I had perhaps my best ever DMV experience at the Lacey Licensing office this week. Not happy about having to trudge in to the office six weeks after making an appointment, the young lady who waited on me was exceptional, kind and quick. That is all too rare these days. My only star deduction was because of the cost: $135 for an 8-year renewal and 'enhanced' license. Seems steep! Keep it up for the wonderful service! read more

Hands-down, my favorite deal Ellen Washington to go to. I always send friends and family to this location to get an enhanced drivers license. It's usually very easy to get an appointment same day or same week at this location. As long as you have all your paperwork together, they get you right in and out. Today I actually had to do a replacement drivers license since I lost mine in an airport across the country and they were very gracious and nice and professional, and I was in and out of there within 10 minutes. My license was up for renewal in a month so it was just done altogether and with the credit card fee it was $141 for eight years for an enhanced drivers license. The gentleman who helped me today was absolutely awesome unfortunately I don't remember his name but he's the guy from Brooklyn, New York. He was so funny and so friendly and fast and professional, and I was having an awful day, but he turned my day around, so I don't often give a government agency five stars but today this one more than earned it! G read more

Updated hours and new more convenient building. It is in between Kohl's and Pet'sMart. Huge lettering showing you which way to go. Huge parking lot to park. Watch for traffic as folks are everywhere. Most friendly staff to help you with all your needs. Make appointment online only. We were able to get an appointment for the same day in the morning. Wait for confirmation text, email and sign in when you park. It doesn't get any easier. read more

Department Of Licensing - Departments of Motor Vehicles Near Me - Olympia, Washington

We got here at 7AM (an hour and a half before they open) to get my sister her new license since she passed her driving test yesterday. We were sitting outside the door since 7:40AM waiting in line. At 8:30 a small man came out with a sign saying appointments only and then yelled at everyone that unless you had an appointment or were ONLY renewing that you could not wait in line and had to make an appointment online. Their next available appointment was August. We watched multiple staff come in within the time we were outside waiting. They let over 20 people wait in line for almost an hour just to yell at everyone to leave. This is the worst DOL and the most disrespectful experience I've had. 10/10 recommend NEVER coming here. We drove out to centralia instead and they were very kind and got us in in less than an hour (for a walk in)! read more

Department Of Licensing - Departments of Motor Vehicles Near Me - Olympia, Washington

Been a lifelong Californian, so I'm used to the long lines starting at the top of the day that is associated with getting a license. My parents and I had just moved to the state and needed new driver's licenses and we were expecting horrible attitudes and a wait outside in freezing temps. Yes I had an appointment, but that means nothing at the DMV offices at any place where I've lived. This place was not what I expected. It was a little hard to find because they don't have signage with their logo, but once we found it, there was no line. Got out of the car and there were stanchions so I thought we were lucky to be first. As soon as we got in front of the building, a woman popped out the door, smiled to greet us, checked our names off the list, and let us in. There were only two people being served but six tellers ready to serve. We had our documents ready and honestly, we were out of there in 15 minutes. So fast and efficient. Special props to the greeter who set the tone for the visit. Before you come to do any business, make that appointment, read all the paperwork and make sure you have all the needed documents in order. Do that, and you'll be out of there so fast, you won't know what to do with yourself because of all the time you saved because their efficient staff is on the ball, ready to serve. read more

Coming from California, this place is a dream come true! I made an appointment online which was soooo easy. I even revised my appointment time 3x due to business meetings being moved around and it was all still so easy to reschedule! I showed up and they have you wait outside and a staffer will come out and greet you to ask for your name and appointment time and will then offer you a number. Once you're inside and sit, a screen and audio displays the next number to be serviced as well as indicates at which numerical desk station. I was in and out in a total of 20min which felt so fast to me. It cost me about $150 for a new California to Washington DL, Real ID, for Class C and M endorsement. I didn't need to take any tests at all. This was such a great experience. read more

The wait time is over an hour and that's just not acceptable. And they are rude about it. I only have to show that I got my physical for my CDL and they are making me wait that long. Something that will only take a minute or two to take care of. No amount of we'll be friendly and helpful-every time makes this ok. read more

The first day open for business after the system upgrade we walked in and the system went down. Made an first available appointment about 3 weeks out. Came back the next Saturday to a half filled room. After waiting about 30 minutes I asked the receptionist how long the wait is estimated to be due to the fact the numbers were not going any kind of sequence and the numbers on the board had an estimated wait time. She would not give me an answer, just to say I was still in the line. I found this extremely frustrating knowing from past experiences how inefficient DOL offices are usually run. My total wait time ended up being about 90 minutes. The lady that helped us with our license needs was extremely helpful and friendly. read more

