Department of Revenue Substation

Came to this location for a hearing regarding my red light citation. I got in and waited about 10 mins for the hearing information associate. The lady that helped me was an old lady in her 60s or 70s. She was bitchy and rude ! I got into room #2 and was seen immediately. Got in and out in 20 mins. I contest and I won !

Avoid Hearing room 1 with Judge Dickerson. She is extremely rude and condescending. No one wins with her as she always sides with the city. Even if you show its not your fault. She will always hide behind the law and its always black and white with her. If you can try to get the judge White Male judge in Room 3. He is very knowledgeable and understanding as long as you prove a decent case. If they try to send you to hearing room 1 with Dickerson. DO not go, Because she will rule against you and it will cost your 82 dollars per ticket to appeal.

This City of Chicago office is convenient for me to buy city stickers, and I was in-​and-​out within 20 minutes so no complaints. Security is at the front and back, both seems very vigilant about the people entering and exiting. There was only a short line on a weekday afternoon, and I was helped by a helpful lady. She must have worked there for a long time since she has everything down to a script. Free lot parking is a plus. If you can, I would recommend going to the satellite offices like this to save on service fees.

This is the only venue I have ever left with $ 927 less in my bank account than when I entered– yet with no physical material object or service to show for it.
I waited in line for twenty minutes to have some lady tell me that the thing I was requesting didn’t exist, and, to her credit, after about ten minutes on the phone, she managed to get me a hearing with a judge. Who told me that no, it wasn’t the city’s fault that they lost or never responded to and didn’t note that they had received my mail contesting a parking ticket, so I couldn’t contest the tickets unless I wanted to file suit in circuit court (pro se since that shiat costs like a grand to hire a lawyer for), in which case I’d have to really prove that due process wasn’t served. Which is BS, because I requested two hearings in writing before, but whatever.
On the upside, I qualified for the «hardship» payment plan, which means that I get to defer my parking payments over 13 months and pay a «convenience» fee of $ 26.40 per ticket. Wow, thanks! I really appreciate that! Ugh.
Thank God I’m moving out of this festering pile of dung that is the City of Chicago. What kind of a «world class city» has the balls to treat its citizenry like this? Seriously. Somebody should probably Richard Daley this place and bulldoze it in the middle of the night. O_​O

I’d give a zero if I could. The clerk at the City Sticker line was extremely rude and incompetent. Her supervisor was even more rude and more incompetent. I cannot believe these people have jobs. They are not qualified to work at McDonald’s. I would file a complaint but the clerk and the supervisor refused to provide their names. It’s a shame there is no recourse against people like this that clearly should not be working here, or probably anywhere, unless there is a place that pays well for being a horrible human being.

I stopped in to pay a couple parking tickets and it went very smoothly. No line, just walked up to the window and the lady took my money and handed me a receipt. They also seem to have a couple vending machine type kiosks where you can pay your water bill/​parking fines by the front door but I didn’t mess with those. Anyways, it seems to be a good option to go here if you just want to pay cash for your fine. They have a parking lot so no need to park on the street,

I visited this location for the first time to buy a city sticker. When I entered, there were about 12 people ahead of me in line. Everything moved pretty quickly. The ladies working behind the counter seemed quite efficient. The lady who helped me was very nice and I was done in minutes. Good to know.

Probably because I went in the middle of the day on Tuesday, but… the line was short, we waited for about 7 minutes before we were able to be helped. We needed a city sticker, we didnt have quite all the information we needed, but we had 98% of it and with a helpful wink and a nod the lady looked past that 2% and allowed us to get the sticker.
They do not sell residential permit day passes here, though. I forget precisely where she told me to go get them, but that was a disappointment.

