California Department of Motor Vehicles

I came to this DMV about an hour early to get an application to fill out due to long lines. I stood in the appointment line waiting to be seen. There was only one clerk helping with checking in and of course she was rude. All I wanted was an application to fill out. I didn’t know that they give you one right on the spot. It does not tell you that when you make an appointment! If you do not like your job get a new one! There are tons of people in San Diego that would love to work here and get paid to do so with a smile! Take your nasty attitude elsewhere.

long wait times. staff tries to be friendly, but then they become short when discussing the reasons for the appointment, one employee even rolled her eyes while she was talking to me. They could work on their customer service– these attitudes would never fly in private industry.

California DMV just plain sucks. It doesn’t matter whether you have an appointment or not. I sat there for two and half hours to renew my license. In that time I watched people with appointments wait for an average 45mins. It just amazes me that they will say that all employees are busy, but you can see them just sitting around talking. Either way, DMV needs an overhaul from too to bottom.

This is the worst experience ever! I will never come back to Clairemont DMV. I thought it would be a more pleasant experience but I was wrong! When I went to the Hillcrest location the associates were nicer. I needed to change my name and get a new drivers licence so here I am 3 hours later still waiting. There has got to be an easier way to do this. When I went to check in written the information clerk, she told me 2 hours was normal. I went with my sister to the dmv Hillcrest a couple of months ago to get a new licence and we were out of there in about hour. Something needs to be done.

The government really needs to establish an easier and efficient way to accommodate all of us lovely California drivers
Appointments!!! Usually you book a week or week and a half in advance and you can do that online. Woooooo.
Unfortunately I couldn’t get an appointment so I would do what any reasonable person would do and come early.
So I’m standing in the hot sun, 8:45am. awaiting the grand opening that we have all been desperately waiting for. Doors open. Line gets moving fast. 9:15 I’m speaking to the guy in the front. I tell him about this letter in the mail I received about my registration being expired because of my failure to prove insurance and I never got my sticker. He rudely says «ON THE PAPER IT SAYS TO CALL I CAN NOT HELP YOU». Well damn, my unfortunate mistake and waste of time.
I go home, call the dmv automatic service that hates me and can’t understand when I say vehicles or vessels. ~30 minutes on the phone waiting later~ the nice woman on the phone tells me that I have to go back, stand in line and tell them you need to get your sticker!!! But that’s what I told the crazy mean man.
So I come back, 10:30~ 35 minute wait in line ~ another talk with a rude woman who tells me to call. But this time I’m like NO!!! I need my damn sticker. (My fees and everything have been paid btw I just needed to get the sticker I have never received) AND THEN she finally gives me the ticket number. I have been praying and awaiting this moment for some time now. She throws a clip board in my face and tells me to fill this form out. Gladly! Another 30 minute wait and C021 is called and you could feel the excitement I felt through the room. I tried finding booth 1 and I walked the wrong way! I’m so stupid.
Numbers go from left side of the building is higher to right side of the building is smaller. Don’t make my mistake.
5 minutes of talking to woman from booth 1 and off I go into the free world where my tags are not expired!
California DMV I would rather be anywhere than here with you.

I came in at 8:00 on a Friday morning (without an appointment), just as they were opening the doors. There was a little bit of a line, but they got everyone in and seated with a number really fast.
My license plates had been stolen the night before, and I needed to get replacement ones ASAP, because I was in the process of trying to trade in my car to get a new one. I was worried about how long it would take, because I had read online that plates could take up to 8 weeks to arrive.
I only waited about 5 minutes after getting my number, and was seen by a friendly lady at Desk 1. She processed my paperwork quickly, and handed me my replacement plates and registration stickers right then and there!
Overall my experience was much much better than I was anticipating, and I will definitely come back to the same location at the same time the next time I have business at the DMV.

A typical DMV. Dreary and depressing. The last place you want to be. Ever. I had to come here to get one piece of business taken care of. I checked the website to see which location had the shortest wait time, and this was it. Lucky for me I was only two miles away at the time.
I had no problems getting a parking spot directly in front of the door. Well, after this tool moved his car out of the way, I’m guessing he was waiting for someone to leave so he could take their spot, but he was blocking a couple of empty permitted spots.
There was a short line inside, but I bypassed it and went to the appointment line. They gave me a number and so began the long wait. I really enjoy how DMV describes on their website how they give accommodations to disabled people. What they don’t tell you is that it’s just one window, manned by one employee. This window is not covered by anyone when said employee is on lunch. When they come back, they don’t just serve disabled customers, they serve a few regular customers in between every disabled customer, so your wait time is actually much longer than the quoted time for a regular customer. Super cool of the DMV to give this «special» treatment out. As far as I can tell the only special thing here is the disabled stickers on the chairs at the window and the longer wait time.
Once I finally got called up, I was asked if wanted a seat after she looked over my paperwork and winced. I declined because the seats, as I’m sure you all know, are incredibly uncomfortable. She was friendly and very quick with everything. I was done in about 4 minutes. Which was 54 minutes shorter than my total wait time and 25 minutes longer than my promised wait time. Great job, DMV!