This DMV is probably the best one I've visited yet. Not only did they make my reservation over the phone and answer my slew of questions (I'm new to the area), but they even took me right away despite my tardiness (I was about 5 minutes late). When I walked in, I was greeted with a smile and at the very mention of my concern over being late, the smiling greeter assured me it wasn't an issue. This location had far more employees than guests; however, everyone was extremely professional and ready to help. After getting my number, I was told that I'd be called when they were ready to help me. I didn't even have time to take off my coat let alone look at my number before my it was called. I glanced down at my number and sure enough, it matched the one announced. Ian kindly guided me through the process of getting my license and name change completed. He also gave me information about their enhanced ID option without advising me. He left it to me to make an informed decision about what I preferred to do with all the information he provided. I look forward to visiting that DMV again. I felt better leaving than I did upon my arrival. That's not something I could say about CA or MA DMVs/RMVs! I highly recommend you choose this location if you need to visit a local WA DMV. Cheers! read more

The people at Washington state dmv/dol are completely worthless at their jobs. The customer service agents will hang up on you when they unable to use basic problem solving skills. They are incompetent and unreliable. It is time to fully automate this job. My issue would have already been resolved. Unfortunately we are limited to relying on the incompetence of human beings. Note: This review is based on my interaction with customer service. Telephone number 360-902-3900. read more

In and out in 16 minutes for a renewal and switch to the EDL!!! I don't even live here (just housesitting), but I'll definitely be coming back! And everybody was SO nice! Jon, at window #2, was just as sweet and helpful as could be, and we even managed a good conversation in that wee 16 minutes while he was hard at work. Do your homework (the various documents you'll need), and make an appointment, of course, but wow...I expected to be there at least an hour. Left me tons of extra time to go thrifting at the Value Village around the corner, where I happened to find everything on my list. What a great day! read more

I've made 4 visits to this location in 2 years (ID updates for my wife and myself, and dealing with my son's ID and learner's permit). Every time, it was a positive (and fast) experience. Kind, helpful people all around. read more

***Make an appointment if at all possible*** This being said, I had a very unique circumstance by moving back to WA from an extended trip to Europe. Everybody is very friendly and helpful, and these ladies do everything they can to accommodate; this being said, make an appointment! It will save some grief and time. Overall the best experience I've had at a DoL, even though I was unprepared (to some degree). read more

I talked to an employee named James. He was so wonderful and helpful. He was very understanding and polite. There needs to be more people like him working in this world. :) read more

If I could give negative stars, I would. I went online to schedule an appointment for my son to take his drivers license test. The only availability was a month away. During that time we received e-mails reminding us of the appointment. We get there at the right time. There was a person asking us Covid questions and showed us in. Every window was open with people "working" so we were given a ticket and seen immediately. The woman lied to me and says we tried to call people to let them know these appointments were confirmed in error, you have to go to a private vendor to take your drivers license tests. So all of the instructions on the website were wrong and they lie saying they tried calling people but they never called nor emailed about their own error. The people were sucking up paychecks to do nothing but sit around as their were few visits from the appointments that meant nothing. I'm getting over my bitterness but I warn you to do some meditative yoga or happy pills because this state seems to take money, time, and your energy to suck your soul. read more

Dol has to be the worst government agency ever. Horrible customer service. Unbelievably understaffed. Sat waiting for almost an hour to get a simple drivers permit. The hours are horrible for people who actually work. Amazing that an agency is allowed to run like this. If dol was a private business that relied on providing good customer service they would be bankrupted 5x over. Government requires you to be licensed - pay big bucks- and then provides slow inept service. Yep, sounds about right. read more

Department Of Licensing - This place is beyond understaffed. Here for almost an hour. - Departments of Motor Vehicles Near Me - Olympia, Washington

BEST DMV EXPERIENCE! I have been to many DMVs in the lifetime in NJ and I have never been serviced at a DMV as efficiently as this one! I came here to get a new license post moving and it was such a simple and effortless experience. Make sure to bring two proofs of residency and your other common 6 pts of ID. ***very important tip is that they don't handle vehicle related matters such as title changes or registrations*** Highly recommend coming here to get your needs met! The workers here are all in a good mood and work efficiently to get you in and out. Finished in 20 minutes. They open at 8:30 all days except 9:30 on Thursday! read more

This place is great! Friendly people, not much of a wait (2 minutes) and I was in and out in nothing flat.

