I had to re-register my car. I admit, it was a very complicated situation.
It was leased through my company and I wanted to sub-lease it to my son. He was going to take over the lease, get his own insurance and re-register the car. We looked on the DMV website to see what was needed before we started the process. It wasn’t extremely clear from the website if we had exactly what we needed, so we tried to call. Haha….days of being on hold until we finally gave up on that. We called the leasing company and they said we needed to get new plates but since I was the guarantor of the original lease, they could send me a power of attorney to sign and that should be good, along with the lease. Ok. Not too bad. They said they would send out the paperwork.
A week went by and no paperwork. I called back and they say it could take up to 14 days. Are you kidding me? I’ve never mailed anything within the same country that took 14 days to arrive at its destination. Waited the fourteen days; still nothing. I called back. They told me when it was sent out, which was about a week before, (now I know why it takes 14 days if it takes a week to get out of their building.) I asked if there was another way they could send it, email, fax??? Oh sure, they said. Really? So they faxed it. The first time, there was no signature on it so, yes, I had to call back. They re-faxed it. Ok, got it.
I happened to be telling someone the story and they asked me if I was sure the DMV would accept a faxed copy of a power of attorney. Hmm. Good question. Let me call….yup, couldn’t get through. I decided to call back the leasing company and ask them. By the way, still haven’t received that first copy they supposedly sent. They said the DMV would probably not accept that. Do you think you might have told me that before you sent it?
Finally, I got them to agree to overnight it, at my expense, but whatever! The car needed to be insured and registered. At this point it was just sitting in our driveway because it was uninsured. We got the paperwork the next day and went down to the DMV, got our number, waited patiently, got called up and the woman said, oh, this is not good. You need a form saying you are subleasing the car. We pointed out that it said that on the power or attorney from the leasing company. “Oh, I guess that’s ok. But you also need a certified copy of the title.” Nooooo!!! Where do I get that? “Just go down to the dealer.”
I said to her, “You know, it really would be nice if you could get through on the phone to ask some of these questions before you come all the way down here.” She said, “Yeah you can never get through. It’s just easier to come down.” Easier for whom???
Luckily, we decided to call the leasing company again before we went to the dealer and she let us know that the dealers don’t have copies of the titles but that she would get one right out to us. Did you really NOT think to mention that we would also need the title when you were sending us the power of attorney?????
We’re all in support roles. Let’s make a pact to remember that it’s our job to think things through to best help our customers. And that means anticipating what they will need in entirety.
Thoughts…….. Contact me at abbe@TECResourceCenter.com