This dmv is so easy pleasant and calm. I went with a friend and was amazed at how quickly and easily it all went and the employees were actually smiling and kind! Definitely a great dmv office read more

Seems like mostly negative reviews for the Old Saybrook DMV on here. Conversely, my wife and I had a very pleasant experience. We both needed to transfer our out-of-state driver's licenses. We had the needed documentation and showed up for our appointment. We got called up at the counter a few mins earlier, once we checked in (which was great!) The DMV officials were fast, courteous and had a good sense of humor. Was a good start to the day! read more

Took my son to get his permit on his birthday. The lady called him stupid when he printed his name Instead of doing a signature. I asked her not to be rude. She started speaking Spanish and handed me back each one of my copies of mail, one at a time- saying they weren't excepted. Manager did nothing about it. Don't recommend it to anyone. You'll also wait in line way past your appointment time while the desk woman flirt with other customers and talk about what high-school they went to & how many kids they have. Moral of the story my son didn't get his permit. They wouldn't even test him, even though I had more then enough residency proof. They are lazy and mean at this location. Lost out on $69 and got belittled. read more

Counter lady was nice, contrary to other reviewers. Maybe it was a different lady. That being said, the Igor-looking security guard was a prick. I arrived ten minutes early for a driving test, and he kept saying how I was late. The form and email said nothing about arriving early, but I guess you're supposed to be fifteen minutes early? I guess you're supposed to just psychically know this? The security guy kept nitpicking me for "being late." He literally would not shut up about it the entire time I was there. Even when I was talking to the receptionist, he stood next to me and kept saying "this guy showed up late," "this guy wasn't on time," etc. It was borderline harassing behavior. Anyways, the receptionist gave me a coupon to re-schedule the appointment, possible due to pressure from the security guy. She said it was "too late" to do the driving test, and made me reschedule it for two months from now. Absolute garbage. read more

Went in to get new plates from out of state and the lady at station 4 basically yelled at me for 10 minutes straight. Then she highlighted everything I needed on the page and was very unkind. Almost told her that if she kept talking to me like that, I was going to have a panic attack. Left the DMV crying. I understand that I didn't have what I needed. I didn't argue with her. I was kind to her and answered her questions. I don't understand why people need to be so mean. It's not hard to be a nice person. Dreading that I have to go back now and might try to find a new DMV to go to even if it's a longer drive. read more

Not sure why place was given low stars. Man in front very helpful. Going in for new license. I was asked if I had appointment ( website states only taking people with appointments). I shows appointment confirmation. Interacted with three different people and wait was not atrocious. In and out 1 hour. Everyone was friendly! read more

Exactly what you think it would be... like out of a movie. Treats you like you should know everything. Rude and sassy like a Seinfeld episode. Asks me a question and then when I answer tells me NOT YET and laughs about it with the plump women next to him who continues to stare at me. Kick rocks. If your website worked I wouldn't be here. read more

Dropped off our vehicle registration forms 10 WEEKS AGO. Online it says the registration is now active. But no one has contacted us to play it and pick up our plates. Have made three appointments to this DMV in order to ask in person and waited for two hours each time, well past my scheduled appointment time. When asking the woman if she could check and see what happened she said she couldn't help us and we just had to keep waiting. The site told us the average turnaround time was four weeks. Not giving up, we tries calling the phone line multiple times. Two and a half our wait with no answer. Now we have to leave behind our vehicle as we PCS out of state. Because CT DMV has zero idea what they are doing. If your military, register your car in your home state. Of everywhere we have lived, CT dmv is hands down the worst. read more

I'm guessing all these people who left negative reviews on their road test experience failed or something? Had no issues and passed - was nervous as hell from the negative reviews I saw saying they were mean or unfair or whatever. Had a really nice woman who checked me in and then came out and did my test. She gave me some feedback on what I could improve on at the end as expected, but otherwise was a pleasant experience! read more

I don't recommend anyone to take a driving test there, and I don't think that the US customers deserve such a horrible service. A dmv lady was very rude and aggressive. Moreover, it looks that she is incompetent in what she is doing. For example, she told me that I can not drive with the foreign driving license in Connecticut. However, according to the Connecticut's official website "Connecticut permits a student or visitor to operate a motor vehicle in Connecticut for a period of up to one year with his or her foreign license". My license is translated into English, so should be ok. Anyway, don't go there. read more

