I hate ServiceOntario

It really boggles the mind how a company that is supposed to serve the needs of Ontarians and even has the word "Service" in its name is such a backwardly inefficient organization.

Take for example my experience today:

- I called the local license office to find out what was involved in replacing the license sticker on my Mom's car. I was told that all I needed was the VIN number, proof of insurance and mileage on the car in order to get her sticker. Seems like it should be easy, right?

Wrong.

When I arrived at the office, after being forced to wait for over 20 minutes, I was informed by some bobble head blond that since there was a 407 balance of $75 owing, I would need a signed document AND a letter from my Mom authorizing me to act on her behalf. To me, this makes absolutely no sense at all. It's not like I was trying to license a car in her name....I am paying a 407 ETR balance and getting a replacement license plate sticker.

So, I had to leave the office and drive clear across Guelph, back to my home and pick up my Mom, turn around and drive back to the license office, wait for another 35 minutes and deal with another inept Disservice Ontario employee.

The icing on the cake to this story is that despite having paid the 407ETR outstanding bill of $95, the 407ETR and MTO databases do not actually work together. Despite the 407 being paid off, I had to pay an additional $75 for an outstanding balance that was already paid. Now, I have to wait for 2-4 weeks for a refund from the 407.

This whole system is a giant mess and the inefficiency that exists to infuriate, confuse and slow down Ontarians with other things to do is mind boggling. It is 2017....why are we still forced to wait in line, deal with incompetent employees who are poorly trained and have no desire to provide outstanding customer service and lose countless hours out of the day when there are ways to automate and accelerate many of the services that we are currently forced to wait in line for. The biggest mistake that the Government made was removing the electronic MTO kiosks and not replacing them with a more secure system.

I suspect that part of the reason that the kiosks have not appeared againn is that all of the Service Ontario employees are unionized.....hmmm....you do the math.