Arizona Motor Vehicle Department Provides Courtesy Services?

Yesterday in the mail I got a notice from my favorite government institute on the planet. YES. you know I am talking about the motor vehicle department better well known as (MVD) or any other colorful name you given this bureaucracy over the years. Here is how the notice read:

LAPSED REGISTRATION NOTICE

The registration on your vehicle has expired. Renew your vehicle registration online at www.servicearizona.com, by phone at 888-713-3031, or at any Motor Vehicle Division (MVD) or authorized Third Party office. If you wish to renew by mail send your renewal notice and check (include late fee) to:

Motor Vehicle Division: 4005 N. 51st Ave. Phoenix, AZ 85031.

The letter continues on, but I rather not torture you further. Now I was dumb founded. I had expired tags? Wow, I did not know that. So I looked at my car plate and sure enough it shows Sept. 07. My mind was racing at this point, because I am not the type of forgetting to pay a bill. I am a very detailed about this, and I cannot remember ever paying a bill late. So I asked my wife if she remembers us getting a bill for the registration. She says "no". I go back and look through my check register and I do not show that I wrote a check to (MVD). I quickly came to the conclusion, that the bill got lost in the mail or (MVD) never sent one to me.

So I decided to call them in the morning. That morning on my way into the office I get a customer service rep. on the phone from MVD. I explain to her that I either never got a bill or it got lost in the mail. I wanted to pay the bill promptly. She stated she could take the information over the phone, but there would be a late charge of $12.00. I told her this was unacceptable and she tells me if I want to complain that I have to go into a (MVD) office or just pay. I wanted justice and did not want pay the fine, so I knew there was an office right by my work.

The office right by my work was not busy (can you believe it). I got right in, got up to the MVD employee and this is how I explained it to him. I got this notice in the mail, however I never received your original bill. Since this is only a once a year fee, its not on my mind of when the registration is due again. Also, it took you (MVD) a month and a half to send me out a notice telling me my registration had expired. You can go back to the beginning of my driving record and verify that in the past 16 years I have never paid my registration late and I will NOT pay the late charge. He told me he did not have any authority to waive the late charges. I then asked for his superior. The supervisor was worse. She first asked me if my address on the statement was correct. I stated "Yes", she replied back "If you received the notice of lapse then we mailed your original bill to your property and from there it is not our responsibility", She then says THE MOTOR VEHICLE DIVISION PROVIDES THE BILL AS A COURTESY ONLY!!

So we trade words back and forth until I realize I am dealing with a bureaucrat. I finally just decide to pay the $12.00 late charge. I had things to do that morning and was not going to waste anymore of my time.

(the honored badge of a true bureaucrat)

I just do not get our government entities. "Courtesy Service" would of been to waive the late charge. Well that's why they work for the government and I decide to choose Free Enterprise.