Division of Motor Vehicles

Hopefully Pat McCrory will read this! This is completely unacceptable. I mean the employees are social enough to ignore the customers waiting times. I mean, did any of exist? One young lady with a bad wig was so rude. I do not recommend going to this place but how many options do you have? Right! I almost want to drive on expires drivers license!

Great experience getting my name changed. From the time I got my number to the time I walked out with my temporary license, I was there 20 minutes. This completely exceeded my expectations. I went on a Monday morning just before 10am.

If you ever need to come to a DMV, DO NOT COME TO This one… You will regret!!! Not mention the lines are hours long… I understand there are hundreds of people who needs to come here and get their stuff done; but here’s the problem, all employees who works here are super super super super super freaking slow!!! They can’t every speed anything up; when they talk; freaking slow too, just slow with everything! Well, but if you for three hours and more free time, feel free to come in tho~

Predictable, right– someone had an unpleasant experience at the DMV? It’s like middle school; no one ever looks back fondly at their time there.
But, from an operations stand point, there are definitely areas that could be improved at the Spring Forest location.
–It seems like most transactions require the input of two-​three staffers. This wastes so much time and slows everything way down, especially when there is so much space between work stations. Solutions: better staff training, empower the staff to make decisions and cluster staff works paces together– don’t spread them out over that huge space so if they need to collaborate, it is quicker.
–When the line is out the door, don’t allow three of the eight staffers working to leave for lunch TOGETHER. Seriously, the perception is really, really bad and makes for very grumpy patrons. Solution: stagger lunches.
–Get more chairs. The space is huge and really needs to be re-​configured to reduce staff time wasted walking between work stations and it would free up more space for additional waiting area.

I should have checked Unilocal before going to this local dmv in my neighborhood. I’m not usually inclined to write such a negative knee jerk reaction to this kind of experience… But avoid this DMV location at all costs. The wait was horrendous. And it appeared as if the employees couldn’t care less. I decided, after waiting an hour like cattle and being treated poorly by one of the employees, to head to the Avent Ferry location. Never made a better decision in my life. What a difference. Spring Forrest location is too small, poorly run, and full of screaming kids.

I went in to get my name changed on my license. I was given a number and sat for about 5 minutes before I was called to one of the stations. I was in and out in 15 minutes; this has to be a record! I was dreading it, because I had spent hours at the Cary DMV trying to get my license renewed a few years ago. However, my coworker told me to come to this location, and she was right! Customer service was good enough. 5 stars.

Stopped in at 10am to renew my licence and based upon reviews hoped to be out by noon. Maybe someone has been reading up on what is being said about their service but I got my number, took my vision and sign test, had my picture taken and I was out of there in 15 minutes. There were 11 folks ahead of me and I counted 9 of the 10 stations were manned with DOT workers so everyone was processed quickly, at least the renewals. I complimented the lady that handled me for her efficiency and friendliness. No complaints here

I went last week with a friend to renew her license and it was a painfully awful experience. Examiner was super rude to us speaking in that «I have all the power and you have none so I can talk to you anyway I choose» way. Then the kicker was the woman who took the pictures, she started yelling out my friends name even before the examiner was done with my friend, and then spoke in a bullying and disrespectful way because my friend wasn’t coming quick enough. And my friend asked if she could see her picture? You’d have thought she asked for a kidney. The photo woman started yelling how the photo had already left the computer screen and she couldn’t see it. And how dare my friend ask to see her photo? It was really unpleasant and I will certainly never return to this location again.

My experience here was actually pretty good. Surprisingly since 99% of the time it’s not. I needed a replacement license, went in at 8:20 Tuesday morning and came out at 8:35. Quickest trip I’ve made to the DMV my entire life. The woman who helped me out was pleasant as well.

As far as drivers license offices go this one is pretty efficient. I arrived to get a NC drivers license and the process was fairly painless. The staff was friendly and the wait was about a hour+ by the time I arrived at 2 in the afternoon. Rumor has it that mornings are the best time to go but I wouldn’t really know. They do have a ticket system implemented which helps route you to a cubicle to take your test as soon as they come available. It works a lot better than the old single line queue system they use to have at most DMV’s. They do not print licences at this location so you will have to wait a week or two to get your DL in the mail.

