02-17-2006, 12:51 AM
So here's the story of how I spent the last 6 weeks.
1 January 2006: Z is "sold" to Mike. I get a check from him, he takes the car home.
5 January 2006: Mike's check clears my bank, I pay off the Z, and sit back to wait for the title. DMV says it should take 7-10 business days to get it mailed to my home address.
20 January 2006: After 10 business days and no title, I call the DMV to find out what the hold up is. They say the bank hasn't sent the "electronic lien release". I call USAA, they say "Yeah, we sent that electronic thing back on the 6th. But we'll send you a paper copy too, and we'll resend the electronic release".
25 January 2006: I discover that the VIN number the DMV has and the VIN number the bank has were different. Turns out the DMV screwed up when I submitted my original paperwork, and entered the wrong number in their system. Therefore, the original lien release from USAA didn't do anything, because it didn't match the DMV records. Danielle from the DMV helped straighten this out.
1 February 2006: DMV finishes getting the VIN number changed in their systems. I call USAA to get them to resubmit the electronic lien release. They promise to make it happen.
5 February 2006: USAA sends me another damn letter (instead of the electronic lien release). DMV says they won't take it, but...
8 February 2006: I get the chance to go spend 2 hours at the DMV. They tell me to take my letter and pound sand. On the plus side, I did get the title to the truck :? I call USAA and tell them to resend the electronic lien release.
10 February 2006: Still nothing from the DMV. USAA admits that the last electronic lien release was rejected because the date was wrong. They claim to have fixed it, and will resubmit it.
15 February 2006: Still nothing from the DMV. The USAA rep tells me that they haven't resent the latest lien release. After some long overdue harsh words, I begin the process of closing my accounts with USAA (bank/credit/insurance/investment/etc...) Of course, the manager of the lien department calls the VA DMV, they get their shit together, and claim to be able to get me a title by the morning - this is communicated back to me *very* quickly. I'm surprised, because I didn't expect to be taken seriously (even though I do tens of thousands of dollars worth of business with USAA every year).
16 February 2006 (today): Wow. Lien release is through, DMV tells me I can pick up the title at the C-ville office.
I go to the C-ville office, the bitch at the info desk (where they disposition everyone) tells me they can't give me the title without a fax from Richmond. I verbally assault her, the DMV in general, and all manners of electronic buggeryboo, and curse my way out of the building... I think some mexican lady called me "El Diablo" and made the sign of the cross.
I called the DMV office in Richmond, and by pure chance, get the same rep who helped straighten all the VIN stuff out. Her name is Danielle. She gets her manager on the phone with the Charlottesville office. Ruth (the info desk lady) gets bitched out. Ruth's manager also gets bitched out. I go back to the DMV office, am treated to many "We're sorry sir" and "Let me help you with that form, sir", and walk out an hour later with a clear title in my hand.
It only took 6 weeks.
A side note - the only truly helpful person in all of this was Danielle at the DMV office. She's just a Tier 1 customer rep, but she held my hand through all the VIN stuff (which involved microfiche research and 2 different departments), and then remembered my situation when I called back today. She went the extra mile to get her manager to bitch out the folks at the C-ville office, and sent me back armed with the exact form numbers and regulations to make sure I got it taken care of. I called back, spoke to Danielle's manager, and as a reward for her service, she gets an award and gets to have lunch with the commissioner (which isn't what I would have picked as a reward, but oh well).
Everyone else I dealt with can go to hell.
Morals of the story? Check the VIN number on your registration to be sure it matches the VIN on the vehicle. Don't assume the DMV or your bank will do anything right, and certainly don't assume they'll let you know if something went wrong. As a result of this little debacle, I have a nice list of direct phone numbers for folks at USAA and the DMV. That will come in handy in the future, I'm sure. And if at all possible, sell your cars to patient folks like Mike Dumler. He never blamed me for any of this, and waited for it all to shake out. I hope he enjoys the Z
1 January 2006: Z is "sold" to Mike. I get a check from him, he takes the car home.
5 January 2006: Mike's check clears my bank, I pay off the Z, and sit back to wait for the title. DMV says it should take 7-10 business days to get it mailed to my home address.
