A Real License Screw-Up

[mr surveyor]

After several years of prodding, one of my best running buddies (and his wife) finally did his CHL class in February. Around day 90 or so, he finally received a PIN, which unfortunately would NOT work with the on-line tracking system. He sent an email with all of his proper information to DPS explaining the situation, and got a terse response back that his PIN was in fact "xxxxx" as originally assigned to him. Still no success. A few days later, phone calls resulted in no joy. Today, after 120+ days he called me from the post office with the happy sound of "It came in the mail today". I was tickled to death for him until I got an email later in the evening. It seems that he later discovered that they had placed the wrong DL numbere on his CHL card. When he got on line and used the bogus DL number, the on-line tracking program worked properly....well, not properly, but it worked. After 120+ days of waiting, the incompetence is compounding daily! What a mess!!

I'm not well informed on legal principals, nor am I qualified to give legal advise (as I tell my clients on a professional level), but I recommended that he consider NOT carrying with the improperly issued license as he could possibly be arrested for UCW.

His wife's application is still being re-hashed since she had to resubmit her papers due to a change in her name. She did finally get a PIN a couple of days ago.

Are these type experiences the norm now?


surv

[BigDan]

I would expect problems to arise from the backlog to continue for a while at least. Once they can start handling these numbers and those in line can be processed more expediently, I would imagine the troubles to go down as well.

It's unfortunate that such an obvious error occurred. Hopefully, it can get resolved without much hassle.

[BigBlueDodge]

I only expect these data entry errors to increase in frequency. With the increasing load, the growing complaints from CHL applicants, state representatives calling wanting to know where a license is, I'm quite sure that the people responsible for data entry are getting alot of pressure from their managers to get applications completed faster. And when you are forced to work faster, you will naturally be more likely to commit an error. The current state CHL has proven not to be setup for high volume license processing, and as a result their QA will suffer.

[austin-tatious]

IMO, this is a very good reason to fill out your application on-line. You are the one that enters your DL#, SSN, and all the other data...not a potentially rushed temp. Also, DPS sends you a printout of the application that you can correct (if you had any typos or omissions) before you send it in with all the supporting documents for processing. We are all internet literate, aren't we? Use the on-line service

[mr surveyor]

as an "update", my friend did send an email the next morning after receiving his CHL card with a typo in the DL space on the card. He got a return email acknowledging the error on the part of the DPS, and confirmation that they would be sending out a corrected card.

Now, his wife's app has taken another strange turn. They filled out their paper work and sent in the same day, obviously using the same address on their applications (they both work for the USPS so the know theri own address). The local investigating officer called her either yesterday, or day before, and said he couldn't locate her by address....same officer that had no problem locating her husband at the same address. The "lifer" folks at DPS are obviously overworked and need some competent temp help to get through this crunch. At the rate they are receiving new applications, by the end of the year there will be over 100k new applications for 2008 alone. Something really needs to be done to get this program operating more efficiently.