 8am there were only three of us in total seeking numbers, one Cobra owner and another gentleman that had a Jag roadster replica body over Toyota pickup truck mechanicals and frame. In hindsight, I could have slept in and arrived at ten minutes to eight, but it sure was comforting to be the first in line.
I was really surprised that there weren't more people; in my pre-January 2 visit, the DMV technician, Hector, told me that he had spoken to "a number of people" that had come in to check things out SB100-wise beforehand. I was expecting five to ten people in line. Afterwards, in reading Cobra forums, it seems like there were fewer people in line this year at most DMVs across the state. Economic events of 2008 playing a role?
DMV staff polled the line as to who was there for SB100 before the doors opened, and at 8am we were all taken to one window. One DMV technician was on the phone across four lines until he got through at about 9am, nearly an hour on the phone! He got all three numbers at once, so they definitely did not have to call in, hang up, and redial for every customer. That agonizing possibility was mentioned on some forums, but fortunately we didn't have to deal with that, talk about anguish!
The DMV technician told us that ten people answer the phones in Sacramento, and each operator there gets assigned a block of numbers (50, probably) That's why someone in San Diego could get a number at the same time as someone in Stockton, but the numbers could be off by hundreds. For example, someone might get #451 at 8:30am while another person gets #49 at 8:32am.
I'd say Culver City did a very nice job, both in registration and SB100 handling. I'd have no questions about going there in the future, but do your homework because staff changes. And like so many other people have said before, be nice. It goes a long way to smoothing out a stressful process!
Biggest thanks of all to the Club members here who gave so much of their time to answer questions and guide me through the process: AtomGirl, Nicholas, fiesty, CalScot, Spaz. You are the best!
-a
Most of this is a repost from the Clubroom, but I'm putting here in this thread for the sake of completeness and for those needing similar information for next year (and beyond).
In looking for a DMV in the Los Angeles area I visited two that I had heard decent things about, mostly from reading Cobra forum postings, since a lot of Atom SB100 experiences seem to be in Orange or Ventura counties. Torrance and Culver City were two that I decided to try. The best thing I did was to visit both about a week before January 2 to speak with employees and managers at each DMV.
I think this should be a mandatory step for anyone wishing to go through the SB100 process... go interview your DMV!
While the folks at Torrance knew about the SB100 process, I never got past the receptionist. She spoke with a manager and a co-worker to get more information, and she told me that they would have two or three people there in the morning to be on the phones, but I didn't get the feeling that there was a lot of interest or enthusiasm on their part.
On the other hand, the very first time I went to Culver City, the first person I spoke with at reception was aware of the process. In fact every person I spoke with from then on, two managers, two receptionists, and two "technicians" (the DMV term for people that work the counters), they all knew about the process and what had to be done on January 2. In fact, one of them, Hector, told me he'd be the one on the phones on the 2nd and had been researching and preparing during the last two weeks of December to get ready for the SB100 rush. This information sealed it for me.
When January 2 came around, I debated about going to line up at 3am, maybe 5am, or even, as Hector at the DMV had suggested, 7:20am. Ultimately, I arrived to an empty (and freezing!) parking lot at 4:30am. First in line and not another SB100 applicant until 7am! At 8am there were only three of us in total seeking numbers, one Cobra owner and another gentleman that had a Jag roadster replica body over Toyota pickup truck mechanicals and frame. In hindsight, I could have slept in and arrived at ten minutes to eight, but it sure was comforting to be the first in line.
I was really surprised that there weren't more people; in my pre-January 2 visit, the DMV technician, Hector, told me that he had spoken to "a number of people" that had come in to check things out SB100-wise beforehand. I was expecting five to ten people in line. Afterwards, in reading Cobra forums, it seems like there were fewer people in line this year at most DMVs across the state. Economic events of 2008 playing a role?
DMV staff polled the line as to who was there for SB100 before the doors opened, and at 8am we were all taken to one window. One DMV technician was on the phone across four lines until he got through at about 9am, nearly an hour on the phone! He got all three numbers at once, so they definitely did not have to call in, hang up, and redial for every customer. That agonizing possibility was mentioned on some forums, but fortunately we didn't have to deal with that, talk about anguish!
The DMV technician told us that ten people answer the phones in Sacramento, and each operator there gets assigned a block of numbers (50, probably) That's why someone in San Diego could get a number at the same time as someone in Stockton, but the numbers could be off by hundreds. For example, someone might get #451 at 8:30am while another person gets #49 at 8:32am.
I'd say Culver City did a very nice job, both in registration and SB100 handling. I'd have no questions about going there in the future, but do your homework because staff changes. And like so many other people have said before, be nice. It goes a long way to smoothing out a stressful process!
Biggest thanks of all to the Club members here who gave so much of their time to answer questions and guide me through the process: AtomGirl, Nicholas, fiesty, CalScot, Spaz. You are the best!
-a