Washington State Department of Licensing

Deserves a 0. Walked in and lady at desk where you get your number from was clueless. Was held up because She couldn’t find her money bag and said she was told to never have the money bag out. Needless to say it wad sitting out when she found it. Sat for an hour waiting for number to be called, I understand its the dol and there will always be lines, but in that time frame I saw 4 – 5 numbers called as employees were just walking around behind their counters and the place wasn’t even that busy. Decided to leave before being helped. These people should be replaced with machines.

Lol. It’s a dmv. If you ever think there won’t be a line or you won’t be waiting… There is something extremely wrong with you. Oh I waited and waited some more.
I was here for a long overdue WA drivers license since moving here from Oregon. I waited until two days until my DL expired…:/ well at least I got it done with no suspension! :D
This is a DMV like all others. BUT… a big but, the gasp dmv employees were nice! Like really friendly!!! Was I at the wrong place? Another dimension? But no they were just nice people. :) yay!
It was clean and busy here, many seats to choose from to enjoy your long wait.
Even tho the lady taking my DL picture was the nicest, it was her job to have me smile for the camera… and let me tell you… smiling for the camera is never pretty here. Lol. Why why WHY do they tell you to put your chin down!!! And then take the pic at such an angle that it’s looking down at you. Everyone knows that’s those are the two nonos for pic taking! THE worst selfie EVER. !!! Anyways, the nice thing was my daughter got to watch and choose which pic would work and she helped the nice dmv lady with that. :)
The pic still wasn’t the best. But at least I’m still driving. Even tho I have to pay sales tax now too (why do u think I waited so long! I’m from Oregon I’m spoiled!!). Ugh… doing things legal sucks sometimes…

This is the closes to my neighborhood. This will work for me. The trick to the DMV is to get there early and be patient. Save yourself the headache. Renewing DL paid $ 89 with check but they do take credit card payment with a $ 2.00 fee. Arrived 8:20am in & out wait time was 9:20am Not bad for early bird

I am actually zero stars. If this were a business (versus a racket) they would be out of business. Long lines. Government indifferent attitude. Multiple long lines. To get my drivers license renewed was 90 minutes.

Usually a trip to the D.O.L. is very boring and I think of a million things that I can do instead but today I had to go regardless. So I walked in and waited in line for 5 mins for a number. Then got called within 2 mins to talk to someone about what I needed and paid. This gentleman whose name I didn’t catch was very pleasant. I sat down for another minute and was called back to do the pic. The same nice guy was doing them. He was so patient with me since I kept blinking. He was joking and smiling which was such a nice change to the kind of person that I usually get at a place like this. Altogether it took 10 minutes to get in and out.

I had such a nasty experience today with a lady named Varsha/​Vasha (I could care less) who clearly had her head up her twat. I hope she doesn’t treat everyone like this :(
I’m not sure what the procedures these employees go through to get hired, but it seems like this establishment hires carelessly. No customer service skill what so ever. She should work towards that «promise» hanging at the ticket counter.

No material here for a comedy routine: the staff I encountered was pleasant and efficient. One even wished me happy birthday. I was in and out in 15 minutes to renew my license. Thanks, Renton DOL!

Wow! Friendly staff, super quick service, clean and spacious office with lots of light — I’m impressed.

I wanted to review because I don’t think the current 1.5 stars is fair. ²⁄₃ of the people I spoke with were nice and helpful. The last person was a little short.
Many of the complaints — paper temp licenses, long lines, waiting, slow service, one line to get a ticket and another to actually be helped and a third wait to take a picture — are the same at all DMV offices here. The only difference is I remember Bellevue having free wifi.

It’s the DOL… It’s busy and shitty. This location isn’t too shabby though. I needed to update my license because I look nothing like I did at 22 and it’s about to expire. I only had to wait about 3 mins before getting called up to the counter. The lady that helped me was super nice and had an awesome English accent. Kick ass, lady, kick ass. Took another like 5 to get my pic taken, again the guy who was doing it was really nice and I have to say that my picture is pretty darn good for a license.

