DMV/IA. My experiences with the Iowa DMV, trying to clear an error off Lee’s driving record, were, to say the least, unpleasant.

Call one:

Me: The insurance co. would like a letter of clearance…

IA: We haven’t sent out letters of clearance for five years.

Me: Is there anything you can do to help me?

IA: If you send us a written request, we can send you a certified copy of Lee’s driving record.

Me: Will that give the insurance co. what they need? They specifically want a letter–

IA: We don’t do letters of clearance. We haven’t sent out letters of clearance for five years.

Me: Yet that’s what they say they want. They’re located in Iowa–

IA: We don’t do letters of clearance. They should be able to check the National Drivers Record.

Me: That’s the problem. They have. It says right here that I should be able to contact the Iowa DMV to correct any problems on the records. It says right here that I have the legal right to dispute problems with the people at this office, at this phone number. Is that not true? Can you help me?

IA: No.

[I hang up.]

Call two (different CSrep):

Me: I’m having problems with my husband’s driving record.

IA: Well, what seems to be the problem, m’am?

Me: There’s some information that needs to be cleared up on my husband’s IA driving record, […] and they want a letter–

IA: [Interrupting] We don’t do letters of clearance. We haven’t done letters of clearance for fourteen years.

Me: I just got off the phone with the insurance company. They say that they have a number of letters of clearance on their records from Iowa–

IA: [Interrupting, raising voice] We don’t do letters of clearance…

Me: [Interrupting] M’am, if you could just listen…

IA: [Interrupting] I don’t care what they say, we don’t do letters of clearance and we haven’t done letters of clearance for–

Me: [Interrupting, raising voice] And yet–

IA: [Interrupting, raising voice] Don’t you raise your voice at me, m’am. That’s something that we don’t tolerate here at this office–

Me: [Interrupting, raising voice] If you would just listen to me–

IA: [Interrupting, raising voice] Don’t you f——- yell at me. I don’t have to take this.

Me: [Raising voice] I don’t have to f——- take this s—.

[I hang up.]

Call three (different CSrep):

Me: I’ve been having problems with clearing something off my husband’s driving record. I’ve talked to several people at your office, and one of them has been very rude to me.

IA: What seems to be the problem, m’am?

Me: […] and the insurance co. tells me they want a letter of clear–

IA: [Interrupting, raising voice] We don’t do letters of clearance! We haven’t done them for fourteen years!

Me: Well, if that’s the case, they instructed me to ask to speak to a supervisor.

IA: [Raising voice] We don’t do letters of clearance–

Me: [Interrupting, raising voice] JUST TRANSFER ME TO YOUR SUPERVISOR.

IA: [Coninuing, still raising voice] and you’re not going to get a letter of clearance, I don’t care what the f——- insurance co. says–

Me: [Interrupting, raising voice] JUST TRANSFER ME TO YOUR F——- SUPERVISOR!

IA: [Raising voice] Just f——- hold, I’ll f——- transfer you!

[On hold.]

IA: [Static] In … eep voice … don’t…

Me: I can’t understand you. The phone keeps going out.

IA: First of all, we don’t tolerate …

Me: M’am, your customer service rep started yelling at me and interrupting me. If you want to keep things civil on your end, I can certainly keep up with you there.

IA: [Static] What … on? Wait, let me … phone.

[On hold.}

IA: What seems to be the problem?

Me: I’m talking to an insurance company that says in order to clear an error off my husband’s driving record, they want a letter of clearance.

IA: We don’t give out letters of clearance.

Me: The company is Geico, m’am, and it’s the office located in Coralville. You think they’d know.

IA: We don’t give out letters of clearance. [Raising voice] I don’t know who told you…

Me: All I want from you, lady, is your name and your phone number so the insurance co. can speak to you directly. That’s all I want.

IA: But I can send Mr. Canyon a certified copy of his driver’s record if he submits a written request–

Me: [Interrupting] M’am?

IA: And that contains more information than a letter of clearance anyway. I don’t understand why–

Me: [Interrupting] M’am?

IA: They want a letter of clearance when we haven’t done letter of clearance for five years now–

Me: [Interrupting, raising voice, speaking very slowly and clearly] M’am? All I need is your name and phone number. I will have the insurance co. call you personally. Can I have your name and a direct line number?

IA: All right. They can call me in the morning. [Gives info.] But I won’t give them a letter of clearance.

Me: Thank you. Goodbye.

[I hang up.]

I’ve removed a lot of the repetition. I was on the phone for two and a half hours. The CS Reps from the IA DMV really did initiate yelling and swearing at me. On the other hand, the reps from the insurance co. were consistently polite, prompt, and helpful.

I have never believed in capitalism more than I did yesterday.