Lombard Illinois Secretary of State Facility — Local services in Lombard

WHERE DO I BEGIN!!! I truly don’t know what’s with these government facilities. I ended up going to this DMV since it was the only one with an appointment and decent distance for my house. Worst decision by far. Macho Man John ( or so he thinks he is ) works here. He is an older gentleman, with an earring. Don’t know who ALLOWED YOU to have a job with human beings, when you don’t know how to be a decent human being yourself. He is by far the only complaint I have regarding this place as I wont take away credit for all the other nice individuals I interacted with there after him. HOWEVER BECAUSE OF HIM I AM WRITING THIS REVIEW. He is extremely rude, vile to say the least. This man thinks he has some authority and he uses it as he pleases. This man was screaming! Yes , screaming. I’m not here to have anyone believe me as I see no complaints about him so far. There was no arguing between this individual and I it was simply the fact that I witness how disrespectful he was to every single person there. If you make an appointment online ,wait in line outside. Don’t go inside even though it says SKIP THE LINE schedule an appointment online. WRONG. The communication amongst this place is nonexistent. I was approaching the place when an individual working there asked “hi how can I help you” I explained I was there regarding my license he politely directed me to the door to the left as he was working on the door to the right which was for vehicle registration etc.. I walked inside to be approached by JOHN right as I opened the door. Not a single greeting, not a polite please wait outside. NOTHING. His response immediately to me walking in “DID I LET YOU INSIDE! OUTSIDE”!!! With absolute shock I tried to explain that I was directed by the guy outside and I tried to tell him I had an appointment , I couldn’t even open my mouth to utter a word , HE YELLED OUTSIDEEE , I SAID OUTSIDE. I walked outside shocked , I believe I even froze because I COULS NOT BELIEVE the interaction I had with this individual. AN EMPLOYEE!! He comes outside and His instructions were unclear as he started saying if you have an appt for 9:30 wait in line if you don’t have GET OUT OF LINE. Well I’m early so what about the appointments for 9:20. HE STARTS YELLING AGAIN “ JESUS CHRIST” first of all Sir don’t just say JESUS CHRIST. however you most definitely need Jesus and God I and pray for you because you are not a good person , you are an awful human being to others. English isn’t my first language but I was raised here. As I was waiting outside I look around to notice that more than half the individuals standing in line DO NOT SPEAK ENGLISH WELL. See JOHN those individuals aren’t stupid, because they don’t speak English, they are not incoherent either. You found a group of individuals that you thought you can be disrespectful to. Power trip? God forbid you are a cop or anybody who as power. However ,I know for a FACT SIR that you wouldn’t be talking to someone bigger than you like that. Listen I guarantee sooner or later you will run into the wrong person who will not TOLERATE YOUR DISRESPECT. If you don’t like your job , leave simple as that. If you can’t work with humans , leave. How sad that I a 20 year old like myself knows that and you don’t. If you have things going on in your personal life that’s making you act like this, get some help, and stay home. However based on your looks and age I feel as if you should know this by now John . Also I’ve worked at a few jobs that once the reviews go bad they get employees, family members and friends to write those “good reviews” so...

I have a very serious complaint about one of the employees here named Stephany which was working Friday morning (09/12/2025) on kiosk number 18. All other employees here were so incredibly lovely I wish my experience was just with them -- I cannot stress this enough.

I'll start with the bad: I was at the DMV in order to replace my plates since mine were stolen while I was out of town. As per the instructions by the helpful ILSOS phone operators, I brought in my Police Report that shows that my plate was stolen, my Title, proof of car insurance, and drivers license. Stephany was my customer service representative (the one that assists you at the kiosks after you've been checked in and they call you up by number on the screen). She flat out told me that she does not need my Police report without even looking at it and that I had to pay for the new plates. When I asked for clarification since I had heard that the plates would be free if they were stolen, she asked me who told me that, I let her know, and she said "they always lie". If this was a miscommunication, that would have been fine, but she was already starting to raise her voice and give me attitude for questioning her (I promise I was polite) rather than apologizing that people gave me the wrong information. She then told me that "it's just $29" which rubbed me the wrong way. I looked up the information online again just to confirm and asked her again why they are not $9 if not free. She then held up the new plates and passive-aggressively hit her nails on them to emphasize her speech and increased her volume enough that other people could easily hear us. She explained to me as if I was stupid or rude for not knowing the answer and made a commotion as if she wanted to embarrass me (I'm sure that part wasn't on purpose, but it was shocking nonethless). She once again told me that "it's only $29".

I ended up leaving to get my emissions test before getting new plates since the sticker was going to expire in a month anyways. This was a suggestion by Stephany so that's one thing she was helpful with (although even receiving this information was complicated and silly)

The good: When I got back from my emissions test, they let me back in and I was able to see a different representative. She was absolutely the sweetest and I had the most pleasant experience. It turns out stolen plates replacement IS free as long as you have a police report with your license plate number or VIN on it to prove it is one and the same.

The security guard at the door of the building was super nice and even the employee that checked me in was super efficient and personable.

I just happened to sandwich the worst representative (liar, rude, and combative) in the middle of the whole experience. If she were not there this would have been the quickest and 5/5 experience. I hate that I only know her name. I try to be as understanding as possible but this experience was unbelievable. It was only 10:30AM too (not that things could not have been bad before then, just not enough to warrant...

Be prepared to come back 4 times before your transaction is complete. I came to transfer my registration from the state of Alabama to Illinois and because I got there 14 minutes before closing, the state trooper at the front door wouldn't let me in. She told me they close in 10 minutes and to come back tomorrow. I asked what time do I get there since it seems like there is an arbitrary closing time that isn't in line with the posted closing time. She told be to come before now. 2nd time I came, I had all necessary paper work. I had the $400 money order for my personalized/vanity tags, registration to be transferred, retail sales order of my car (because my car isn't paid off) and my current driver's license. The gentleman at the desk politely told me that he needed the actual loan that showed how much I paid for my vehicle, who holds my loan and had my signature. He also stated that the retail purchase order I showed him wasn't sufficient. The 3rd time I came back with all paperwork and the addition of a letter from my banking institution stating I had a loan with the and the listed the vehicle, loan number, their address, and phone number. The lady helping me at the desk told me there is nothing she can do with this letter and that I need to bring something else. The most frustrating part of this visit was that everytime I started a sentence to explain that her coworker asked for this, she cut me off as if what I had to say wasn't relevant. From my perspective, even if she didn't care to hear what I was saying, the decent human being reaction would have been to allow the person speaking to finish their statement. Being so aggressive and hostile does not help any situation. Well, when she finished my paper work I could see that she didn't take into consideration that I wanted vanity plates. When I brought it up to her attention, she asked me why I didn't bring it up to her when I first got to her. She then stated it was too late because they don't do vanity plates after 3:15 pm. Here I am now hit with another arbitrary time that only the employees know and isn't posted on their website.

Jesse White, your staff is failing the state of Illinois. I'm a firm believer that if you want nice things, you're going to have to pay nice prices. But I hate when I pay nice prices and the service(s)...