Illinois Secretary Of State Des Plaines

There is only one person in this whole location Supervisor– David, he was extremely understanding and accommodating. Most things are pretty streamlined but they are strict about all sorts of paper work one would require. They could be more clear on that front because I went there twice and they required different things. Driving instructors was quite curt. They respect seniors which is pretty good. Overall a big thank you to David for making it a successful day.

As far as Secretary of State offices go, the one in Des Plaines is not too bad. It is tucked in a strip mall with a Jewel so there is available parking.
Inside is the usual Secretary of State layout. I’ve been in and out of here in less than 5 minutes and I’ve also been in there for an hour and a half. All depends on how busy it is, how many employees are working at the time you are there, who you get, etc.

I’m giving this DMV one star. Because of one you all lose. There’s a Hispanic girl, didn’t get her name. She’s short by the updated area #2 VERY VERY RUDE. «Uh I’m sure they told you to go to the cashier» didn’t even let me finish asking a question. People like that should not be working at DMVs. Everyone else was nice except her.

Unfortunately they were already closed before 12! Failed!!!

I hate going to this place, employees are not polite and they have really bad attitude. There is a supervisor her name is Elizabeth and she is absolutely rude and unprofessional. I would never wanna go to this location anymore to deal with people that they are not willing to help.

Very rude!!! These people will not even look at you when talking to you. I said thank you so many times not person said «you’re welcome» or «no problem» the only time they talk is when they are practically commanding you to do things. The only nice person was the lady that was up front who gives people their number.

Front desk STANK of racial discrimination… The cow at the front desk who’s life is paid for by our tax dollars, caustically rejected the asian couple in front of me for having some totally valid docs that had an expiration date a month hence. Seemed like she enjoyed it. I then marched up to her and presented my Vietnamese born son with a stack of docs for his drivers Permit. I politely mentioned that his Vietnamese passport was out of date as it had expired last year. As I presented his Vietnamese Birth Certificate to her she told me brusquely that they don’t take foreign Birth certificates, I had to point out that the sign on the wall 6 feet behind me says actually that they do… she then proclaimed «only with additional back up» as if i wasn’t holding a ream, of documentation in my hand. Upon showing a USCIS _​I-​797 form that shows my sons name, AND the birthdate we are trying to confirm. She told me that it was not actually a document but a piece of paper. I was quite confused as it was in fact a document from the United states Immigration center. I had numerous others to back it up. She finally informed me that only a 797 «A» was acceptable. And now the I-​94 in his passport was not valid since his passport was out of date… So I now angrily told her it was a good thing I brought his report card which has his name, residence and birthdate on it… as that is a published acceptabel document… this all to reinforce the existing original copy of his vietnamese birth certificate remember. She informed me even more caustically now that his report card was not an official certified copy. Even though it was received directly for his highschool.
I gave up… clearly this cow of woman enjoys saying no… certainly was not here to help the constituency that employs her. I still don’t actually understand what the problem is and after 4 rejections is making more poor son feel even more isolated in this culture.
God Bless AmeriKa Aye? You would all be wildly surprised to see first hand as I have that governmental bureaucracy in the US makes the socialist republic of VN look awesome by comparison.

The wait time in the lines is horrendous but that’s not even the absolute worst part. Aside from the employees, which are either a hit or miss (Some are really friendly whereas others could care less about helping someone out), the female manager of the DMV is a complete bitch. Not only does she continuously have an attitude with every single customer, she could give a rat’s ass about your driving related worries. I’ve been in there numerous times, and every single time I had the misfortunate opportunity of having to speak to her (face– to– face) she always managed to make my day even worse. She is unfriendpy, unhelpful, practically ignores your concerns unless you kiss her ass, and worst of all lies. I had an issue in the past where I had to change a few legal lines of documents and she always regected my help. Every. Single. Fucking. Time. It wasn’t until one of the employees there realized that what she was doing was completely illegal, and that I was allowed to change this piece of data. But the time-​wasted –4 trips to the DMV, including those painful long lines I had to wait through each time, can never be brought back. Don’t recommend this place to anyone.

