Whilst researching NC DMV registration fees, I discovered that the numbers on their site to register a personalised plate didn’t exactly add up to what they’re wanting on the renewal bill.
It turns out that NC DMV is increasing their fees starting 1 Jul 2020 to the tune of at least $2.75 on a personalised plate.
Now, you’d think I’d discover this unfortunate news on their website…a press release, an indicator that fees were going up on 1 Jul, updated fee listings on that particular page.
Ah, no. Shockingly, no. And the DMV representative seemed awfully surprised that the bad news wasn’t shouted from the rooftops as it were.
You can beat the increase by paying them off prior to 1 Jul though be aware your bill is likely incorrect if it was due after that date…you’d probably have to ring up DMV to get the correct number.
Mind you, not only does the increase suck but the revamped DMV renewal site is now an outsourced chat-bot that charges you a $3 transaction fee (that goes entirely to the vendor) for a renewal process that is much more time-consuming and frustrating than the one where you’d put your number plate and last few digits of the title ID and then off to the payment screen with NO extra fees. The irony is that the transaction fee is billed as necessary to “improve the customer experience”.
Chat-bots are the laziest and worst re-implementation of what was previously a pretty painless process. The site looks nice enough but in the immortal words of Harry Chapin’s band…HARRY, IT SUCKS!