Crowfoot Plates

My daughter had a road test there a few days ago. Daljeet was her driving instructor. He was rude and obnoxious, had a real chip on his shoulder. When he met her in the registry he made her go outside and start the vehicle and roll her window down, all while waiting in the registry, ya it was windy and spitting rain. While on the road test he never said one word to her. He motioned with his hand to turn left or right. This made her feel intimidated and nervous. He treated her like a criminal and belittled her. Needless to say he failed her. I have talked to others who have had their road test at crowfoot plates and they said similar things. They fail everyone the first time… possibly to get another 100 bucks? This Daljeet should not be allowed to treat people this way., and get paid for it to boot. I would never go back for any service and will make it my mission to tell everyone I know about our experience.

I haven’t been to a lot of registries for comparison, but whenever I come here they resolve whatever my need is. New license, easy. Parking tickets, paid. Forgot my pink slip, go home and get it. Big lineups, only at the end of the month. Long wait time, they have a big screen TV. The last few times I’ve been here there has been no line-​up and only a couple people working at the counter. That was more than enough. Even when it’s busy the staff are pleasant and helpful. Tip, go in the middle of the month.

Quick and easy. No line up, great service and super fast license renewal process.

Crowfoot Plates does some things right and others frustratingly wrong. Their premises and location are great. But their customer service philosophy is simply absent. They clearly demonstrate, every time, their ultimate boss is not you and I, the people who pay their salaries. Their only objective is to please the Government of Alberta. We lowly subjects should just be grateful they are willing to serve us.
Licensing matters are not as a cut and dried as the people running this outfit love to inform us. There is room for flexibility, for bending procedures a bit to meet unique customer circumstances. I know this because I have used other registries that try to be helpful and are somewhat flexible.
Let’s be realistic. We have no choices in some things. We need drivers’ licenses and license plates or we take the bus. But there are plenty of registries in Calgary. My suggestion is, avoid this registry if possible. Protect your own sanity, and find one on Unilocal that your fellow citizens have judged to be somewhat interested in pleasing the person handing them the money, the public, the real boss.
BTW — I do not blame the front line employees of Crowfoot Plates for their bad attitude. They are very obviously doing what their manager has told them to do. In fact she is right there saying ‘no’ over their shoulder, every single time they wish to do something helpful for a harried, struggling citizen. Saying ‘no’ is her job, she fervently believes. I feel for her hard-​working employees, but mostly I feel for the people who go there. It’s an unnecessarily demeaning experience.

There is this male staff member who is always looking like he hates his job. The learners exams here are hard and is hard to find

The staff were friendly, there’s free candy, and plenty of parking. Unfortunately everyone knows this, so the place is usually queued up. Give yourself half an hour. If you’re closer to North Hill Mall, that registry typically has smaller line-​ups.

Well, this isn’t my favourite of the Calgary registries, but it’s certainly one of my most frequented ones.
Every time I need to update my care registration I always head here, and immediately regret it afterward. It seems that, from open to close, there is always a jumbo line. People pack into this place to have their needs met and I usually end up waiting for close to half an hour… it sucks. I guess people like this one because it’s always busy.
I find that the workers at this location aren’t always the friendliest. It could be because they don’t have any down time, what with the huge line-​ups and all. Or it could be because they have to deal with some stupid people sometimes. I’ve heard customers pretty much yelling at the counter people before… I always feel bad.
So, to sum it up. Busy. Not-​so-​friendly. Convenient. I’ll probably end up going there in a few weeks to update my registration again.