I'm sure other people have completely positive experiences with this DOL office, but unfortunately this was not the case for my mom and I as we encountered an inappropriate incident with the front desk person and a customer behind us in line.
Last week on Friday 8/7, I went in with my mom for her 2:45pm appointment to get her drivers license renewed. We do not live in Kent and usually we would go to a closer location, but this was the only place with appointments still available this month. So we left early to make the drive and got here a little after 1:00pm. When we got in, my mom stated to the lady at the front desk (I was not able to catch her name, but she appeared to be a middle-aged white lady wearing a green shirt) that we had an appointment and would like to check in early. My mom showed the lady the appointment confirmation text on her phone, and I can't remember if my mom or the lady said "2:45" out loud, but either way the lady said something along the lines of, "I can't check you in because your appointment isn't until 2:45" and the guy behind us in line (a middle-aged white man, a customer who we did not know) laughed at us in a rude and obnoxious way. I guess the man's snarkiness only further encouraged the front desk lady, as she began saying things like "Do you want to sit here and wait for 2 hours?" implying that we had no business coming this early and that we should go home or something and come back closer to the time. This already is inconsiderate as she assumed we lived in or near Kent or as if we purposely came early to cause trouble. For another 30 seconds or so the front desk lady and the guy behind us kept making snarky comments which made us very uncomfortable & like we weren't "smart". My mom stayed silent because she was so taken aback. I finally had enough so I said in a stern tone, "Okay that's fine, we can sit and wait here until then" and turned towards the waiting area to go sit down. Only then when the lady sensed I had enough of her BS, did she suddenly change tone and say, "Oh wait, you have to check in". Then she checked us in and we sat in the waiting. Turns out, we didn't wait 2 hours, only 30 minutes before we were called and the rest of the appointment went quick and great (every other staff was kind). And guess what, another customer who had an appointment at 2:30 also came in pretty early soon after us, so was the front desk lady rude to them too or just to us? It's not like we came 8 hours early and exclaimed that we need to be checked in or seen instantly.
It's baffling how the front desk lady wasted both her time, our time, and the other customers' time who were waiting behind us, just to be rude and disrespectful for no reason. We were completely polite coming in, so there was no reason for her to be snarky to us (even if we or others before us weren't polite, it's still basic customer service skill to remain calm and professional throughout your whole shift). Most of all, my mom and I clearly stated several times, "We have an appointment and we know we are early, but we are willing to wait if you can check us in". The lady said we couldn't be checked in yet (which is fine if true) but then went back on her word and said we had to check in first, only after I had enough and was about to walk to sit down in the waiting area. That is pretty incompetent. Beyond bad customer service (which a middle schooler could probably do better at), how do you not know how to do your job effectively? It basically felt like my mom and I were being bullied by the front desk lady and the guy behind us over coming a bit early, which is completely uncalled for and especially not the business of the guy, a complete stranger (who was a walk-in, didn't even have an appointment BTW), behind us (who kept butting in with his snarky laughs). All she had to say was, "You are early to your appointment, but I can check you in early if you are willing to wait" and move along to the next person, instead of stalling by treating us terribly while we felt helpless to even talk back. While rude people are just rude people, I can't help but feel that this was a serious microaggression as my mom and I are Asian and the two people were white. So much for all the signs in the office saying their mission is to serve all people equally. read more