My Biggest Problem since Graduating College & Moving to Houston... (appointed, insurance)

[mikegrowingintohouston]

...Is the Texas DPS.

This is extremely boring but I wrote it anyways because I'd like any help possible in filing a complaint (or doing something similar) against the Texas DPS. Also, people can feel free to say what they think of this situation. Is the DPS system broken in this rare-scenario that I was in? Or do I deserve to lose a lot of time and risk being arrested(?) for making a careless mistake? This is one of those situations where I ask myself: Am I crazy or is this just a bad system?

So the story is, I put myself through college, and the reason I say this is because after graduating, I didn't have a mailing address, (very proud that I'm the first in my family to earn a college degree - I had to do it on my own and that's what I did). I was, however, lucky enough to be flown out here for a job interview from about as far away as you can get from Houston and still be in the States, after graduating. Turns out I didn't get that job, but I was targeting energy jobs (quantitative degree, had an internship with an energy consulting firm) and a friend convinced me that I could move down here and stay with him while I job-hunted. I liked Houston a lot from what I saw (mild winters, low cost of living, variety of activities), and so I happily came down. If it didn't all work out I could always go back.

It ended up as a story with a happy ending as I got lucky and landed a job pretty quickly. It was a stressful time, however. I ended a long-term relationship, had to have an invasive, serious medical procedure done without medical insurance to my name (thankfully I got a job before this had to happen... man was that stressful) In these short couple of months, my license from out-of-state actually expired after I moved down and I didn't realize it until I went to transfer it into Texas. I never received any notice (I was forwarding mail to my poor old Grandma who didn't really check it), and that's where things got tricky. Although I take responsibility for carelessly never thinking to ask myself "I wonder when my license is going to expire," the number of hurdles I've had to jump over to get a new license seem ridiculous to me.

It took me about 6 months, many trips to the DPS, and several days of my life; all the while I was having to drive without a license (sitting at a friend's house and quitting my job was a worse-option for both myself and society). The majority of time was spent waiting to take an actual driving test, waiting for more and more time to get off work (one day I arrived at 3:30pm and didn't get in the door in time to get anything done), and sorting out incorrect administrative instructions that the DPS worker gave me.

Although I had been driving almost 10 years at this point without ever an accident, and have completed motorcycle and driver education courses, none of that mattered. Never a ticket other than a couple minor speeding violations from 10 years back. Never a misdemeanor or anything. All of this didn't matter -- in no way shape or form. I had let my license expire AND moved to a different state, and that is a death-sentence. Don't ever let that happen! I had to start from scratch, OR move back to my home state and that's not a realistic option.

What I'm particularly frustrated about is that I was never told I could schedule at a different DPS to take the test earlier, even though I had asked about how I could take the test earlier many times! The Texas DPS has a central office with contact information, which I contacted many times, but never got a response from. I emailed, I called and waited on the line for hours... Nothing! No responses from multiple emails, multiple calls.

I guess if I had socialized this with friends and coworkers I may have been told this, but the reason I didn't is just that I didn't want to advertise the fact that I didn't even have a driver's license. It's the DPS's job to facilitate this process in the first place.

The problem, the way I see it, is that the DPS and its employees have almost no accountability to do their jobs correctly. I am a hard-working, tax-paying, law-abiding citizen and I like to think that the people in my community that know me would not hesitate to say I add more than I take to the world around me. I don't know what a judge would have done if I was arrested or fined for driving without a license, but I can't imagine what else they would do when I showed them I had done everything possible to get my license in a timely and orderly manner...

I don't know... I don't want to come off as pretentious, and maybe I really am going crazy. Maybe I can work very hard to beat the odds in my life and come from an unlucky background to put myself through a college while working multiple jobs and graduating from a very good school. Was lucky to end up getting a great job with a great company, and I've since managed to be lucky enough to even do things like donate to causes I feel are important... all at a young age... What I'm saying is that I've managed to do the right things in life and be successful as a professional and as a human being, at least in my own eyes. But I could not for the life of my seem to find any way to get a good outcome against the Texas DPS. And one employee there in particular has made me question my faith in humanity, if only momentarily.

