New Jersey Motor Vehicle Commission — Attraction in Bayonne

I went there for a Real ID and to renew my license. This involved renting a car, since I don't own one nor do I live in Bayonne. At first things were fine. The first paperwork when entering was done quickly with no line. The id check had a bit of a line, but when it was my turn I gave the man everything requested. He gave me my paperwork clipped together with a number. Then I sat and waited probably 15-20 minutes. I would say the place was about 1/3-1/2 full. When my number showed on the TV I made my way to #4. Then the nightmare began.

I'm going to call the woman Karen that 'helped' me. I handed her my paperwork after offering an ignored, "good morning". She was doing her thing scanning, when all of the sudden she told me I needed another form of id because my credit card statement was 'too light'. It wasn't. I looked at what she was pointing at and there was nothing wrong with it. I then offered her my bank statement, which she would not accept for no explained reason. I tried to give her a recent accounting for my 401k from my previous employer. Again, rejected. I asked if I could show her something from my phone, and she said no she needed to scan it. Now while I was waiting for Karen when I first arrived at her station and she was ignoring me, I heard the woman next to me being asked for her 6 points of id. The woman gave her DMV worker her id, but didn't seem to have anything else and was looking at her phone to find the documents. Her DMV worker said to go ahead and find them and come back. She was never told she couldn't use her phone. She was dealt with politely and fairly.

So my last thing I tried to give Karen was the paperwork I got from them to come renew my license. She would not accept that, either. Then she asked if I had any recent paperwork from the government. That threw me for a loop because what did she think I was going to have? The address id's are all supposed to be within the last 60 or 90 days or something. Ridiculous.

Karen asked me if I want to get my regular license renewed. I say no. I want a Real id, and that I had to rent a car to even get there. She then tells me, "you don't need one - you have a passport". I gave her a look, because I was shocked someone from the DMV was actually discouraging getting one. I explained, "I don't want to have to carry my passport around when I'm traveling within the U.S.". Then she said, "well did you make a Real id appointment?". I tell her I made one for renewal with real id available. She makes me show her the paperwork, then tries to tell me it says something it doesn't. My email confirmation literally says, "RENEWAL: LICENSE OR NON-DRIVER ID (REAL ID AVAILABLE)".

She asked again if I wanted to renew or come back (I looked at the Real id appointments without renewal of a license and they are very hard to come by for some reason). I said I wasn't going to pay twice, and she said it wouldn't cost more. Apparently she wasn't taking into consideration my time, gas, and car rental costs. Or rather she was and couldn't have cared less. But while all this was going on her coworker was talking about saving change (coins) for something and Karen quipped that every penny helped with gas money. Solidifying she did not care about my pennies or gas money that she was costing me.

When it was clear she wasn't going to help me, I got my license renewed regularly. I was so incredibly mad. I should have asked to speak to her manager. I literally had everything asked for, plus some, and she claimed it wouldn't scan. Why couldn't she try someone else's scanner? Why couldn't she have scanned from my phone since the other DMV worker seemed like she was going to for her customer? Anyway, I didn't want to lose it and become a YouTube/TikTok sensation (in the bad way), so I paid and left. Now I just want to know how to report her. I do not know her name as nothing was displayed - I only know what work station she was at and she was an older white lady with long straight gray and blonde hair and bangs...

I had a deeply disappointing and frustrating experience at MVC Bayonne. I’m usually a kind, patient person who always gives others the benefit of the doubt. I respect people in all roles and never jump to judge but what I witnessed and experienced truly shocked me. From the moment I walked in, the front desk lady spoke to people in a tone that was dismissive, and even aggressive. One of the women at the front desk, in particular, was speaking to visitors who were nothing but polite, in a way that lacked the most basic standards of customer service or decency.

I thought maybe she was having a bad day, so I tried to overlook it when she spoke to me the same way. But it only got worse. About 8–9 of us were waiting on chairs for over 90 minutes ,then someone from the staff came out to ask if we had done the ID check, none of us had, because no one had told us we needed to. The same woman who gave us the tickets came out and yelled that she had told us. One of the young men respectfully said she hadn’t, and she shouted back, "I DID!" and she kept yelling and yelling. It was shocking and humiliating.

The office was not even that crowded. I was watching her, she was laughing and joking with the other lady behind the desk and with the security guard, so it clearly wasn’t just about stress. The attitude seemed intentional.

When I was filling out a form using a pen that was on the public desk, I approached the other lady that was sitting next to her to ask a question, I didn't want to ask the first lady because to be honest I was scared, but the other lady Instead of answering, she immediately yelled at me: "LEAVE THAT PEN ON THE TABLE! IT BELONGS TO OUR OFFICE!" completely ignoring my question. I felt humiliated. I’m a physician who works long shifts in highly stressful environments, and I have never spoken to another human being like that, especially not someone seeking help.

It was honestly heartbreaking to see how they treated people. I left that place feeling disrespected, ashamed, and upset not just for myself, but for every person sitting there afraid to speak up. Everyone was quietly whispering about the experience, hoping to just get out of there and never return.

I was warned by others not to go to this location because of the front desk staff especially two particular women but because it was close to home, I gave it a chance. Now I understand what they meant. I truly hope someone from management or a higher office in the NJ MVC system reads this and takes action. People deserve to be treated with respect not yelled at or shamed for simply trying to get help with their documents.

To anyone reading this: please don’t allow this kind of behavior to continue unnoticed. It’s not just poor service it’s emotionally damaging, especially for elderly, young, or vulnerable individuals who might not be able to speak up for themselves. If they speak to strangers this way, I truly worry about how they treat their own families especially...

Got there at 11am for an 11:45 appointment for a state ID. Got out around 12:45pm. Rating a DMV feels strange because nobody really goes expecting an amazing experience, but my visit today was pretty good. The only bad thing was the waiting but it's the DMV, what can you do haha. I walked up, received a ticket according to my appointment time. Then I waited in line to present my ID to the ID checking counter. The waiting that came after this was the longest but not bad if you get a chair. When my number was called, I went to the counter where they went through all of my details, took my photo, took my payment via card, then sent me on my way with a receipt.

The workers I met were nice, really direct and to the point at the worst. I wasn't yelled at or given attitude or anything at all.

Saw a lot of people struggling there today so I wanted to make some notes:

MAKE AN APPOINTMENT. They have signs all over their windows that they are appointment only! Come early! I turned up 45 minutes early, worried they'd turn me away but it was actually a good time to show up!

BRING EVERYTHING. THEN MORE. I saw so many people struggling at the ID checking counter with addresses not matching on everything, only having stuff on their phones, etc. Make sure your address is written exactly the same on everything. Down to the way your apartment is listed (EG: "APT vs Unit"). Look online at exactly what you need and if there are other options you have access to (like also having a credit card bill instead of just your bank statement), bring it too (just in case)! Best case scenario, you don't need it. Worst case scenario, you've wasted your time because the one thing you brought has something wrong with it or because the person checking your ID is really picky. Print everything beforehand and bring it to the appointment! Have it ready while you're waiting in line before you go to the counter!

Don't lose the ticket they give you when you walk in. You're asking...