I have tried to contact the department of licensing on multiple occasions and CAN NOT get through on the phone to make an appointment. There are no appointment times on line as well. What I need done can't be done online And now all the local offices around my home area are closed down until further notice This is such BS.. I guess it is now ok to drive in Washington with out a DL if you are moving from out of state I have called multiply agency's and no one can help Way to go Washington on Government read more

I'm used to experiencing rude DMV employees but I'm pleased to say these employees were kind, and provided excellent customer service. They did a great job practicing social distance and still had a quick and efficient way of rotating through customers. read more

Went in for a renewal, got a number, sat down, waited 15 minutes before being instructed to form a line for quicker service(renewals only), and out the door in less than 25 minutes! Best service ever. I would've given 5 stars if the guy who hands out your number ticket would have smiled or even said a word to me. But no biggie. read more

Always an interesting experience. But given the number of people they are trying to serve and the various licenses / driving exams etc, they move things along pretty well. One thing - the parking lot was a lake. It is a depression and it appears the drain in the center was plugged. I am sure my tax dollars can fix this. read more

This is a local government office, ever since the budget cuts, this one is one of the few here in the county, which makes it highly frequented by people, so pack a lot of patience and time, you'll need it. The People which runs the office are very friendly, but the wait can push lots of buttons in times. read more

Department Of Licensing - Main Entrance - Departments of Motor Vehicles Near Me - Olympia, Washington

Had to come in to do a legal name change on my license. Waited 2 hrs before i was seen. Took 2 mins when i was at the counter. Not sure why the wait was so long. Was told i couldnt do it online because they had to physically see my documents. They only take appointments for written tests. On the plus side, it was only $10 yo update my name. read more

The employees are all nice. That's why I give them 1 star instead of 0 (if I could). I went in to get my driver's license renewed. Took nearly two hours from the time I walked in the door until I walked out. 99% of that time was spent sitting in the crowded waiting room with people coughing and sneezing on me from all sides. To top it off, when I got to my car they had put a parking ticket (ok a parking warning) on my car, which I had parked in their lot about 4 spaces from the door. Apparently my car had sat in their lot for too long!! In summation, this place sucks. How they have a Yelp rating of 3.5 is beyond me. read more

I've had to visit a DMV-esque office in at least 4 states for license transfers, and this one has surely been the best experience. An awful experience in another state today (it took 5 hours just to transfer my license in Colorado) forced me to fondly recall my experience at this location. At this location, the license transfer took fifteen minutes. It's the best customer service I've ever had at a Licensing office. It's never that busy, so you can retake the picture until you're satisfied (within reason). And my favorite part is the temporary license they give you actually looks like a license rather than an easily lost piece of paper. I think the fact that Washington splits up their DMV services helps a lot. All in all, I get giddy when I think of how well my visit in Washington went. I shall dream of this place when standing in Colorado's outdated/understaffed office for my car registration in a couple of weeks. read more

3 people, 3 new-to-state license processes. In and out within under an hour. Ya, no complaints from me. 1 star deducted because everywhere I looked it said license was $55... no where was it mentioned or even told until I had to pay the bill that there's a $30 something plus eye exam to read 1 line from the little dinglehopper eye thing. That was pretty annoying. read more

I just got back from my visit to the DoL to replace a lost driver's license. The wait has been streamlined since I was here last. You enter the building and you go to a greeter desk. The greeter asks you what you came in to do, gives you a number, and directs you to the correct area. The greeter also answers questions. My wait was less than 10 minutes long. I paid for my replacement license ($20) and immediately had my picture taken. I received my temporary paper license seconds later. The busiest days are on Fridays and Saturdays. This location accepts cash, checks, debit and credit cards. read more

I have been coming here for years.. I have always been greeted warmly and have always received stellar customer service. As a Govt employee that also works with the general public, It is not always a glamorous job but the employees at this location have the best attitudes. Mohammed at check in is friendly, helpful and efficient.. I wish I knew the specialist (term id V7184101 @ 4:04 11-7-19) that helped me because she too deserves a shout out. I was done and on the road within 20 minutes. read more