What!!! Super easy to get a new license, no way! I moved to WA a few years ago, the process at that time was horrible and the Department of Licensing was overcrowded and the process took several hours, with toddler in tow. So overall it wasn’t a good experience. This time it wasn’t nearly as painful. I was there around lunch time and didn’t have any problem and was able to get the updates to my license made and be out within 15 minutes.
I asked the lady who helped me why the difference in lines, last October many of the services that were previously handled at the Licensing offices were privatized and other services were moved to online. This now means that there is little to no wait in comparison to even 2 years ago.
I would have rated it higher, but like other people I still have a hard time having to go to multiple offices to get my tabs and license info updated as it seems wasteful of tax money. Also, I had attempted to update my license online and only went into the office because it wouldn’t allow me to update it online, and I never got a clear answer online or in the office as to why that happened.

I came here a few weeks ago to get my new Washington Driver’s License. All in all it wasn’t too bad. We came on a Saturday afternoon, and had to wait about 5 minutes to get our picture taken, but other than that, it was in and out.
The downside is that to get a new brand new WA license, its about $ 80 (compared to $ 30 in Illinois). But the waits are not nearly as long as they are at the Indiana BMV (I got my license renewed there once — it took 3 hours… on a Wednesday morning).
All in all — not too bad. Not overly busy, and there really were no problems.

ALRIGHT.
I know, It’s a DMV (or whatever they call them here), so what are you really expecting?
BUT:
It was Saturday morning.
It was almost completely empty.
It was quiet and calm.
Unfortunately:
It still took altogether about an hour, possible even longer.
(And I didn’t even have to take a test! Just pay and take a picture)
My picture was the WORST that I’ve ever had.
And you don’t even get your license right away! You get a SUPER sketchy black and white piece of paper.
I’m glad that my license is good for another 5 years. Hopefully, I won’t have to come back until then.

I went in on ²⁄₂₃ to change over from my Florida license to a Washington license, and it was a breeze. It was a Saturday and about an hour before closing, there were no lines, the staff was friendly and helpful. The whole process took about 10 minutes. My only complaint and the reason it didn’t get 5 stars is because in the state of Washington they separate drivers licenses and registration for tags into two separate offices, in Florida it’s all done in one location. Lastly, please remember everyone here is just doing their job, be polite to them and they will return the favor. You can’t go in angry and upset or ready to explode on someone and expect to get things done.

This DOL is where I got my license and I still remember the guy who gave me my first test. Cool guy.
Went here last week for my husband’s motorcycle permit. 3 hr wait time. It sucked.
Mostly because there was a mexican toddler (about 3) pretending to be a mop. The mother just let her son scrub the floor with his stomach while her infant’s mouth was covered in milk throw up that smelled horrible. She didn’t bother to wipe it off. Poor kids.
I avoid coming here as much as possible due to the smell of the place. A cross between feet and armpits. I can sympathize for the employees. Bad smelling work place, people who can’t speak english, and probably risk their lives everyday for test drives.
It’s not the employees that make this place terrible. It’s the people. The demographics of the area.

Oh how we all hate DMVs. Some of the employees need to smile. The lady that took my picture was very unwelcoming. Let’s just say I didn’t look very happy on my drivers license.

Hard to get to location, shortage of chairs makes it a really uncomfortable wait… and wait… and wait… and wait!
May I suggest:
When you are planning to visit DOL…
it is vital to bring:
folding chairs,
pillows,
reading material,
lunch, snack,
hand disinfectant,
comfortable shoes,
back massage rake,
excedrin,
etc

Why, why, why does it take over an hour to renew a license? All I need to do is get an updated picture and to pay $ 25. If I were ruler of the world, I would have this set up assembly style: walk in, fill out a form, pay your $ 25, smile for a photo, bam. This could be so easy.
I call shenanigans on the whole «first come, first serve» system they claim they have going on. The lady who was in line before me was there to renew her license and there were four people helped between us and she was long gone by the time my turn came around. And those four different number systems they have going on? It’s just to confuse you so you can’t get all excited about being next. Eeeeevil.
Also, why do they claim Saturday is their busiest day yet they have all these signs saying they have limited employees working on Saturday? Shouldn’t they have more employees working on their busiest days?
Oh and PS. the wait timer they have on their website is horribly inaccurate.

