That's Ministry of Transportation of Ontario. DMV, for you yanks. Anyway.
A few months back, when I moved out to BC, I needed to get my drivers' license changed from an Ontario one to one out there with my new address on it. Being an Ontario native with nothing but bad experiences with the MTO, I figured it would be a disaster and set aside the better part of an afternoon for the trip. Imagine my surprise when I was in and out in under 20 minutes, and unless my ability to read people went totally off for that afternoon, even had the girl behind the counter flirt with me a bit. Fast forward 9 months and I'm back here in Ontario--again, needing to get my license changed to reflect my new (old) address.
God, what a clusterfark of an experience.
First, I go to the place on Brant. It's almost brand new; new facilities, equipment, yadda yadda. I see that the number they're calling for is in the teens, and the next number on the roll of tags is 50something. So I start to wander outside to decide if I'm going to bother. On my way out I see that there's a sign on the wall with other locations, and the one down on Fairview does both "vehicle and license services." Awesome!
So I drive down there, walk in, and see a line. Not a big deal, I think to myself, a line is better than number calling. And I wait in line....for half an hour, watching the fat, grumpy old witches behind the counter giving everyone and their dog a hard time. Finally my turn comes and....wait for it....they tell me I need to go do my license change at the Brant location. Their "license services" apparently doesn't cover having to change your license, and nowhere in sight is there anybody who might've been asked about this without having to wait in line.
Thoroughly annoyed, I drive BACK to the Brant office (which is actually only labeled as a drive test facility) and walk in. In the time that I was gone, the number being called for had only crept up into the 20s. I go to grab a ticket--75. Sigh.
Some kind older guy had the decency to suggest that I should go for lunch while I wait. He told me that he'd come in earlier, taken a number, gone back to his office to do some paperwork, and then returned and they STILL hadn't gotten to his number. I took his advice and walked over to Williams. Got myself a (very disappointing) turkey swiss sandwich and a coffee cake, and sat and enjoyed both.
I finally walk back over to the MTO to see how far they are, only to find that they'd only made it to mid-30s. So I sat and waited. And waited. And waited some more. After I'd been waiting for over an hour, and they'd only gotten up to 48, I'd had enough. Gave my number to some dude who'd come in later than me and walked out.
Canadian postal workers are going on strike and it'll STILL probably be faster to try to get my license changed by mail. Frak you, MTO. Frak you very, very much.
A few months back, when I moved out to BC, I needed to get my drivers' license changed from an Ontario one to one out there with my new address on it. Being an Ontario native with nothing but bad experiences with the MTO, I figured it would be a disaster and set aside the better part of an afternoon for the trip. Imagine my surprise when I was in and out in under 20 minutes, and unless my ability to read people went totally off for that afternoon, even had the girl behind the counter flirt with me a bit. Fast forward 9 months and I'm back here in Ontario--again, needing to get my license changed to reflect my new (old) address.
God, what a clusterfark of an experience.
First, I go to the place on Brant. It's almost brand new; new facilities, equipment, yadda yadda. I see that the number they're calling for is in the teens, and the next number on the roll of tags is 50something. So I start to wander outside to decide if I'm going to bother. On my way out I see that there's a sign on the wall with other locations, and the one down on Fairview does both "vehicle and license services." Awesome!
So I drive down there, walk in, and see a line. Not a big deal, I think to myself, a line is better than number calling. And I wait in line....for half an hour, watching the fat, grumpy old witches behind the counter giving everyone and their dog a hard time. Finally my turn comes and....wait for it....they tell me I need to go do my license change at the Brant location. Their "license services" apparently doesn't cover having to change your license, and nowhere in sight is there anybody who might've been asked about this without having to wait in line.
Thoroughly annoyed, I drive BACK to the Brant office (which is actually only labeled as a drive test facility) and walk in. In the time that I was gone, the number being called for had only crept up into the 20s. I go to grab a ticket--75. Sigh.
Some kind older guy had the decency to suggest that I should go for lunch while I wait. He told me that he'd come in earlier, taken a number, gone back to his office to do some paperwork, and then returned and they STILL hadn't gotten to his number. I took his advice and walked over to Williams. Got myself a (very disappointing) turkey swiss sandwich and a coffee cake, and sat and enjoyed both.
I finally walk back over to the MTO to see how far they are, only to find that they'd only made it to mid-30s. So I sat and waited. And waited. And waited some more. After I'd been waiting for over an hour, and they'd only gotten up to 48, I'd had enough. Gave my number to some dude who'd come in later than me and walked out.
Canadian postal workers are going on strike and it'll STILL probably be faster to try to get my license changed by mail. Frak you, MTO. Frak you very, very much.
)
Comment