The OldSaybrook DMV is the worst state run facility in the entire state. They are so unorganized and poorly managed ! I had to make a appointment online in advanced to go there then I had to wait in line past my appointment time. I went to get my son a state ID I brought his birth certificate, social security card and his passport and still that wasn't good enough. They said they need two different letters by different people sent to the house. He is in high school he has no bills in his name and does not receive mail at the house. So I wasted my whole morning going there for nothing. This state needs to do something about this department all they do is waste your time it's poorly run and is trash ! read more

With the ton of hate and backlash this place gets, I would have to say I'm completely surprised by the complaints, the officers at this place are completely professional and respectful. I passed first times on both my permit and license road test. And also on my road test which I passed, I had the nicest gentleman instructing me while I was nervous. read more

Took my drivers test here and should have listened to all the reviews. I was so nervous, i was shaking uncontrollably, and my instructor seemed so miserable. I failed and will definitely be retaking it somewhere else. After my test the instructor gave us the reason why I failed and all that. But apparently she was supposed to give us another pin so I could be able to reschedule. Instead all she said was I would be able to reschedule in the next few hours and we were free to go. It had been almost a week and now I'm furious that I have to wait more time Bc of her mistake. DONT TEST HERE read more

GF took her road test here June 30th 2020. She was pretty nervous to start.... Then she read all the negative reviews and made her 10x more freaked out. I only speak of the experience she shared with me. She had a blonde lady instructor that she thought was friendly and professional. I asked her if it was as bad as she thought it was going to be and she said not at all not everyone is going to have the same experience. She passed her test and the wait time wasn't bad at all. read more

I know everyone has their horror stories and how it's always dmvs fault... well I left all my kids permit testing at home 45 minutes away. I was prepared to be told that we where sol but no! The lady who served us was extremely understanding and helpful. She gave us 2 hours to get back and still keep our appointment and once we returned she recognized us and gave 110% customer service and helped get everything back in order. This is my third time in a row at DMV where the employees have exceeded my expectations and I'm beginning to wonder if we as consumers just have become insensitive to the fact that the employees st DMV deals with hundreds of people per day with very unique situations that are complex and time consuming read more

The one star is because the security guards were really nice And because 6 years ago when I renewed my registration in person, everyone was really nice and the process was slow but without complaint. But this year, it's been terrible. My daughter took her written test there in the spring and she wasn't sure exactly what to do after the test and the women just yelled at her that she should know better and she was wasting people's time. My daughter left in tears. So this week, she had her road test and the check-in woman was obnoxious and uncivilized to us. We had everything ready, everything signed, prepaid, nothing was out of order and still she just yelled at us, like actually screamed at us. We didn't want to do anything to jeopardize our daughter's chances of passing the test so we just stayed polite and civil, even friendly. She was just a horrible person. So then when it was time take the test, our daughter got the woman who yelled at her last time. She took the test and after the woman said how great our daughter did and how she drove confidently but she failed her anyway because while back up parking she should have used her rear view mirror more to see a low guardrail (that is too short to see in the rear view mirror). Now, it's $40 more and 2 months before she can try again as there are no appointments available. If they really think she failed, ok fine, but why does that check-in woman have to scream at people? I've had high stress jobs, I never treated people uncivilly. read more

The worst of the worst . The manager is as mean as anyone I have ever met. She was wrong in what she told me. Caused me to waste over two hours . Now I have to back and waste more time . Forget Old Say rook Ct, DMV I will be bringing it to the attention of the powers in the main office. read more

Do not test here! arrogant asshole on power trip! Failing everyone! Try calling to speak to manager and no answer! Old Saybrook DMV stinks! Need to be closed down for driving tests!!! I want a call back from administration. Calling state office on this location. Failed every kid that came in! read more

They have failed me 5 times for my road test. Two instructors were pleasant and offered positive feedback at the end. The other two instructors that I have had (a black woman, and a bald guy) had nothing positive to say, were rude, and expected you to know every little detail about your car and road laws and failed me on nitpicky things. Im already an anxious person, so creating a hostile environment, especially when you're in control of a motor vehicle, doesn't help at all. This latest time, the instructor didnt even take me out on the road because I was apparently already "doing something wrong." I've had it with them. read more

This is insane! In Connecticut we have the highest taxes in the country and we can't seem to staff our DMV's. It's appalling that Connecticut citizens come to these government agencies a d have to wait hours for service. Came today and walked in at 11:40 to obtain a new copy of my license and have not been called to the counter yet. These agencies should become privatized and watch how much faster they work and how much we save the tax payers. read more

