Bexar County Tax Assessor's Office Incompetence (Center, Earth: vehicle registration, insurance, home)

[Soviet]

So I show up at BCTA wanting to pay for my vehicle registration sticker, right? I wanna get it over with in person because I've done it before and it was so convenient and I was heading somewhere else that was on the way to the office, incidentally.

So I show up, there is NO line. FANTASTIC, think I! I show up and talk to the woman and she takes one look at my papers and tells me I can't do it. WTF?! It's because the owner of the vehicle (my stepdad) and I have different last names. Really? That's a freaking excuse?! We live in the same household, the cars are all ours! "No can do" says the moron. WHY?! I did it before, there was no problem. "Oh, we changed the rules because we're so stupid and want to make life harder for people."

Fantastic, eh? So then I went back to the car, stewing in anger, when I had the idea to show her my insurance paper as evidence that we were all one household, since both our names were on the paper. Did that work? NOPE! Evidently they don't take insurance as any sort of proof anymore. Why the heck not?! It's a perfectly valid paper! If it's good enough for SAPD, it should be good enough for the obese losers at Bexar County Tax Assessor's Office.

Whatever. /rant

What do you guys think of this ridiculously annoying situation?

[01Snake]

Sounds about par for the course. Dealing with the tax office, DMV, etc is worse than going in for a root canal. It's either incompetent person "working" behind the counter or the clueless person ahead of you in line that leaves you racking your brain in an attempt to figure out just how they summoned enough brain cells to get themselves to the office in the first place.

[xsa210tx]

Employees (as you know) are just following rules/regulations and are just doing their job. Do you want them to bend the rules for you and then they lose their job as a result? Think about it.

Did you ask for a supervisor? Or was that the only person you spoke to? Even if those were the rules, maybe a nice supervisor may have accepted some fax that your stepdad could have sent into their office as proof.

Also, I'm sure you would agree that the "obese loser" didn't make the rules.

So next time be fair and realize that it's not the clerk you see who made the rules. It's probably some well-to-do manager sitting very comfortably in the back somewhere sipping his/her Starbucks chatting it up about going to the lake this weekend on the phone while that "obese loser" you spoke to has to face the brunt of every person who complains to him/her about changes for which he/she has no control over.

[Soviet]

I have no problem with those clueless people, they get it eventually. The ones working the counters never do. Incompetence at its finest.

[elnina]

If you drive the car, your name should be listed as a co-driver, and that's what they go by.
I find it little strange, because all you want is pay for the sticker. But I also understand their point, because people buy/sell stickers - so maybe this is some form of precaution. It doesn't matter if you are living in the same address - you are not the car owner, you might not give it to the owner, the owner might make a complaint, and then they have a problem. Probably happen in the past...
You could pay for the sticker online, without any problem, though...
Texas.gov | The Official Website of the State of Texas

[sapphire]

You're an adult, living at home with your stepdad, and don't own a car that's completely yours, yet the employed person ( who is not considered incompetent if she's following the rules of her job ) is the "obese loser"? Um, yeah. You need to get a grip and stop blaming everything and everybody else for your troubles. I don't know the reason for the rule, but I'm sure it's there for a valid reason.

[badhornet]

See how this city makes everyone hate each other.....hell on Earth

[skeet09]

Just go to the HEB's Business Center. It's a $1 but it can be a bit more convenient (location, hours, etc.)

[RGJ]

I've never had any trouble renewing the registration with several of the car title companies. But it's been a month or so. I did a car that's in my wife's name. I wonder if HEB and other places are like the tax office.

[TexasRedneck]

In view of one of your earlier strings regarding someone buying a car that doesn't have a license, it would seem to me that you are once again trying to bend the rules to your liking. Thing is, I don't recall you calling him your "stepdad".
Bottom line - you have ALWAYS been required to be either the person or the persons' spouse in order to renew plates. Many of the "obese" workers you have such great contempt for have developed insight over the years as to who's trying to "get over" on the system - and have become more strict in issuing renewal stickers.