MVA - Walnut Hill — Attraction in Gaithersburg

This MVA Express office should not be rated anywhere close to 3.5. Maybe no higher than a 2. I am thinking that folks who gave it a rating of 5 were either employled there or were relatives or friends of those who are. I recently moved from Prince George's County to Motgomery County and I went to this location twice to update the ad dress of my residence and DL resulting in NO help. The first time was on my day off and I went into their office. There were fewer people ther then I expected waiting. So I figure that this should not take too long. Even though there where 5 people in front of me only one was called. After an hour of waiting with no movement I had to leave to go to a doctor's appointment. No change of DL address. Now realizing government organizations are NOT know for their speed or efficency, this by far was the slowest group of state employees I have ever seen anywhere in the country. Even the Prince George's office with significantly more customers moved faster. The second occasion was this morning. The line in the office was the length of the room and all of the seats where full. Learning from the first experience, I noticed the newly opened kiosk next door. I waited my turn in line which was short. So here are the issues with the kiosk. If English is your first language you will have problems as you will not have the time to read the instructions without being told to refresh the screen. This will happen several times. After going through the change of address (residential and mail delivery) you will go through voter registration and if you want to change your party affiliation which I did not, next was the organ donor application. Even though I answered No to this question, it asks for a list of serious diseases you have had in the past. I am a military veteran who has been deployed all over the world for most of my 20 year carrer. I have no idea what is living in mr that shouldn't be there. The next question is if you have had one or more of these issues, mark yes. Don't do that. Next, it asked for method of payment. I punched the "check" I inserted my check. A previously jammed check was in the receiver and came out first. My check came out second unfilled. So the kiosk thinking my transaction was successful ended my transaction. This whole process takes much longer than it should. Of the seven other people who used the kiosk, NONE were successful. I will have to make a third trip to maybe another office because this office is a disaster. GREAT JOB MVA...

Dentist visits and the MVA were sort of equal in my mind, both necessary evils; long, long, long moments of patience, and unpleasant... and oof! It's over! Run out. This is why I am writing this review, because this MVA office changed my mind. It is nothing like what I have experienced in the past, and I am old. I had to go to the MVA twice this last month, both at the same location, and this group of people have changed my mind about the much maligned government office. Was it the gentle giant at the door, the security guard, with the lilting accent who answered all of my questions succinctly, politely, and patiently? He knew his stuff, and cleared up quite a bit for me. I guess he set the tone for my visit. It was followed by my speaking with a be-speckled young manager whose easy manner, efficiency, genuine sense of humor, and kindness... and let's not forget generosity, he helped me set up an appointment - on my phone - hit the home-run for me. I left that day, thinking, "Wow, this is my community, I am so lucky." Those two people impressed me on my first visit. I saw them again on my second visit still kind, polite, and efficient... I was happy to see them both, they actually remembered me! I then met the person who was going to "process my paperwork" in one of the cubicles, (the one in the in the corner) a lady of a certain age, who efficiently processed all of my papers, while chitchatting kindly, and genially with me. When she noticed I was missing a document, and saw my panic her reaction was to say quietly to me, "Breathe..." I could have hugged her. (Luckily that paper was in my car.) Why am I writing this? Because I am proud to be part of such a lovely community, it gave me a sense of being part of a "village" being respected and cared for even though I am an old lady that they do not know. Am I extrapolating? Probably, but this office deals with a lot of people on a daily basis... and they still manage to maintain a genuinely kind and efficient approach. So, to you at this MVA, a big thank you! And a hurrah for the Gaithersburg & Rockville communities! Precision: I do like my dentist, but I still don't like going to...

This particular location is the worst of all other MVA offices. Most of its personnel, especially road test instructors are almost hand picked racists who loves to insult candidates, believing that they are acting like this for the greater good, "traffic safety". For computer test, you can easily get rejected for taking the test, if there is a long waiting line. One day they claim that you have a missing document, the other day you have something else missing in your file. If you are a walk in for road and skill test, it is almost impossible to take it due to the acclaimed heavy volume. In reality instructors avoid testing more than 3 or 4 students per day and prefer testing the ones with appointment. (Why the hell do they put a category for walk-in, then?) You will easily get rejected and your test will be over before starting, if your instructor does not feel safe enough to be with you. This means that you will need to build a good rapport even of your diplomatic skills are poor. If you are one of the few taking the first road skill test, pray your instructor had his?her coffee, otherwise you'll be rejected so they can make a fresh start. According to MD State Surveys; 4/5 of customers who took their first tests through Gaithersburg Office will go ahead and take their second tests, somewhere else. This should mean a lot, if somebody in the MD Government is seriously planning to do something about this crappy place. I personally had very bad experiences with this office and will be cursing them even if I am so old and in my death-bed. I advise MC residents to use this office only for title and registration purposes. Since each MVA office has different financial adjustments and profit concerns, by avoiding our hard earned money for this office, we might be able to win our very right of respect and kindness. Josh Unal...