Clark & Diversey Currency Exchange

If I could give this place 0 stars I would. I moved to Illinois about a year ago and needed to get my leased vehicle registered in Illinois and needed to get Illinois plates. Living close to this location and really not wanting to go to the DMV, I thought I would stop in and see if they could help me out. HUGE mistake. The 2 people working let me know they had done this registration numerous times and they could help me out. After they filled out what they thought was the correct vehicle they tried to charge me $ 1,500 for sales tax on the full purchase price of the vehicle. Once again this car is leased so you pay sales tax with each monthly payment. They told me they wouldn’t send the paperwork in or start the process until they were paid. I asked when a more experienced employee would be working so I could take this up with them. The next day I stopped in and they told me all I owed was the cost of registration and the plates which made sense. The processed the paperwork and let me know they would call me when my plates were in. About 2 weeks later I got my plates and my «pending» registration. They told me my new registration would be mailed in a few weeks. 3 months later I still didn’t have a registration and was in the process of purchasing the vehicle that I had leased. I stopped in to the DMV this time to check on the official registration since I needed it to transfer the title. The incorrect paperwork had been filled out by them and they didn’t notify me of any problems. I ended up having to pay a penalty since they filled out the incorrect paperwork and owed taxes for difference of what wasn’t collected for each lease payment. They may be good at some things here, but I highly recommend you do not use them for registering your vehicle and getting plates. Tough it out and go to the DMV where they know what they are doing.

I was looking for a place to renew my car’s city sticker (because I always manage to lose the renewal form they mail me) and stumbled upon this currency exchange. Glancing at their hours, I had to do a double take — open until midnight? Every night?!
Sure enough, when I came in at 8pm on a Monday night, the place was bustling. There was a short line — maybe two people in front of me — and even though there was only one person working at the counter (hey, them being open at 8pm in the first place is amazing, so you can’t ask for too much), it moved reasonably quickly. Once I got to the counter, the woman working there was very efficient and polite and knew what she was doing. It took me about 5 minutes at the counter to have everything squared away.
Pretty much exactly what is expected, but so many businesses like this (currency exchanges, post offices, etc) have bad-​tempered employees who either give you a ton of attitude, move at an snail’s pace, or straight up don’t know what they’re doing. I’m very happy to report that this is not the case at Clark & Diversey, and will certainly be back if I require any other services they provide.

This place is FANTASTIC. Every staff member is FRIENDLY, HELPFUL, PROFESSIONAL, RESPECTFUL, and EFFICIENT. Even if the line is long, they get the job done quickly and never make you feel like you are an annoyance or inconvenience if you ask questions. In fact, I have called several times to check what I will need to bring with me for residential permit, city sticker, license/​registration application, and they tell me EXACTLY what I will need. They should all get raises! They are really that good!

The woman helping me was helpful, attentive and quick. I came here to verify my identity for People’s Gas (a completely erroneous task) and the woman knew more about the registration process than the operators I had dealt with from People’s Gas. Also, they accepted my copy of my birth certificate although People’s Gas said I had to bring all original documents.
I can understand why people get frustrated by a place like this. However, in their defense, many of the services they provide on behalf of the city, county etc are archaic, confusing and, in many cases, without any finite rules or procedure. My advice is to come with every piece of information /​ID you have access to.
Again, my experience was easy, helpful and got the job done.

The workers here are extremely rude and unfriendly. I didn’t have the right paperwork for something and all they did was talk down to me and make me feel stupid. I ended up driving somewhere else even though this place is walking distance. Never going back.

I have been a customer for a long time — Letsd put the homeless and others showing up to cash checks aside — even knowing the fact that is what their business is for — People like the owner Mr. Brown and Dianne and all the others have always shown efficient and veryfriendly service. An example — I was not a customer for very long before I needed to cash a personal check for a rather substantial amount. Dianne took the check. 5 days later Chorus Bank (I will refrain as to the alternate name used) returned the check on Mr. Brown. Now many business people would not even deal with this issuie no matter what the client claimed to be true. I knew the balance in the account to be $ 30,000; Mr. Brown took the benefit of the doubt and we contacted the bank together. they verified the balance and provided him with a letter of apology — he did not charge any fee and we have continued to use them ever since. All of the employees behind the glass are extremely helpful and know what they are doing and always triple check themselves. Dianne is at the top of the list however — as there is n ever a moment where she limits the use of a smile or to converse — No one is perfect nor any business — but they do their best to get as close as they possibly can.

I LOVE THIS PLACE! They were fast, fair and the only place I have ever seen where they CLEANED THE ATM outside of their business! That in itself is worth 5 stars in my book! When was the last time you ever saw anyone CLEANING an ATM???
I thought so…

Excellent service! Without them, I would have had to cancel my vacation. Needed my passport application notarized ON A SUNDAY. Not only were they open, but Dorota, the notary was there. Extremely pleasant and efficient. I couldn’t have had a easier experience!

Here is great~ All of employees are very kind even at late night. And they tried to help more than I need. It was very thoughtful.

Due to its close proximity to my sister’s apartment, when I need a 1 day CTA pass, this is the place I’ll go. I’ve never had to wait in line for more than 2 minutes and the staff is very friendly – not what I expected. During Lollapalooza, I was not prepared with the proper shoes to endure the rain, and going back to Lombard was not an option. Before coming here, my friend and I stopped at the recycled clothes store down the street and, out of pure desperation, I bought ankle length, hot pink galoshes. Yikes! However, the lady at the currency exchange told me they were cute, and asked it hot pink was «my color.» Haha! Not even close. But she was so nice, and I now only have positive things to say about this currency exchange.

Folks, this place is more for people watching than anything else. If you want a safe place to stand in line and watch all the crazies saunter through, by God this is the place to go.
A simple trip for rolls of quarters for laundry more often than not turns into ridiculous requests from crazy-​talking, foul-​smelling, or oddly dressed individuals. How did that homeless man get a hold of 200 Mexican pesos? Damned if I know. Why is that woman crying on the pay phone when it seems that nobody has picked up yet? Not sure. Why is that 300 pound man wearing a shirt with the stomach part ripped out? Man that’s nasty.
All I know is there’s a bulletproof window protecting the employees, lots of cameras protecting me from any serious harm (theoretically), and a front row seat to the seedy underbelly of Lincoln Park. Good times!

Currency Exchanges sell CTA passes. Walgreens do not. Annoying. A friend and I came in yesterday to purchase a seven day CTA pass. Honestly, it was a very simple process. There were a couple of people working and no line so we walked right up to a window. The employee wasn’t the nicest person I’ve ever met, but she wasn’t the meanest so I guess that’s something.
This currency exchange looks like it does all that a CE does (I’m not even sure what you do here) and their employees seem to know what’s up. Want to know something annoying, though? There’s a $ 2 fee added on to your bill if you use a debit/​credit card. I don’t even think it’s legal to charge this fee on to debit use (credit, maybe) but you have to pay if you want to use your card. I find things like this highly annoying considering the amount of people who use cards and the uselessness of a fee like this. If you’re going to take cards, you need to just take them. No fees, no hassle… just accept it or don’t. Other than that, we got what we needed and went on our merry way.