10726478-mmmain.jpg

Long wait times, inconvenient hours and other customer service issues would be studied under a bill in the Oregon Legislature. (The Oregonian)

If you've ever walked out of an Oregon Driver and Motor Vehicles Services office muttering, "Oregon DMV is the worst," you weren't exaggerating, according to a new national survey.

DMV.com, a startup that aims to "ease the stress and annoyance of dealing with the DMV," compiled a list of the country's best and worst state motor-vehicle agencies.

Oregon came in dead last.

Of course, that doesn't necessarily mean the Oregon DMV is the nation's worst, since an eight-month survey of more than 10,000 DMV.com visitors failed to gather an adequate sample size for 13 states.

So, technically, Oregon has the 37th worst DMV, according to the website. Washington ranked 17th. The Ohio DMV, according to respondents, is the nation's best.

“The survey was generated when visitors were leaving the site,” said Jordan Perch, spokesman for DMV.com. “It was entirely volunteer.”

Of course, Oregon’s door-mat position shouldn’t come as a surprise to state officials.

Last year, wide-ranging customer service complaints spurred the Legislature to form an 11-member task force under House Bill 4047 to study ways to improve wait times and possibly expand Saturday hours.

Interestingly, according to the DMV.com survey, longer or shorter wait times don’t necessarily drive customer satisfaction.

The average wait time at an Oregon DMV office is 25.45 minutes, according to DMV.com's "Wait Time Study." Oregon ranks 12th out of the 41 states included in that analysis.

Nationally, the average wait is 34 minutes, meaning Oregon’s service times are actually 26 percent shorter.

The study identified a relationship between a state’s geographic region, and wait times at the DMV, Perch said.

“Service times tend to be similar in nearby states,” according to a report on the survey. “Oregon is an exception to this correlation. The average wait in California, Nevada is close to 50 minutes. However, Washington boasts similar results to Oregon. Generally, southern states tend to have longer waits at the DMV office.”

David House, an Oregon DMV spokesman, said he hadn’t seen the results of the customer satisfaction survey but was surprised by the poor ranking, even as the agency's struggles with office closures, staff cuts and a reduction in Saturday hours.

The agency, he said, conducts monthly customer-satisfaction survey and the DMV is working hard to improve the experience for motorists seeking services.

“We use our data to distribute staff as best we can,” House said in an email. “And that includes the internal work -- each year the one million to two million phone calls per year, 100,000 accident reports entered in the system, nearly a million titles issued, nearly half a million driving convictions entered, and so on.”

Here’s a sample of some of the anonymous comments as they were left by Oregonians on the DMV.com survey:

“I go to the Stayton Or, the people that work there enjoy their job's. The Lebanon Or office is unfriendly!” (55-64 yr old Male)

“People working for DMV they need to be more friendly and nice they look like they are in prison.” (35-54 yr old Male)

"I have found that our DMVs in Salem and the one in Stayton have always been friendly and helpful. Sometimes there's a lot of people in there, so the wait time might be a tad longer, but they're all doing the best they can. I appreciate their great attitudes. A big thumbs up for them." (55-64 yr old Female)

"Hood River Oregon DMV office is SPECTACULAR! Please never consider closing it!!! I hear from others how much they hate DMV offices, especially those in big cities. It's not the employees fault; they server too many citizens. Hood River office staff are helpful, fast and worth every penny!!!!!!!!!" (35 - 54 yr old Female)

"Dear DMV u (stink)." (25-34 yr old Male)

Of course, "Seinfeld" didn't do the nation's DMVs (or its self esteem) any favors with this bit:

-- Joseph Rose