The term ‘DMV customer service’ is an oxymoron. And many of the people working at this location are straight up morons. I guess I kinda understand… if I worked there I would hate my life too.

Kinda like a flight
not a
fight,
although sometimes
it does
feel
that way
but
its
like a
flight
a 5 hour flight
back to NYC
there are
lines,
grumpy people,
overpriced items,
weird smells,
turbulence,
confined spaces,
snacks,
ganja tucked away for later,
and then
you get
inside
expecting the worst,
it turns out
that
the woman
behind the counter
aint so bad after all,
like
when i land in Queens
hop off the plane,
spark the blunt in Soho
and kick it with
my peoples
aint so bad
after all
and
the DMV,
for me at least
often feels
Kinda like a flight.

Came here on Monday at 7:15 AM because I lost my drivers license and I needed it ASAP and I didn’t want to wait. I was the 5^th person in line. Once I got in (opened the doors around 7:55 AM), I waited about 10~15 minutes. The lady who processed my documents was very friendly and fast.
Who says DMVs suck? Probably people who go in during the middle of the day with no appointments. I actually find this DMV to be pretty good…
I got my license mailed to me in 10 days which was great!

Worst experience at this DMV. Incompetent workers messed up my paper work, resulting in me not receiving a hard copy of my drivers license for over HALF A YEAR. I had to go in every two months to renew my interim because it kept expiring. NOBODY SHOULD HAVE TO BE FORCED TO GO TO THE DMV THIS OFTEN AND WAIT HOURS EVERY TIME BECAUSE ITS ALWAYS SO PACKED.
Still haven’t gotten my hard copy. Can’t get into bars. Can’t get on air planes. What a waste of my time.

DMV experiences can be hit or miss, but this time around was quite positive … but that’s probably because I arrived at the crack of dawn to be first in line. I arrived at 6:30am and others started arriving around 645/​7am. I had to renew my expired license and do a change of address since I never received my renewal in the mail. About 15 minutes before they opened, a couple workers came out to hand out forms so the line could move more efficiently since the forms are already filled out. I was pleasantly surprised to find them quite friendly at that time, and in that job.
Although they do take those with appointments first, they also have a system where they take the walk-​ins simultaneously in a separate line. I thought I was going to have to wait another half hour, but once I was called, shortly after the people with appointments got their numbers, I was in and out in less than 20 minutes. All workers were nice (at the time at least), and everything moved quickly and smoothly.
But it’s all about getting there early…

The rudest DMV I have been to. I have been in different locations in SD and this one is the worst. Employees behind window give you an attitude and yell without any reason. I took driving test in here two times and both times I had a very bad experience with the same person in two different visits.
Obviously the employees in that office need to educate themselves about customer service and proper communication. If they are not willing to then Dmv needs to do a better job hiring employees.
Try to go Normal St location even tough it is more crowded…

Unfortunately, the DMV is one of the stops we all have to make. Despite people’s complaints, it appears customer service is NOT their top priority.
Even with an appointment, I had to wait over an hour to be seen. When I finally got called, I approached a very unpleasant mid-​aged African-​American woman who could care less about you or being a good employee. No greeting. Very rude. When asked questions, she refused to help saying «I can’t do that». When asked where to go next, she rolled her eyes. If you can’t help, then why am I here? For goodness sake, my taxes are helping to pay your salary, the least you can do is treat me like a human being.
This place smells of dying souls and disgruntled customers. I would check out the other DMV offices in the area to see if they are any better.

Around 9ish am there’s hardly any parking. I drove around a couple times to find parking but wasn’t in a rush. There was a line out the door. Thank goodness I had an appointment, went straight in.
Under 30 minutes I was out!

