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For Our Convenience
February 21, 2003
I received this note in the mail along with the registration renewal materials for my car:
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State of California Department of Motor Vehicles You are eligible to renew your registration on the Internet!DMV has added online registration renewal via the Internet as an alternative method of doing business. Be maong the first to take advantage of DMV’s new online service and renew your registration within minutes. Online renewal is: Convenient: Your registration is renewed within minutes of using our new service. Simple: Your billing notice contains a Renewal Identification Number (RIN) that is your access number for online renewal. Easy: Using your RIN and a credit card (American Express, Discover, Mastercard, or Visa), you may complete your registration renewal in a few easy steps! If a smog certification is required, complete the certification prior to renewing online. There is a $4 convenience fee to renew your registration online. Start now: Visit www.dmv.ca.gov to begin! No liones, no stamps, and no waiting! Thank you! A Public Service Agency |
Obviously the much-heralded paperless office is not cost-effective.
Why does it cost $4 more to send my registration electronically than to mail it in and have a human being to all the same work that I’m now expected to do myself?
If it’s that much more expensive, then the whole system should be scrapped at once.
Now of there were a $4 convenience refund to do it electronically, I’d definitely take advantage of this system. But it seems the DMV doesn’t really want to do it this way.