for anyone planning to go here, heed my words. I’VE WORKED HERE and can give you some helpful insight.
my company moved me here to cover for someone who was on vacation for 3 weeks.
first of all for the people who want to know when it’s LEAST busy: the later the better. early mornings are usually packed, but after 3 until closing (6:30) it really settles down. so if you’re not trying to waste your time, do NOT go in the morning. you will regret it. if you’re going to contest a ticket, the hearing rooms close at 4, but if you’re in line at exactly 4 they will still see you (judges leave at 5), and around their closing time is usually when it’s not busy. again, to contest a ticket, come later, NOT in the morning or early afternoon. I wish i remembered all of the judges’ names, but i don’t. i can tell you though that the white blonde lady (skinny, usually in black, never smiles) is really mean. if you have her, good luck. most of the judges are really friendly and they really know their stuff, so trying to sway them or to convince them of something fishy, will only result in them catching on right away, causing them to be less sympathetic. I know of people who have gone in there, acted extremely personable, and even though they were in the wrong, were dismissed. so keep that in mind.
for the rest of the workers:
julian, the security guard, is so SO smart. I’ve had a lot of conversations with him and was impressed from the beginning. if you need to know ANYTHING, he’ll be the first guy you should see. and sorry, he doesn’t speak any spanish haha. Gil is ok too. she looks like a hardass, but she’s actually a very sweet lady.
If you’re going into the payment plan room, give those girls some slack. you KNOW you have to pay your tickets, and they have every one of your records/​tickets/​payment history available to them with a click of a button. you can’t deceive them, so don’t waste your time. also, the payment plan room closes at 6:30, and ONCE AGAIN if you don’t like to wait, the later you come in the better. they are SO bored because no one is in there for a good hour or so before closing.
now, for my 2 stars.
all of the ladies working behind the counter are CRAZY rude. i’ve never understood their attitude, even after hearing their horror stories with customers while on lunch. NOTHING warrants their attitude toward customers who come in. I get that a lot of people are pissed off that their tickets have doubled and that they don’t feel like paying, but these ladies chose to do this kind of work. they’re completely in the wrong for being so mean. also (and this is what gets me the most) they are very racist. i’ve worked with them for 3 weeks and have heard plenty of racial remarks from them. they deal very differently with black people than they do with white people (especially Wanda, who sits all the way in the back in the last stall). for some reason they do not like white people. my advice would be to just act friendly and smile. don’t give them a reason to hate you. just pay your ticket. they’re not dumb, and they know as well as you that you will have to pay up. don’t make it harder on yourself. but those ladies are just awful. if you can, go to akbar, who is also the manager.
a couple more points:
— there are 2 kiosks that everyone should take advantage of as soon as you walk in. they can save you a lot of time.
— there are also 2 RESTROOMS. the second is all the way on the end of the hall (yellow wall) to the left.
good luck folks.

Off the hook!
This place is a dump. Its a converted bank, if you ask me, but I am not sure. Offices have been converted into «hearing rooms» where the city pumps dough out of the hard working public. Yay exploitation!!!
That being said, its dingy and dirty, which makes you wonder where the money is going.

There’s a security dude that monitors traffic on days when the line is out the door. He gotta be the funniest guy working for the City. This dude has a smart comment for everyone! I’m surprised that his @$$ hasn’t been fired yet. The best reply was right after a lady started yelling at him:
«Listen lady, I get paid $ 7.00 an hour. You can yell at me all you want. I can’t help you. The guy inside with the blue tie can help you, but you gotta wait in this line like everyone else. By the way, he gets paid $ 10 an hour»
He made my wait in line an enjoyable experience. Paying $ 50 for a parking violation wasn’t that bad this time around.

I know some people have given them higmarks for getting bogus tix dismissed, but that happens all the time — getting a bogus ticket and the administrative judge with a conscience dismissing them.
this particular location has power tripping highschool drop out security guard, retarded site manager who makes what’s already over crowded and understaffed location even harder to deal with. Lots of people using this facility don’t appear to be native english speaker, so I could see how they would need more time/​attention/​man power and sometimes can add to frustration of people working there. However, I’ve never gotten a friendly yes/​no answer for a very simple yes/​no question. the securities there are high from power tripping and complaints have been never acknowledged. I’ve walked in on a rainy day with a small line out the door w pregnant women with 2 small children soaking, all the while guards refused to answer or let people sneak inside where there is plenty of room to accommodate the group outside.
do not try to go here on addison bus while kids from gordon/​lane students get to/​off school.
If u live in northside, save urselves trouble and just go to downtown locations, at least those are close to brown/​red line stations. trust me, it probably will save u time, stress and cussing.