It is a Govt agency so I understand there is red tape, protocol, and all that horrible customer service to deal with, but for the DOL/​DMV i was severely surprised with how slow going this place was.
I’ve been lazy. I admit. I moved back to WA state from Utah 5 years ago… and since I don’t have a car (yes, im one of those walking, public transport loving hippies) I have never felt the need to update my drivers license. After losing & then finding my wallet I realized it was time to update the sucker.
The DOL is only open on weekdays the ~exact~ hours I work, so of course there was no hope going then. I figured Id get there 30 minutes before opening on a Saturday and be out in a jiffy. Getting there that early I was shocked to see a line of 100+ people waiting to get in. I didn’t even bother that morning.
Still needing the license, and hating having to wait in long queues and basically wasting my entire weekend, I decided to wake up at the butt-​crack of dawn and get there at 6 am. Yes, thats right. I got there 2 ½ hours before they opened. Around 7 am more people started coming in, waiting int heir cars to get in, so I was obnoxious and started another 100+ person line out in the rain & cold waiting for this place to open. You would think if this is a constant scenario at the DOL they might open earlier, or stay open later on a weekday to make these crowds less psycho.
And boy when they opened was it insane! A giant mob of people rushing the doors. I was the 1^st to get my ticket & be called, but the employee helping me was SO slow and so not interested I ended up being there nearly an hour because after filling out all my paper work and having him snail-​slowly go through them I had to wait behind 10 other people getting pictures taken for their license. Oh, and apparently BANGS are a no-​no at the DOL these days. You have to see your «whole face» so my picture turned out the a-​typical awful affair with my hair looking dumb and me with a snarky «get this over with» look on my face.

Just days away from my birthday and my driver’s license expiring, I had to haul ass to the DOL because I wasn’t eligible to renew my license online. I can kind of understand why they don’t allow individuals to renew an enhanced license online, but I think that if the applicant is willing to drop the «enhanced» part of their license and get a regular license, they should be able to renew online (as was my case).
I got to the DOL before 9:30. As I was walking in to get my ticker number, I get bulldozed by some dude who apparently was getting service by the same lady at the information desk who also hands out the numbers. Okay, fine — I’m still the next person in line to get a ticker number and it’s not like the line is going anywhere and someone can cut in front of me. So I wait, patiently.
I get my magic number and am told that it will be about 30 minutes of a wait. Bear in mind, there are a total of 10 possible service counters, and apparently almost everyone goes on a break when I sit down. For the most part of the wait, only about 2 – 3 service counters are active — that is calling people who have a number. I’m not sure about the rest — they seem to be processing people by name only. I overhear one of them telling a customer to «come back with the right paperwork, you won’t have to wait in line again.» I’m sorry, but if you can’t be bothered to find out what documents you need or be smart enough to ask the information desk if you have everything before you embark on your long wait then you do, in fact, deserve to wait in line all over again! Enough with the line cutters!
Somehow the couple who came in behind me got their number called first (can you say «flawed queue system»?). Almost 2 hours later, my number gets called. I speak to the lady at the counter who tells me that it is somehow my fault that I didn’t renew online — which turns into it being my fault I got an enhanced license in the first place so I’m not eligible to renew online. After she takes my money, I’m handing the old license and a signature card. I’m told to wait for someone to take my picture. Wait?! Apparently it’s too difficult for these people to take pictures as they process each application. You’re not really expediting anything if someone has to get into another line — one that has no time or order attached to it.
As I’m now very irritated and pissed off waiting for my picture to get taken, I observe one of the other employees actually take a picture for someone who was getting their license. When I ask if I can get mine taken care of, I’m told that «everyone is responsible for picture taking» and I’ll have to wait «until someone gets around to processing photos» for those of us who were unfortunate enough to have gotten called to a counter with a staff member who doesn’t want to have to take photos. OMG. Who runs this place?! Bear in mind the lady who told me to sit down and shut-​up was also just chatting with someone else behind the counter. She is too busy to help because?
I finally get my picture taken when one employee starts taking pity on the growing list of photos that need to be processed. When she asks «all those who need their picture taken» to get up and come get their photos, a line of no less than 25 appear. That’s 25 people that have probably waited another 30 – 45 minutes AFTER they’ve had their number called and paperwork processed to get their photo taken so they can either go home, go to work, or just go somewhere else instead of sitting in a stuffy, crowded room with a bunch of other people!
Management at this place needs to reevaluate their processes and procedures for this place. There are so many small things that can make this place run better. Of course, being a State of Washington entity, they could probably give a crap less. This place also left me wondering if I should have just driven farther to another less crowded DOL — because a 20 minute drive into Bellevue could’ve also saved me 3 hours of waiting to have my number called and picture taken.
(Yes, I’m still fuming about this «wait until we feel like it to take your picture» load of BS!)