[houstonfan]

Just remember that there are more certified idiots out there than certified professionals. It's something you'll have to deal with all your life, the sooner you accept it, the less disappointed you'll be in life. Congratulations on your degree and job.

[funeral979]

Im not trying to sound rude or anything, but...

This was an extremely long post to tread through...and yet im still not exactly sure what your complaint was/is?

Why would you feel you might be arrested if you filed a complaint? What were the causes of the delays? I don't think you made it clear if you finally did get your license?

You left alot of details about your complaint out....but we DO know that you had an invasive surgery, are fortunate enough to donate to charities, have a college degree, are a great human being, etc etc

[Bily Lovec]

hes butthurt he let his DL expire and DPS wont move him to the front of the line.

Originally Posted by funeral979

Im not trying to sound rude or anything, but...

This was an extremely long post to tread through...and yet im still not exactly sure what your complaint was/is?

Why would you feel you might be arrested if you filed a complaint? What were the causes of the delays? I don't think you made it clear if you finally did get your license?

You left alot of details about your complaint out....but we DO know that you had an invasive surgery, are fortunate enough to donate to charities, have a college degree, are a great human being, etc etc

[14Bricks]

The DPS office can be a pain in the ass. That being said I do not have much sympathy for you, how did you not know your lisence was expired? Out of state lisences don't have expiration dates on them?

[AmeriSwede1]

I cant wait until I move there and have to get my Texas DL. I hold dual citizenship (Sweden-US) my DL from Minnesota is expired but my DL from Sweden is vaild. Im sure this will create confusion for them to the N-th degree. Knowing how badly government offices are ran I'm quite sure my stress level will be put into a frenzied state!

[chris_ut]

So lets summarize:

1. DL expires - your fault
2. Don't ask anyone advice - your fault
3. DPS employee doesn't spend the time to explain to you all the option you might have to move to different locations for faster testing but just does their job and gives you the test at their location at their next available availability - meh

Dealing with the government is always slow and a pain in the butt and everyone knows this. There are faster ways to deal with it and there are a couple posts on this very forum detailing how to get through the process faster but you decided to come here and complain after the fact instead of being proactive and getting information early. Don't blame other people for your own problems.

[Chicago3rd]

I let my license expire in 1996. Didn't need one in San Francisco or Chicago. Got to Houston and had to get one. We went to take a DPS up on Magnum and it was a horrible experience. So I scheduled my driving test down at the south Gessner office and had a much better experience.

1st....lesson learned never let a license expire in ANY state (picking on Texas is not an option in this discussion).

2nd....lesson learned or reminded.....government has procedures. These procedures are fairly ridged and have to be because of the mass of people they have to deal with. Learning the steps....which you may have to hunt down on a webpage like I did....will make your life easier when dealing with the procedures.

3rd...government workers should have to be graded on customer service...but I am sure the people we both talked too are being timed how long it takes them to get someone through (remember there is a line and tons of people waiting behind you) so most take the easier route in order to keep their jobs and just give out what they need too.

Now go drive those big freeways! They are fun in the middle of the night.

[Katy4life]

So you are mad you weren't told you can go to any DPS office and take the test, rather than waiting at a busy Houston office? That's just foolish on your part. Driving 30 minutes outside of Houston and waiting 5 minutes in line beats dealing with the DPS in Houston. As for the employees having no accountability, that goes for most state/fed workers. It's just expected, no matter what state you are in. The problem, as I see it, is that people like yourself that move here are always looking for something to nit pick about. You put yourself in this situation, and then blame others about it. There's no accountability any more with all of the self entitlement in this society. The DPS offices in this city used to be tolerable, but with hoards of people moving here, all with their own special little problems, I can see why the employees really don't care anymore.

[HookTheBrotherUp]

Most, not all, DPS employees that deal with the public are some of the laziest, and slowest (more ways than one) you'll have to deal with. Those people won't hurry up for anyhing.... unless their boss happens to yell out "you can leave early today", in which case papers will be flying in the air and chairs spinning as they will be the first ones out the door.