Grandpa,
I need to express frustration with the Illinois Secretary of State’s office. I got nowhere with the SOS or (a police department) who hung up on me. I am enclosing a photocopy of my 2019 IL vehicle registration card. Notice the blank orange sticker bearing only the letter T. With no number or expiration date, my first concern was, “Who received my actual sticker?”
I then noticed the phone number and typed paragraph intended for law enforcement who undoubtedly would stop me. I stopped at the police station on my way to work the following day, after looking at a hundred cars in parking lots, and talking to half-a-dozen co-workers. The officer stated only that he, too, had gotten a sticker like it and put it on his car. “Trust me, it is okay. Thieves won’t take it and you won’t get extra traffic stops and harassment.” I learned from surveying approximately 250 cars in the Metra Station. I do not believe I will ever get my new / replacement plates. I am going to have to go into the DMV and get new random number plates if I become impatient into next year still without having heard a thing from SOS.
Don’t you think the SOS should have printed a message to the consumer to the effect of when the actual stickers would be sent and why new plates are on order? Why couldn’t anyone suggest such a thing, that temporary stickers probably cover wait time for new plates! My guess is that these plates never come. This might be another case of frustrating automation. I renew by E-mail notification through CyberDrive Illinois. This is my third year around on it and I have felt comfortable giving my bank card over the internet. Perhaps I would have known more about these strange new stickers had I been renewing by mail. Old school is better. Heads up!
Grandpa says; When we first got your letter back in June, we knew we were in for a long haul. We have gotten many, many different answers to our questions, and most all of them boil down to two old buck-passing standard replies: “This office can only obey the will of the legislature,” or “The need to fight terrorism…”. That Patriot Act gets a lot of blame for all sorts of incompetence. I cannot imagine foreign powers sitting in some other country plotting to come to mid-America to get phony plates. Your suggestions have been passed on to those employed to ignore the taxpayer concerns in our state. I bid you peace.
Grandpa says; Beloved readers, Grandpa has a tradition for this time of year. I ask you, my dear readers, to send to me a short note telling me what blessing you have for which you are grateful. Thursday before Thanksgiving I publish those letters. This year the letters will be published November 15. That means I will need to receive them before November first. Please send your letters to the address below. I look forward to hearing from you! God Bless!
Got something stuck in your craw? Ask Grandpa. Address your letters to Ask Grandpa c/o The Voice, 314 N. Lake Street, Suite 2, Aurora, IL 60506 or send an E-mail to askgrandpa@thevoice.us.