The NJ motor vehicle commmission sent me a flier encouraging me to renew my registration online. Being a proponent of doing all of my financial transactions online (I very rarely use my checkbook anymore), I logged into their website.
Everything was very easy and took only a minute or two... until it told me there would be a "$2.00 convenience fee" for re-registering online.
This makes no sense.
Why would renewing a registration electronically cost MORE than sending a check? Online re-registration does not require the government to play employees for pickup, delivery, mailroom sorting, data entry, or paper storage/disposal... and there's no risk of lost mail.
It makes no sense to incentivize a paper process over an electronic one from a cost/benefit standpoint. I'm sure this is one of the many reasons why NJ has budgetary problems.
Posted by Dagonee (Member # 5818) on :
Send this email to the dmv and your state legislature.
Also, mail in your re-registration info. The only way these things change is if people don't put up with it.
Posted by Tstorm (Member # 1871) on :
I'm pretty sure Kansas does the same thing. My registration is due this month and I haven't checked. However, I seem to remember this from last year, so I'm pretty sure they do it here.
Posted by Goody Scrivener (Member # 6742) on :
They're passing on their Visa and Mastercard merchant fees to the customers. And keep in mind, this is a government agency. They're not really going to cut labor costs simply because technology makes it possible to do so.
Posted by Mucus (Member # 9735) on :
The provincial car licensing agency does the same thing with the exact same fee in CAD, IIRC.
The local hydro company (private, but owned mostly by the local city) does the same thing with a $5 convenience fee for paying online. Even worse, they outsourced the process to a third company which makes money only processing the online payments.
It does indeed suck.
Posted by ketchupqueen (Member # 6877) on :
quote:They're passing on their Visa and Mastercard merchant fees to the customers.
Why don't they just raise the fee by $0.50 or so all around? Problem solved. At least that way they wouldn't be charging MORE to do it online.
Posted by TomDavidson (Member # 124) on :
Our college has a similar problem. We're more than willing to take tuition payments by credit card, but the credit card companies themselves demand anywhere from 2% to 5% of each transaction. That's not a huge amount when you're talking about books at the bookstore, and we're willing to eat the cost on those, but we're not willing to lose 5% of all our tuition payments -- which amounts to a non-trivial amount of our operating budget -- to a third party. Ergo, we charge a "service fee" for online tuition payments by credit card.
Posted by Dagonee (Member # 5818) on :
Arlington charges a fee for credit cards and allows ETF using your checking account for no fee. That makes sense to me, although I'm not sure it's really necessary.
In the case of vehicle registrations, I'd bet the cost savings associated with the availability of online payment would be enough that there would be savings even with credit card fees, in large part because the transaction costs associated with taking manual handling of checks is a much greater proportion of car registration than it would be for tuition.
Posted by FlyingCow (Member # 2150) on :
It's $46.50 for the registration, and a $2 feed. That's a 4.3% increase.
So, if I send a check, I pay them $46.50 and I pay the US postal service $0.42. In return, they have to pay someone to process the incoming mail, sort the mail to be delivered the appropriate department, deliver the envelope to the appropriate area in the building, data collect the information into their computer system, scan or paper-file the document/check, send the checks out to be deposited, and utlimately pay for disposal of the check/documents.
To pay online, all of those bodies are removed from the equation. The only cost is whatever credit card fee is applied, and administration staff for their computer system (which they must have anyway even for paper processing).
So, how much of the $46.50 is going toward the salaries of mailroom and administrative staff to manually handle the paper business? I'm guessing more than just 4.3%.
With the budgetary issues NJ is facing, one would think every effort would be made to cut costs for manual processes.... then again, reducing that personnel would cut back on the possibility of nepotism, so our state legislators would have a harder time finding jobs for their extended family.
Posted by BlackBlade (Member # 8376) on :
Just be glad you don't have a car with a known defect that can't be fixed but prevents registration. The only way I can bypass it is to have my warning light reset, drive it for several miles until the computer is satisfied there isn't a problem, and get the emissions and safety checks done BEFORE the stupid false warning trips again.
Last time I had to do this dance, the warning light that screws the whole thing up lit up not 5 minutes after I left the emissions station. I have to do it all again this week, and I'm dreading it.
Posted by King of Men (Member # 6684) on :
Monopoly pricing.
Posted by Farmgirl (Member # 5567) on :
quote:Originally posted by Tstorm: I'm pretty sure Kansas does the same thing. My registration is due this month and I haven't checked. However, I seem to remember this from last year, so I'm pretty sure they do it here.
Yep. In fact, it's more than the $2.00. The fee is based on "how much" your vehicle is worth, last I checked (like, your level of tax). The one time I checked on renewal online, it was going to cost me $11 to do it.
Also in my area of Kansas, there is a "main" tag office downtown, then several satellite tag offices in the 'burbs. To use one of the less-busy outlying office, though, you are charged a $2 "fee" for it not being the main office.
Go figure. Government efficiency at its finest.
(mine is due this month too, Tstorm. So we must be in the same part of the alphabet )
quote:Originally posted by Goody Scrivener: They're passing on their Visa and Mastercard merchant fees to the customers. And keep in mind, this is a government agency. They're not really going to cut labor costs simply because technology makes it possible to do so.
I don't think so. Because if you go down to the main office, stand in line for the two hours to get your renewal, and pay with your Visa there, there is no added fees.
Posted by FlyingCow (Member # 2150) on :
This is the NJ MVC's response:
quote:Thank you for your e-mail inquiry. Previously, MyMVC services were entirely provided by a private vendor, at considerable expense to taxpayers. The service is now being hosted by the State, however, the convenience fee is a charge by the credit card merchant in order to cover the cost of processing the transaction. Neither the State nor the MVC receive any portion of the $2. Credit card companies do not allow vendors to raise fees or charge transaction fees during a person-to-person transaction. But online transactions are for customer convenience, and credit card companies pass this cost to customers. In MVC's case, the renewal process was moved to state control at a taxpayer savings of $3.6 million, but the fee collection is processed by a private vendor that is permitted to charge their percentage to the customer. We regret any confusion or inconvenience this change may have caused.
So, they are passing the credit card fee on to the customer... while at the same time having to pay fewer employees.
Alternately, they could swallow the $2 fee, knowing that they will be saving far more than $2 for having fewer manual hours processing the work. Then, they could drive customers online to reduce personnel costs.
Ultimately, they could even charge less online for the same service (even including the credit card fee) because they'd be employing fewer people.
Posted by theCrowsWife (Member # 8302) on :
quote:Originally posted by Farmgirl: (mine is due this month too, Tstorm. So we must be in the same part of the alphabet )
In Ohio, your registration expires on your birthday. What a great birthday present!
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