Six weeks ago, the City of Chicago took my license for making a right turn on red during a prohibited time. Whoops. But, I admitted my wrongdoing, paid my fee and requested traffic school. And, waited for them to mail me my license back, as promised. And, then I waited some more. It took over three weeks for the clerk of courts to acknowledge receipt of payment. An automated system directed me to wait until October 13th to call if I had not yet received my court diversion information. October 13th came and went and I still did not have a court-diversion envelope in my grubby mitts. More importantly, I STILL did not have my license back.
So, I called the number. I was informed that the court diversion envelope would arrive four to six weeks after the clerk of courts received payment. However, I was also told that I should have received my license back weeks ago. Four phone calls to various divisions within the clerk's office, I was left with the inescapable conclusion that they lost my license. (I was also left with the need to write a rather snippy letter to the clerk's office complaining of their procedures and attention to detail. They essentially revoked my license and imposed an additional fee, in direct contradiction to what is allowed by statute which provides for no discretion for traffic violation sentences. That's a no-no.) They purportedly mailed it on September 26th and place the blame squarely on the post office. The post office in Chicago is an easy scapegoat, given its multiple winnings of the title of worst post office in the country. But, they did not mail it in any trackable form. Given that, my phone calls to the post office were met with a mix of condescension and incredibility. Despite six calls and multiple message (that were not timely returned), I was left with only one option to get my license back: get a new one.
I walked over to the Secretary of State's office at 2:00 pm on Wednesday, expecting the worst and armed with various pieces of identification and proof from the clerk's office that they lost my license. All entirely unnecessary. It cost me $5, 15 minutes, and a social security card to get a replacement. It was so easy it actually made me uncomfortable. I just hope nothing bad -- e.g. identity theft -- comes of my lost license as there is nothing more I can do at this point. Perhaps my license will be someone's fake ID. Although I pity the child who to tries to pass themselves off as a 30 year old. The wrinkles will give them away.
So, I called the number. I was informed that the court diversion envelope would arrive four to six weeks after the clerk of courts received payment. However, I was also told that I should have received my license back weeks ago. Four phone calls to various divisions within the clerk's office, I was left with the inescapable conclusion that they lost my license. (I was also left with the need to write a rather snippy letter to the clerk's office complaining of their procedures and attention to detail. They essentially revoked my license and imposed an additional fee, in direct contradiction to what is allowed by statute which provides for no discretion for traffic violation sentences. That's a no-no.) They purportedly mailed it on September 26th and place the blame squarely on the post office. The post office in Chicago is an easy scapegoat, given its multiple winnings of the title of worst post office in the country. But, they did not mail it in any trackable form. Given that, my phone calls to the post office were met with a mix of condescension and incredibility. Despite six calls and multiple message (that were not timely returned), I was left with only one option to get my license back: get a new one.
I walked over to the Secretary of State's office at 2:00 pm on Wednesday, expecting the worst and armed with various pieces of identification and proof from the clerk's office that they lost my license. All entirely unnecessary. It cost me $5, 15 minutes, and a social security card to get a replacement. It was so easy it actually made me uncomfortable. I just hope nothing bad -- e.g. identity theft -- comes of my lost license as there is nothing more I can do at this point. Perhaps my license will be someone's fake ID. Although I pity the child who to tries to pass themselves off as a 30 year old. The wrinkles will give them away.
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