Would give no stars if I could! The guy that did my test today (Don't remember his name but it was a Tues and there was him and a lady testing, he was a big guy dark hair and slight beard) was so rude and aggressive I was very nervous of him and not even of the test it's self. He told lies that he couldn't even keep track of himself when the telling me why he failed me, was rude,told me I wasted my money getting 30hrs training at The Next Street as "they don't know what they are doing" (I thought they were great!) and told me that I should of used my backing camera for parking when I have been told by other DMV agents that your not aloud! I'm so angry but have been told I can't complain as it's their word over mine. Why do they not have cameras for these tests so they can't do all this. read more

If you are a Connecticut tax payer, you should be livid at the way your tax money is spent running this branch. CT has some of the highest taxes in the country and the state is still somehow broke and can provide adequate level of staffing to run one of the most vital services that people need to get their cars registered, license renewed, etc all so they can get to work, make money and then pay taxes to the STATE. People are here for HOURS on end...this is simply unacceptable. read more

We must have gotten lucky! We arrived on a Tuesday morning at 9:00am to register our vehicle and walked out the door completely finished at 10:00am...WOW! Maybe they were having a slow day because it was Halloween? The staff was friendly and organized. I have to agree with other reviews that the building and parking lot are quite small. We've visited both the Hamden and Bridgeport branches...this one has been the best so far. I just don't understand why DMV would stop AAA from offering drivers license renewals AND close the Derby and Milford service centers...extremely poor judgement especially since DMV clearly has more volume than they can handle. They really need to get their act together! read more

This DMV location is horrible. Wait time is extremely long and this location is extremely small compared to other dmv's . When taking the road test, I had one of the picky instructors. Will never return back had a bad experience. Honestly wouldn't recommend this DMV to any one. If your looking for a good DMV to do your road test it would be the Enfield DMV. read more

I have been in this DMV for their entire Saturday business hours. Open to close. THEN an hour and a half after they closed. 7 hours. I have been treated poorly, dismissed, snapped at and insulted. I am absolutely appalled that this has happened. I understand that people have bad days. But for God's sake, you took up the entire first half of my 21st birthday and had me in tears by the time I left. Absolutely unacceptable. read more

The DMV at Old Saybrook has a reputation of having really nasty, disgusting people working at it. People who really fit that stereotype of people who work low-end jobs and hate their lives so they take it out on others. Despite being told this by my driving school, I still scheduled my test there due to wait times at the other locations - this was completely my mistake. Although I passed the test with flying colors as per the standards of the test, the woman (who had been nasty the entire time) made up her own BS reason to fail me and put it in the "other" category in the final section, where even one check mark is a fail. She actually sat there for a little while staring at the paper, after I had parked back at the DMV and shut off the car, thinking of what she could put to fail me after the fact. I couldn't believe someone could stoop so low for no reason at all. It was like the entire time the test was going on she was getting angrier and angrier that I kept passing all the skills and following all the road rules. She just couldn't bring herself to be fair about it; she wanted so badly to fail people. I was super polite about it (I mean when a slightly deranged person who feels small abuses what little power they have to feel bigger, there is nothing you can do about it that will help, you only risk escalating their temper and watching them cause a scene) at the time but I did report her to the DMV online later. Not sure if that made any difference though, she most likely still works there and is still doing the same thing to other test takers. I recommend avoiding this location for test taking as it may just waste your time like it did mine, even if you need to wait longer for the other locations in Connecticut. read more

This place is a joke. The driving instructor is rude, intimidating, and never has anything nice to say. He'll make you nervous the entire time and nitpick you to the point where you fail. They are terrible I've never had a nice experience got to the Willimantic DMV for your road test don't even waste your time read more

Took my drivers test here. I got the worst person ever! Would put his name if I remembered it. He was rude the entire time, very condescending, and stepped out of line several times. Three other friends of mine all went here as well for their driving test and all got the same guy and all noted the same thing! Ended up going to the Wethersfield Dmv, got a guy who is qualified for his job, and passed. I just hate thinking of other unfortunate people that have taken their test with this guy who has a job he shouldn't have. I would take a good look and assessment of your testers. This guy is not fit for his job, and it looks poorly on your part. I understand I'm taking a test, it's not going to be friendly. But that does not give a free pass to be sarcastic and smash your hands on my dashboard. To explain in detail to me a little girl I'll probably hit and end up in jail for the rest of my life. Just to name a few out of line things said to me. Bottom line: DONT GO TO OLD SAYBROOK FOR YOUR DRIVING TEST!!! Go to Wethersfield or literally anywhere else BUT here. read more