20 January 2006: After 10 business days and no title, I call the DMV to find out what the hold up is. They say the bank hasn't sent the "electronic lien release". I call USAA, they say "Yeah, we sent that electronic thing back on the 6th. But we'll send you a paper copy too, and we'll resend the electronic release".
25 January 2006: I discover that the VIN number the DMV has and the VIN number the bank has were different. Turns out the DMV screwed up when I submitted my original paperwork, and entered the wrong number in their system. Therefore, the original lien release from USAA didn't do anything, because it didn't match the DMV records. Danielle from the DMV helped straighten this out.
1 February 2006: DMV finishes getting the VIN number changed in their systems. I call USAA to get them to resubmit the electronic lien release. They promise to make it happen.
5 February 2006: USAA sends me another damn letter (instead of the electronic lien release). DMV says they won't take it, but...
8 February 2006: I get the chance to go spend 2 hours at the DMV. They tell me to take my letter and pound sand. On the plus side, I did get the title to the truck :? I call USAA and tell them to resend the electronic lien release.
10 February 2006: Still nothing from the DMV. USAA admits that the last electronic lien release was rejected because the date was wrong. They claim to have fixed it, and will resubmit it.
15 February 2006: Still nothing from the DMV. The USAA rep tells me that they haven't resent the latest lien release. After some long overdue harsh words, I begin the process of closing my accounts with USAA (bank/credit/insurance/investment/etc...) Of course, the manager of the lien department calls the VA DMV, they get their shit together, and claim to be able to get me a title by the morning - this is communicated back to me *very* quickly. I'm surprised, because I didn't expect to be taken seriously (even though I do tens of thousands of dollars worth of business with USAA every year).
16 February 2006 (today): Wow. Lien release is through, DMV tells me I can pick up the title at the C-ville office.
I go to the C-ville office, the bitch at the info desk (where they disposition everyone) tells me they can't give me the title without a fax from Richmond. I verbally assault her, the DMV in general, and all manners of electronic buggeryboo, and curse my way out of the building... I think some mexican lady called me "El Diablo" and made the sign of the cross.
I called the DMV office in Richmond, and by pure chance, get the same rep who helped straighten all the VIN stuff out. Her name is Danielle. She gets her manager on the phone with the Charlottesville office. Ruth (the info desk lady) gets bitched out. Ruth's manager also gets bitched out. I go back to the DMV office, am treated to many "We're sorry sir" and "Let me help you with that form, sir", and walk out an hour later with a clear title in my hand.
It only took 6 weeks.
A side note - the only truly helpful person in all of this was Danielle at the DMV office. She's just a Tier 1 customer rep, but she held my hand through all the VIN stuff (which involved microfiche research and 2 different departments), and then remembered my situation when I called back today. She went the extra mile to get her manager to bitch out the folks at the C-ville office, and sent me back armed with the exact form numbers and regulations to make sure I got it taken care of. I called back, spoke to Danielle's manager, and as a reward for her service, she gets an award and gets to have lunch with the commissioner (which isn't what I would have picked as a reward, but oh well).
Everyone else I dealt with can go to hell.
Morals of the story? Check the VIN number on your registration to be sure it matches the VIN on the vehicle. Don't assume the DMV or your bank will do anything right, and certainly don't assume they'll let you know if something went wrong. As a result of this little debacle, I have a nice list of direct phone numbers for folks at USAA and the DMV. That will come in handy in the future, I'm sure. And if at all possible, sell your cars to patient folks like Mike Dumler. He never blamed me for any of this, and waited for it all to shake out. I hope he enjoys the Z
My two feet.
