The People of Taco Bell Versus the People of the DMV in Aurora IL

So where does the DMV come in? We’ll get to that later [shudder].

In the summer of 2011 I had a few [20] cousins over at my place for a little [500+ people] shindig [wedding], and they had banned me from my basement because they were practicing for my reception dance. One of my only ungraceful cousins didn’t want to be in the dance so he decided to contribute by going on a late night Taco Bell run with me. He brought up everyone’s order [on several sheets of paper] and off we went. As I approached the drive-thru lane with my $60+ list of items I started getting that “oh great, this is going to be fun” feeling, but to my surprise the order taker was extremely pleasant throughout the whole process. She was so nice that I distinctively remember telling my cousin “wow, she was so nice!” On top of that they didn’t miss a single item – there should be some kind of award for that.

Consistently Great Service is Impressive

Fast forward to January 2013. I went to the same Taco Bell drive-thru recently and was greeted with the same level of niceness, but they forgot an item on a relatively small order. I didn’t realize until I got home, so I called back and they put my name on a list with the item. I didn’t get a chance to go back until 2 weeks later and they were still able to find me on the list and gave me my item. That’s good peoples!

I’d like to digress here for a moment and just mention the good people of the Oak Brook, IL McDonald’s (2111 Midwest Rd Oak Brook, IL 60523). Someone posted a review 10 months ago about this location and they literally took the words right out of my mouth in relation to my experience just a week ago.

Good service goes a long way – please keep it up!

Now let’s go to the Aurora DMV

Oh, you get that sick to the stomach feeling from just thinking about that place too? After my last visit I started thinking about this question: why is it that the people of Taco Bell (and McDonald’s) can consistently provide great customer service while the people of the DMV almost always do the exact opposite? 

My wife went into the DMV 3 times and received 3 different instructions on how to fill out a form. Then I went in (making that trip #4 for the same form) earlier this month thinking to myself “how bad can it really be, I’ll just go there and be nice to them.”

The first thing that I hear when I get to the counter and show the lady my form is “Why did you sign both names?” 

Me: [caught off guard and in disbelief] “What?”

DMV Lady: “You can’t sign for other people.”

Me: “I didn’t, that’s my wife’s signature, and that’s mine”

DMV Lady: “Well it looks the same [angry scowl]. Take a number.”

Instead of greeting people with “hello, how can I help you” they lead with an accusation – an unwarranted one at that! My experiences has been such every single time in the Aurora DMV. 

Taco Bell Vs. the DMV: Competition

The main difference between the DMV and the fast food restaurants is competition. The DMV is a monopoly while Taco Bell and McDonald’s have competition. Not only do the restaurants compete with other chains, but they compete with their other locations as well. There are probably 3 of each type of restaurant within a 5 mile radius of where I live and where I work so if I have a bad experience at one location I can just go to another. That incentivizes the owners of these restaurants to train people to be friendly to customers.

The DMV is the only place you can get your license and sticker and title changed, etc. It doesn’t matter if they are nice to you or outright awful, if you want to drive you will go there. 

Taco Bell Vs. the DMV: Time-to-service

The other big issue we have with the DMV is the wait time. Fast food restaurants give us what we want very quickly and send us on our way. The DMV says “take a number.” Not only that, but the numbers are in some nonsensical order so that you have to diligently pay attention to the numbers being announced for the whole entire hour that you’ll probably be sitting there just so you don’t miss your turn. If you’re at the DMV for more than one thing, then you get to take a 2nd number after your first task is completed and go wait again. 

Taco Bell and McDonald’s service models align well with our expectations. With the advent of smart phones and instant access to all pieces of information and media at our fingertips we have grown more impatient as a people, and DMV’s have seemingly ignored this fact and done nothing to speed things up.

Taco Bell Vs. the DMV: Convenience

Taco Bell coined the term 4th Meal and in general is the only remaining fast food place open after 2AM (unless you have a 24 hour McDonald’s near you). They are there for you whenever you want them. The DMV, however, is only open during the hours you are at work on all but one day of the week. They expect you to make time for them, not the other way around. 

Taco Bell is also more convenient because there are 3 or 4 of them just in Aurora alone whereas there is only one DMV location. The DMV in the next city is just far enough that it doesn’t make sense to go there. Unless of course there is a significant difference in the service.

Share your DMV or Drive-thru story in the comments

Have you ever had a good experience at the DMV? Where was it?

In my next post I’ll be exploring how the location affects service – from my experience it does. Check back soon for a Naperville vs. Aurora battle of the DMV’s!