This is simply a disservice to those needing North Carolina Driver’s License services.
Today’s mission was to get my 80+ year old Mom a NC ID card since she no longer drives. We arrive around 11:30 to a «packed house». I estimate there were at least 60 persons waiting for various services. Best i could tell there were maybe three employees working with the public. The counter persons seemed more obsessed with telling people were to sit or stand than to be pleasant and tend to their services. I was not amused when no seat was offered to my Mom and we were directed to some place near the wall where we were to stand.
After hearing maybe one or two numbers called in the 30 minutes we were there I returned the ticket to the desk and we left.
No excuse for wasting the time of North Carolina citizens like this.

It’s like entering a dark abyss that never ends.
All I had to do was change the address on my license because I couldn’t do it on their online system for whatever reason. I got the foreboding «You must do this in person» message, although typically an address change can be done online.
It took almost an hour. And they made me retake my photo. It was $ 10. Everyone that works there is cranky. (To be fair, there are a few exceptions– I did meet one or two friendly workers.) There are a bunch of screaming, uncontrolled kids there. The chairs are way too close together in the waiting area.
To sum it up, it is not a pleasant place to spend a sunny Friday afternoon. You’ll be there for quite some time. They also close at 5:30, so if you come at 4:30 and you’ve already been waiting an hour, they tell you to try again another day. This didn’t happen to me, but I heard them make an announcement to everyone else.
Yuck. No thanks.

This post is from my Facebook page: I had to go to the DMV today and I was braced for a long wait and grumpy government employees. Instead, I was greeted at the Atlantic Avenue DMV by a woman named Edith (I think) who was firm but polite and had the place running with efficiency. An elderly woman was just ahead of me and while she had her daughter with her, she was clearly uncomfortable about navigating the process AND she was hard of hearing. Edith with the DMV came around the counter, took her hand, looked her in the eye and explained the entire process to her, not to her daughter. She then escorted her to a seat. I watched as the elderly woman was called and later returned, disappointed because she didn’t accomplish what she wanted due to a missing form. Edith saw her expression and came over. She exited for a little while and then returned. Edith said she spoke with her supervisor and they were going to take care of her and her daughter could drop the form off at a later time. The woman was visibly relieved. I went up to Edith at the end of my time there and told her I had observed how she handled the situation and thought she did a wonderful job. I said I wished more people took the time to help like she did. She smiled and said that we are all human beings, and that she woke up every morning with a little prayer that if she could help just one person, that it would be a good day. I thought about Edith all day and how simple and profound it is to think of helping just one person, and then another and another, and to see them as human beings and not transactions. She told me then to have a blessed day. I think I just did. Tomorrow I think I will try and help just one person…

Arrived today around 2:30pm to obtain a NC driver’s license, which involved passing a vision/​road sign test and a written exam.
These people were very nice, and knew what they were doing, gently guiding all of their disoriented customers from one step to the next.
Maybe the key is to arrive with a smile and all your paperwork handy.
You go directly to the front desk where they will check you in and give you a number. There was no line when I was there, but I saw that occasionally they would get an influx of people who had to then queue up.
Note that there are two sets of waiting numbers, A and B. I didn’t realize and nearly missed my turn because I was making a call thinking my B348 wasn’t coming anytime soon while they were only to A171.
Your documentation is entered into the system, and they ask you to take an oral vision and road sign exam — a little confusing, as the first part is just optometry lines and the next you have to say what the actual purpose of each road sign is out loud to the examiner — I think I’d expected to see that on a multiple choice or true/​false section on a written exam. Some of the questions will be just identifying the sign by its shape and color with no other clues (like a yellow circle is a railroad crossing, and a yellow pennant is for a no passing zone).
If you pass that part, hold onto your queue number and they send you to a booth to take a computerized touch screen 25-​question exam. You’re told after each question whether you answered it correctly. You can skip questions you are unsure about, and once you’ve answered 20 questions correctly, the exam just stops, saying you’ve finished.
At this point, you have to stand between a set of red velvet ropes until someone calls your number again to then take your payment (cash is best — they accept no cards). You’ll pick out a background for your license and write your signature.
Then you go to yet another station of ‘green chairs’ where you wait to have your name called for photo taking. You have to verify your address, then look into the ‘frog’ and smile for what seems like forever… and ‘Cheese!’ you’re all done. Take your temporary driving certificate (which they’ll esoterically refer to as a TDC) and exit.
The whole process took about an hour to complete, which was much less than I’d anticipated.
All in all, pretty painless… though I have to wait for two weeks to see how the photo I have to live with for eight years turned out :)

