Grieving parents get help from DMV: Roadshow

Q: You asked for good DMV stories. I have two, both at the Los Gatos office.

Christine Kingsland, Milpitas

A: These caught my attention, especially the second one.

Q: My husband and I went to get our REAL ID licenses. We had trouble navigating the online portion. An extremely knowledgeable and friendly employee helped us, and directed us to the proper window.

We had to take turns applying. The same helpful employee saw me waiting. When she heard I needed the verification documents from my husband who was in line for a photo, she ran to him, retrieved them for me to use, and escorted me to the window. I wish I got her name. She deserves a raise.

Christine Kingsland

A: And for the heartwarming story…

Q: In our second experience with the Los Gatos office, we went there to register a van we were taking over from our son, Ryan, who died unexpectedly in September at the age of 40.

Everything went well with the DMV experience until we were told we could not keep his personalized plates on the car. I was overcome with grief at that point.

I left my husband at the window to complete the transaction. The clerk pulled some strings and we were able to keep Ryan’s “Notamom” plates. His joke was that he had a van, but was not a soccer mom. An avid bike rider, he bought the van to transport his bicycles.

Q: I have a problem with my son’s clipper card. He had $107 credit on it. I followed the instructions for a refund, filled out the paperwork included with the card and provided the $5 processing fee. They sent me a new card. They claim I cannot get the money back. I requested a supervisor and was told it’s a 24-48 hour wait for a callback. The supervisor called 72 hours later and I missed the call by 10 minutes. Is there anything I can do now?

A: Keep trying to make contact with them. If that doesn’t work, let me know.

Q: Here’s another “feel good” DMV story. I recently went to the Pleasanton DMV to get my REAL ID driver’s license. I had a 10 a.m. appointment time. I arrived about 9:40 a.m., as I allowed for traffic and that there might be lots of people in the waiting room. I was checked in,  had my picture taken (ugh!), and was back in my car with the process complete at 10:00 a.m., my original appointment time! I received my REAL ID driver’s license in about 10 days.

Marilyn Brione, Dublin

A: You did everything right. I’m glad it worked out so well.