I recently had to re-register my car after an accident. The accident was minor, but the insurance company totaled the car. I opted to keep the car with a salvage title. My insurance company sent me this DMV brochure explaining the process.My question for you, readers, is:
Whose job is it to make this a good experience?
Anyone who actually reads the brochure will quickly determine that it is unclear and downright confusing. The insurance company probably thinks it's being helpful by sending it along. Is it their job to write a better brochure so their customers don't get confused? The person from the insurance company gave me incorrect information relating to the DMV procedure. Whose job is it to make sure they're giving out the correct information about someone else's policies?
I muddled my way through the brochure, determining that I needed to have two inspections done by a California Certified Brake and Light Inspection Station. The brochure informed me that these could be found in the Yellow Pages. They cannot. After calling around and locating one, I made my appointment. Whose job is it to make an accurate listing easily available, maybe searchable on the DMV website?
After those were completed, I called several numbers on the brochure (one is wrong) to make an appointment with the Highway Patrol. This helpful woman told me I needed to contact the DMV instead. I might need to come to the Highway Patrol inspection station, but only after the DMV appointment She, however, was only available by phone from M-F from 7:30 to 11:30 AM. Her phone does not have voicemail. She is the only person in San Diego County who makes Highway Patrol appointments. Whose job is it to fix that?
Today I arrived at the DMV for my appointment, made (easily) through their website. Here is the line you wait in with an appointment. Fixed or broken?
The TV above the desk (and a regular loudspeaker) tells you which tickets are being served at which window. That worked well. My "appointment" got me a 5-minute wait in this line, where the man looked at my paperwork, told me I was missing a smog check, and issued me a numbered ticket.
The ticket got me a 15-minute wait to talk to a helpful young woman on the other side of the building who told me I did not need a smog check after all. Whose job is it to make sure everyone in the DMV office understands all the procedures? All I had to do now was drive around to the south side of the building, pull up, and ring the doorbell for my inspection. Couldn't I have done this first, before I parked?
After another 15-minute wait and two doorbell presses, my inspection was done. Park the car, walk back inside, pay the helpful girl. Go to another window on the other side of the building, wait to pick up my plates. Walk back out to the car, change the plates with my trusty screwdriver, take the old plates inside to the helpful girl. Why couldn't the helpful girl give me my plates?
While the whole thing took just over an hour today, it's been weeks overall.
Tip of the day: Are you part of a customer service "supply chain" like this? If so, how can you step up and fix things for your customers, even if it isn't your job? I'm not angry with my insurance company, but they would have gotten incredible blog word-of-mouth in this post had they improved this experience for me.
Technorati Tags: customer experience, customer service, CA DMV, consultant