If you want to get a fare deal, please please please do not go to Old Saybrook dmv for a on road test. They have all possible/impossible reasons to fail you 1,2,3,4.......infinite times. Even though this one is nearest to you, it's absolutely worth to go for other dmvs. read more

The bald guy who tests people to get their license clearly has nothing better to do than fail everyone and make them nervous when he carries a position of power. He should be fired and I will be contacting the dmv about his behavior. He made me feel terrible from the start and barely wanted to shake my hand when I got my name called. This guy has to have a zero percent passing rate. read more

I arrived on a Friday morning to transfer ownership of a vehicle within family and same with the plates. Brought my lunch, book and some patience. I was greeted by a courteous woman who gave me a number and then I had a seat dreading the wait the I had experienced at some of the bigger DMV facilities in the past. Within 15 minutes I was called to the one of the booths and the nice young man helped me out efficiently. I had downloaded most of the forms I needed from the DMV website and merely had to show him my ID , sign some of the forms in front of him, pay the bucks and 10 minutes later I was all done!! I got the title in the mail one week later. Needless to say I was pleasantly surprised and very happy to have the rest of my morning to do other things. Bravo DMV of Old Saybrook! You made my day!! read more

So bad. I got a number at 12:10. Checked in ever hour. I waited four hours mostly sitting in my car listening to music. Went to the door at 4:10 and they locked me out. They were still seeing people but would not let me in. They perform fewer and fewer services with the same number of incompetent people and funds and actually do worse each year. I get to go back tomorrow and start all over. read more

Government at it best, can't wait for our Health Services to go that direction.

4 stars for the nice employees and the short wait time. One star off for the horrible human being that checked me in. After reading other reviews that imply a similar experience to that of mine, I'm not giving that woman the benefit of the doubt in terms of her having a bad day. She was absolutely obnoxious from the start. Didn't even call my name just ushered me over and started screaming "I NEED REGISTRATION, INSURANCE, PERMIT, CS1 AND APPLICATION". I forgot to sign my application as I was waiting to do so in person and she yelled at me "ITS NOT SIGNED, ITS NOT DATED, AND YOU DIDNT CHECK OFF THE MEDICAL CERTIFICATION BOX." Such a shame that this woman's job is clearly SO difficult. Other than that, everyone was pleasant. The agent who did my road test was professional, and the guards at the door were INCREDIBLY kind and all congratulated me on passing my test. I feel bad for all of them having to work with that absolute witch on a daily basis. When I went to take my picture she was sitting at a desk in the back where she belongs, no person with such bad attitude should be deemed fit to interact with the public let alone deal with teenagers who are already anxious and just want to get their license and go home. She didn't have a name tag, I would've asked for her name but by that point I was afraid she would punch me. read more

Need more people working. Too slow. I was here before they opened @ 7:20 and I am still here and haven't gotten called. Ridiculous. NOT coming back. read more

The worst place to take your kids to get their licenses. The people that work in the driving test area are so mean and rude, it's as if they try to intimidate the parents and young adults taking the test on purpose. I have two older kids that went to another DMV in years past to get their licenses and have never had any issues but as soon as you enter this DMV you're greeted with attitude and treated extremely rude. Both times we were there they failed my son and seemed like they were trying to find any reason to fail my son the second time. They also failed all five people taking the test the hour we were there, and the first time only one girl passed in the time we were there. That's ridiculous! It's not just one of them I watched all three teachers and they all basically treated their students the same except for one older guy who seemed somewhat decent with his student. If they are so miserable working there get a new job and treat people like they're humans! You are working in customer service so it's not going to kill you to be a little nice and maybe say hello! read more

Came on a Thursday to register my car right at 5 , I was in and out by 5:40. Robin who helped me was FANTASTIC she was so sweet and personable. You always get a little anxious going to the DMV because of how miserable and rude most the workers are, but today made such a great experience . I will definitely be using this DMV from now on! read more

3-4 hour wait times are the rule, not the exception, per an employee here. My experience was 4 full hours, and it was immensely frustrating.

Came to renew my license last time and was there nearly two hours. This time went to AAA and was in and out in less than ten minutes and it was only five bucks more. Don't have to be a member. read more

The jokes about how pathetic the DMV is, are true!! Waited in line for almost 3 hours!! They have signs about 100 years of service, how dare they call this service! This organization needs a simple six sigma overhaul. Go to Bridgeport or Waterbury! Other states have a much better process and approach. read more