I’m updating my review from a year ago as I recently had to go into the DMV to get a replacement driver’s license. I needed it right away since I have to rent a car on my next business trip so waiting for the first available appointment (⁷⁄₉) was not an option. I checked the website ahead of time and opted to go yesterday since they opened at 8:00 a.m. What that really means for a person without an appointment, is to get there 1.5−2 hours before they open and queue up in line.
I arrived at 6:30 a.m. and was about #9 in line. At around 7:30 a.m., a very pleasant woman came out and asked those without appointments to step to the left and those with appointments to remain on the right. Then, a very pleasant man came out with a cart full of clip boards and various forms. He provided us with our needed forms which were then completed before the doors opened at 8:00. Very efficient! Once the doors opened, I was out of there by 8:15 a.m. with my temporary driver’s license.
This was a far cry better experience than my one in March 2014. Kudos to this DMV office. Only way it could have been exceptional service was if they had coffee and donuts on that cart :-)

I can’t believe I’m writing a really positive review about the DMV, but I am!
I made an appointment online, the appointment line was only four people deep, the wait after I got my ticket was only 10 minutes and the paperwork took five minutes… in and out in under 20 minutes!!!
There is plenty of parking and its an easy to find location.
The guy working was the nicest, friendliest person. He was efficient and thorough.
There were plenty of people waiting in the long line, so it definitely pays to make an appointment.

Dare I say it? I will. My time at the DMV didn’t suck. How? Simple, like everyone else said, make a damn appointment! Preferably earlier in the morning so there just aren’t as many people.
My appointment was on a Tuesday morning at 7:30am. I showed up around 7:10, filled out my paperwork, smiled at everyone I came in contact with and was out the door by 7:40. Only 30 minutes? Yeah, I was surprised too.
There was already drama stirring at 7am so no wonder half the people working there are cranky. Just be nice for heavens sake and it’ll make everything go by better.

I received a notice in the mail that my license was expiring and that this time, I would need to come in for the vision test. Aghhhh, nothing I dread more than going to the DMV for any kind of testing.
So I went online to book an appointment. All DMV’s were booked almost 2 months out. I only had about 3 weeks tops before my license expires! And then ta daaaaaaaaaah, an appointment was avail at the Clairemont DMV location, I took it! I didn’t care that it was for 2PM on a Thursday in 3 weeks. Cutting it close, but thank you, God!
Appointment day: I left work early and got there about an hour before my appointment. PARKING WAS HORRENDOUS! I must have circled that lot about 30 times. It pretty much took me about 40 minutes to get a parking spot. I was so frustrated. But happy that I was still early for my appointment. I got in the appointments only line to get the forms, filled it out in 5 mins, returned it to the counter, and got my number. The guy working the window was extremely kind and patient. I walked over to the right side to grab a seat and BAM! Didn’t even get to toast my seat and they’re already calling me up to the window.
The lady helping me was a Broncos fan. She was decked out in Broncos gear since it was going to be Superbowl Sunday that weekend. I loved her! We were talking about football, life, and everything in between. She tested my vision (which by the way, isn’t that bad. Those eye charts weren’t as small as I was fearing it’d be), and got me on my way to the picture station. Stood in line for that, and finally, I was done.
The whole process within the DMV was way faster than finding a parking spot outside. So moral of the story, make sure you book an appointment at the very least a month out, come at the very minimum an hour early to find parking, and brace yourself for really nice people here.

As far as Murphy’s Law is concerned, things went pretty well.
Let’s face it, the thought of going to the DMV is probably on par with the feeling of running fingernails across a chalkboard, getting teeth pulled, ripping off a fingernail or putting salt in your eyes. Aside from the extreme masochist, and I mean extreme, nobody likes doing it. So you can only imagine my dread when I had to schedule an appointment to get a renewal.
I scheduled a 9:00 appointment with confirmation number over the phone via the automated system… or so I thought. I arrived at 8:00 in the morning just in case anything were to go wrong… well it did. Apparently the confirmation didn’t show up because I wasn’t there on the list… great…
*Side note: Parking still sucks, even at 8:00 in the morning. I was extremely lucky to find a spot.
Anyway, luckily I was there early enough and it wasn’t insanely busy so I was printed a ticket anyway and took a seat. Somehow, in some miraculous way, against all imaginable, unfavorable odds, I was called within about 5 minutes and started the process.
Even more unbelievable was the fact that the people I encountered were nice and friendly and somehow got me through the process painlessly in a little under 30 minutes.
Anyway, being able to get through what could have potentially been a major disaster rather effortlessly and painlessly, really took a lot of stress out of a stressful week. For that, I’m thankful. This place could be better, but it could be a lot worse too. I think I got lucky by both scheduling a (failed) appointment and getting here early.
All things considered, this place is «okay».