I took somebody to get their Instruction Permit on a Thursday afternoon. It was a bit over an hour before she was able to take the written test, but every worker we encountered was friendly.

Is it any wonder this facility has changed locations 3 times? I imagine they’ve been chased out of their previous spots with pitchforks and torches. These people are the absolute drizzling shits.
I had a terrible visit with these folks 4 years ago when it came time to renew my license at the Niles location, and it appears they’ve all stayed in their positions as Mr. Soul-​patch mullet crappy tattoo guy is still there. So you can’t tell me they have a tough job and as such should be cut some slack. Quit your job. I don’t like my job, but when I was in a position where I had to interact with the public I didn’t take it out on them. How hard is it to not be a dick? Why must these people live up to all the stereotypes?
As soon as you walk into this place, your mood changes. You think to yourself, alright, it looks like hell’s waiting room and everyone’s in line, but maybe I’ll be greeted by some friendly folks. Well, think again. Before you even get to the counter, you hear a person behind the desk snap at someone because they dared to what? Ask a question? Not have the correct paperwork? Sins worthy of death in any shitty government employee’s book.
Next it’s my turn, and these miserable wretches can’t wait to delight in telling me that the 2 pieces of mail that I’ve brought forth are not worthy of their strict standards. Despite the fact that my wife used the exact same pieces of mail at another facility and everything was fine.
(This part may have more to do with how terrible the policies from St. Jesse are more than anything else, but when someone brings you proof of residency in the form of mail from a major insurance company regarding the homeowner’s insurance policy you have with them at your new address, and a letter from a major motor company’s finance division, that should be more than enough. I’m trying to get an updated driver’s license. I’m not here to join the FBI. How can standards be this rigid for proof of residency yet any mongoloid who can walk on two feet can obtain a driver’s license in the first place? Maybe the folks at the counter should be running the driving tests so we can get some morons off the road. Also one time I was attending a charity event for a homeless shelter I interned at and Jesse White was the guest of honor, and when he got up to speak he chose to enlighten us all on being a safe driver, renewing stuff online on the convenient website, and all the wonderful services his office offers drivers. i’m sure the social workers were inspired to get back to their thankless 25k a year jobs knowing that,“yeah, i probably can’t get my client into this program that he or she needs to get their life back on track, but if they ever need to renew a CDL, i can tell them where to go!” he sucks.)
And so the condescending tone was just that little cherry on top, and as much as I would have loved to melt down in front of this Joe Dirt wannabe Falling Down-​style, I cut him off before he could get into his spiel about why this form and why that form and blah blah blah, and walked on out. Impotent rage. Writing Unilocal reviews that will be read by no one. The employees of this branch (and I’m sure most others) are the pink slime in Ghostbusters 2, just feeding off of our negative energy, which they seed with their crappy, unhelpful attitudes.

Yes, the reviews are accurate. This is the DMV where they send their worst managers to throttle good state employees. JoJo the manager should be released to farm wild fish in Alaska. There are som very good and professional workers here but the management is lazy, uninterested and unwilling to be helpful state employees. The good employees will lose motivation and this place should close. The receptionist/​screener was polite and knowledgable. After that, the hour wait to walk away empty handed over a bureaucrats unwillingness to help a citizen ruined the moment. Come Jesse White, I vote for you every year. Step in and clean up this place starting w remediation training for JoJo (his real name of which he refused to provide a last name)

Awful. Everyone coming to the DMV is in a vulnerable position. The last thing anyone needs in this situation is a mean employee «helping» them. I agree with Leslie W. Very unpleasant attitudes right from the start.

The license instructors are assholes! They are really mean! I hate it there! Don’t go there!

Spent 1 hr and 20 min waiting for my number to be called for a DL renewal. Seemed like the staff was going to break every 4−5^th person and during the time there were only 4 people at the counter. Be prepared to sit and wait!