They’re supposed to be outright rude to you just for showing up.
They’re supposed to behave like they’re doing YOU a favor, just by gracing you with their presence.
They’re supposed to treat you like you’re the enemy for having the nerve to trespass into THEIR territory and invade THEIR personal space.
After all, that’s the modus operandi and S.O.P. for every other DMV you’re ever been to, right?
And after all, these ARE state employees we’re talking about here, right, people?
And not just ANY state employees, mind you — state employees who work for arguably the most dreaded and least liked state entity of them all:
The DMV.
(Cue ominous Star Wars Death Star music track: DUH duh Duhhhhhhhhh!!!)
Well, apparently THESE state employees, at THIS particular DMV office didn’t get the memo.
Quite the contrary, these DMV employees, bless their hearts, actually appear to…
wait for it…
wait for it…
wait for it…
(imagine this)
enjoy their jobs!
Yeah, I know. I know. It’s hard to believe. In fact, it’s so hard to believe, you’re probably thinking that, A.) I was smoking something. B.) Hallucinating, due to A. C.) Dreaming.
Nope. I was actually semi-​conscious and temporarily sane.
Now, when you first walk into this DMV, it appears to be like any other you’ve ever been in. The lines and the wait are equally long. The chairs are uncomfortable. The atmosphere, is well, late 20^th Century DMV chic.
And yet, the people who work here are actually, nice. Pleasant. Sympathetic. Empathetic. Dare I say, gracious, even.
So, if you go there and your experience is otherwise, perhaps the origin of the problem you have is the person looking back at you when you look in the mirror.
Then again, maybe I just caught them on a good day…

Great experience if you do not mind investing a few hours of your life watching DMV commercials. Why are we so numb to expect terrible service from the government? The folks were nice, but obviously not production based. If they didn’t get to you today… just come back tomorrow. Nice people, just terrible government service as usual.

I’m not sure why, but I’ve always ended up with the jerks at this place.
Particularly today, I needed to go get documentation for proof of residency for my school (they want me to keep paying out-​of-​state tuition). The front desk lady was giving me a snarky attitude the whole time and decided to push me aside. I kept insisting that she could at LEAST point me in the right direction, but she straight up just YELLS at me. I responded «Fine, fine. You don’t have to give me an attitude about it. Geez…»
Someone else came along and gave me a sheet of paper with a list of other offices and he circled the address with a highlighter for me. Didn’t even take 30 seconds of his time.
Sadly, the main DMV office was not able to do anything either, despite me getting a driver’s license in the beginning week of August.
If that rude woman just listened to me and not give me an attitude, she would have been done with me a lot sooner.
…I hate the DMV.

We have been here a few times as part of the transplanting process. The staff I have encountered have always been friendly and helpful, despite being overworked and under appreciated. I have found the lines rather long at the end of the month and in the afternoons. Go by in the early morning at the beginning of the month, preferably mid-​week for the fastest service — we were able to walk straight in and within minutes was with somebody to enter the data into the computer and do the vision test.
I would revisit this DMV for license needs again, some long long time in the future (like 8 years from now). Just don’t hate this location for how the system works. And respect these people — it goes a long way.
Good luck!

Had to do a license renew. On a Friday… at the end of the month. Yikes! It wasn’t bad. The staff was friendly and the location is clean. We were in and out in 90 minutes. Not bad. Other locations were quoting 4 hour waits. Make an appointment if you can. They are about 4 weeks out. Easy to find. NY billiards next door has free wireless. I was able to access it at the DMV.