Exonerated! Woo hoo! Okay, it didn’t take much for my administrative law officer that looked like Judge David Young to dismiss my ticket for having my license plate sticker stolen. (Just buy a replacement for $ 20 and do all your «Contest by Mail» stuff and bring all supporting documents to your hearing). But this place is completely wiggity whack! The parking lot is completely full and a madhouse. To boot, the surrounding neighborhood has Permit Parking Only so there’s no street parking for blocks and blocks!
Once parking was procured I waited in line. Then I was shuttled into Room 3, where people were contesting their tickets and I would utter three words to win mine!
WARNING: Unless you are 5000% sure, and have video proof, you will not win your contested Red Light Violation! You will be shown the video, showing you are in the wrong. And you will especially not win with these arguments (true stories):
1. I am Polish mother taking my daughter late to gymnastics!
2. There was no sign saying I had to stop when turning on a red light!
3. Look at the video! (When the judge just reiterated frame-​by-​frame that your car was clearly nowhere near the intersection in the video until after the light even turned red!)
4. The time on ticket says 17:25, I was there around 5:25. (Polish gymnast’s mother again).
Besides the Red Light camera Violations, I did see a few parking violations contested and won. So, if you have the time and inclination, contest away! Just try another Dept. of Revenue facility or ride your bike to this one!

I am a FREAK magnet.
*Strange weird man Pacing*
*Strange Weird man now Snorting*
«I really gotta go» «Is there only one stall?‘
In my mind I am now thinking– well, since I am waiting in front of you, there is one door– with a figure of a man/​woman/​and a wheelchair/​my guess is yes… but I am no expert. I reply– „I think so“
„Jeez. I really have to go… do you?“ The strange/​unknown man inquires of me.
„Uh– yes. I am waiting here too.“ Said with a nice– go away– shut up smile.
Now– I don’t know about the rest of you– but I do not discuss my bathroom habits with people– ever.
„Who is in there?“ „Are they going #1 or #2?“ He now asks me– thinking I must be omnipotent on the bathroom habits of the person currently inhabiting the single stall.
„I have no idea“ I reply — in a snotty voice– not making eye contact, and shifting my body so that my back is to Mr. stranger-​bizarre man. Clueless, he does not take the hint.
„Do you have to go #1 or #2?“ he now requests of me.
At this point– I turn and give him the STINK EYE– and do not answer.
He acknowledges the eye, and continues on…“I never go #2 in public bathrooms, I think it is kinda gross, don’t you?»
I am now trying not to gag, and refusing to run away– knowing that this is what he wants– the bathroom– next. So, he asks me again. I give him the stink eye with pursed lip look– that should be enough…
Thankfully– the door opens and I run in… As I emerge about a minute later– he asks me how it was… NICE– REAL NICE…
Only me– I get the freaks!
Now– the substation itself… I don’t get parking tickets– I get speeding tickets. I have never been in here before today. I took a friend over here to pay up so they could get the «BOOT» off of their car. Things moved pretty darn quickly. They even had a kiosk where you could take care of individual tickets. The process was not smooth– you waited in line, saw one person, signed in to see another, went back to the original, and then turned the paperwork into the second… GOOD old bureaucracy for ya. However, anything that keeps me out of the loop facility– hey, I am a fan. We were in and out within 30 minutes– and we had Mr. Strange Bathroom Man to talk about to keep us occupied!

Ticket dismissed by the Administrative Law Officer!
This is the sequel to my Officer Prick review (about the fuckhead Chicago cop who gave me a $ 50 ticket outside my kid’s public grammar school while I ran the kid inside in sub-​zero weather and parked in a no parking zone for four minutes).
I walked right in and looked the Administrative Law Officer right in the eye and asked him: «Could you afford to pay $ 50 to park for four minutes outside your kid’s school on a sub-​zero morning? No, I bet you can’t. I bet if you have kids, they go to public school, don’t they? (He nods his head up and down but says nothing) I bet you’d feel shaken down and screwed over by the very people who are supposed to be serving you, wouldn’t you? I bet you’d feel like that cop was a superb jerk (relieved look on his face that I didn’t say «jerkOFF»).
The hearing officer looked at me like I was crazy. Yes, I was asking him the questions. I just kept on jawboning the poor guy until he finally raised his hand and said, «Okay, Okay. I get the point. Dismissed.»
It’s nice when human beings listen to reason.

This location is crowded and the people are not very friendly. You come here to buy city stickers or pay/​appeal parking tickets. I had gotten a ticket that made no sense (ticket for parking in handicap zone when there wasn’t one in front of my house) but ended up having to pay it because I appealed the wrong way — turned in paperwork (including pictures) instead of insisting on a hearing date.