My first freaking Unilocal review! This place is terrible! I came at 8am on a Saturday for a renewal had B248 signed to me waited 3 freaking hours, of that an hour no one even called any B’s. I finally went up to speak w a supervisor, I asked her why only E’s and F’s series were being called and no movement on B’s and what the difference is between B’s and E’s? She said E is for people w driving test and they are prioritized. B’s for renewals, which requires no driving test, only written tests and pictures, which is less time consuming then driving tests. She kept saying they are busy which I understand but u can’t just call only E’s anf F’s and forget about the redt!!! I asked her people that came way after me was served and how is that fair? She finally called afew people to take care of B’s! It is now 3 ½ hrs still freaking waiting!

Changed the address on my drivers license and vehicle registration today in less then 20 minutes!!! Very satisfied!!!

Went in for a duplicate print of my drivers license. Everyone was super polite. I got in and out quickly. You make 3 stops (check in counter, 2^nd stop, cashier, last stop, wait for printed license). Michelle was the most kind DMV representative I have ever encountered. Had the cashier been at all polite, I would give this DMV 5 stars but she was a bump on a log and blahhhhhhhhhhhh

This place is relatively new to Des Plaines. I use to go to the one all the way in Niles. So this new location helps me out tremendously. Located on Mannheim (major street), this place is hard to miss, as even though its inside a strip mall area, they do have a large sign advertising where they are.
I don’t know if its because we have such low standards of angry DMV employees, but I really had a good experience here. Take note though, I just came here to renew my plates, so I didn’t go through the whole driving test, waiting in line experience. But the DMV employee, Joseph, who helped me process my renewal, actually smiled… and said «hi»… and sit down for this — actually told me to have a good day afterwards!
Overall, I was in-​and-​out like a mailman does before the husband comes back from work. (under 10 minutes).

I came to this place on the 15 of May. I needed to replace my state ID as we were getting ready to leave for our vacation on the 17^th.
I just had the best experience at the DMV ever! I don’t know what the reason is and it’s really not important how I ended up at this particular location but here goes:
As soon as I entered the building, I was greeted by a friendly gentleman at the Service Desk who asked for the purpose of my visit.
By the time we finished talking, my number was called. The person behind the counter was friendly and efficient. He gave me my paperwork to pay the cashier. I walked over to the cashier; 5 minutes didn’t even go by and I’m called to confirm that my ID information is correct.
I didn’t even have to fill out forms, sign or take a new picture. What is usually a dreadful experience was the total opposite. I’m definitely coming back to this facility when it’s time for me to get a new license.

I’ve had better DMV experiences (i.e. when I was able to walk in and walk out on my 21^st birthday in under 10 minutes) and I’ve had worse DMV experiences (like when I failed my driving test the first time… don’t ask) so I would definitely consider this A-​ok DMV experience a 3 star one.
I went on Saturday to renew my license (which I had gotten the letter in the mail stating I could renew by mail, but wanted to take a new photo.) I arrived one hour prior to closing (this location open until noon on Saturdays) and waited probably about 20 minutes.
The woman who assisted me was friendly, the only thing I took issue with is that I was given a vision test. I passed just fine, but if I had the opportunity to renew by mail, why did she feel the need to give me a vision test? Oh well… I can see, so it’s all good.
I paid the cashier ($ 1 extra to use a credit card) and walked over to the photo area where I was called almost immediately. The photographer was also friendly, and prompted me to fix one side of my hair before taking the photo, which I appreciated, considering, this is probably the last time I’m actually going to *want* to take a new photo.
So, it was fast, efficient, and friendly. Why only 3 stars? I’m lucky that I got the employee I did, I saw another employee who had the stereotypical «I have a government job» chip on his shoulder being extremely rude to another patron. Oh… and the several families who had no concept of controlling screaming/​running children.
All in all, I was in and out in about 30 minutes. A-​ok if you ask me.