Maybe it's because I recently moved here from Washington, DC. Maybe I was just lucky and hit the DMV at the right time. Whatever it was, I had an excellent experience here with quick service and competent employees. My only complaint was that we had to get our plates elsewhere...why no one stop shop? But regardless, it was a pleasure doing business with DOL. read more

Great experience today! I was really dreading it because I've heard horror stories about lengthy wait times, plus I've had enough experiences with a lengthy wait at the DMV in another state. I came prepared with magazines, expecting to wait for 30 minutes to an hour. I was pleasantly surprised when I arrived and found the parking lot almost empty and no one in the waiting area. There was one person ahead of me at the greet station, but they were quickly assisted and then it was my turn. I explained that I was there to have an out-of-state license converted to a Washington license and was quickly issued a number. My number was immediately called, and I never even had to sit down and wait. Once at the window, I received friendly service from Jeff. He was very pleasant and outgoing, and the process was a smooth one. Within a matter of 10 minutes the application was processed and I was on my way to the photo area. The whole process was less than 15 minutes and then I was issued a temporary license until the permanent one arrives in 7-10 days. Although I didn't have to wait, I noticed that the waiting area is clean. There are also public restrooms available as well as vending machines and a television. The licensing website has helpful information about the types of documents you'll need, plus you can even view current wait times. The website also has a feature where you can pre-apply online prior to going to the office, and it supposedly cuts down on the time you'll spend in the office. I didn't have any success with that particular feature, but I was still in and out of the office within a short time. My only disappointment was with the cost as well as payment options. $89 is a bit steep for a driver's license, and I didn't even go with the enhanced option which would have been another $18-$21. I opted to pay by check because I don't like to carry a lot of cash, plus there is a service fee for credit and debit transactions. Cash or check are the only ways to avoid the fee, so be prepared when you go. All in all it was a very positive experience. I expected to spend my the better part of my morning here, but thankfully I lucked out. Hopefully I'll have as good of an experience on any future visits! read more

This service here was wonderful. I felt so safe with all the precautions they were taking including Covid screening before entering the building, hand sanitizer right as you enter, and enforcing social distancing. Got everything I needed quickly and smoothly! read more

Some of the worst service I've ever received in a government office. I was told that the wait time was approximately 20 minutes and after 20 minutes they said their system was temporarily down but should be back up in 10 minutes. After that they said it could take half an hour or more but they said i could call them. The whole time i was there i saw them have people wait in line, call them up, and then tell them that they couldn't help them and ask the customer to wait in line again. I waited a couple of hours and called back and due to a malfunction in their automated phone service it kept bumping me back to the main menu whenever i tried to get to any department or speak to anyone. After roughly 15 minutes on the phone it said that "due to larger then normal call volumes they cannot put anyone on hold *click*" and it hung up on me. I had to call multiple times to reach a live person who said their system was still down. At this point I had wasted two hours of my time and achieved nothing, since I am a contract worker I have to pay someone to cover for me so I'm out of pocket roughly $100 due to their mismanagement. Sadly this isn't the firs time this has happened to me, and from what I've heard it's a common practice with this office. It ended up being easier to drive 1 hour round trip to another county to renew my license then it was to use the DOL office 5 minutes down the street. I suggest either driving to the Centralia office or to an office in Peirce County then to use this branch. read more

The dol.wa.gov website is helpful and I highly recommend checking it out before physically coming to this (or any DOL) office. You can check wait times, which can vary from 10 minutes to 90+ minutes, and you can make sure you have proper documentation for the service you're seeking. This office is closed Sunday and Monday. Enhanced processing stops 90 mins before the office closes. Vehicle services are done elsewhere (like at Albertsons on Lilly RD). Friendly, helpful staff. read more

I was dreading coming here. No one loves going to the local DMV equivalent in their state. But I recently moved to WA and needed to update my out-of-state license. I went in after work on a Tuesday around 4pm for what I was sure to be a chaotic and busy time. What a surprise as I walk in and a nice, young woman asks me what I need. I simply say that I just moved there and needed to update my license. She very politely told me that I could take a number and I should be called up in about 5 minutes. 5 minutes? Okay, I can get on board with that. Literally, 5 minutes later I'm called up. The guy behind the counter was so friendly! We talked about my move, my new job, the area, etc. He literally was talking to me as an old friend. I'm still completely surprised that I'm having this conversation considering a little less than 2 years ago I was at an Oregon DMV where I was made to feel that me being there was an imposition to them. Anyway, 10 minutes later I'm getting my picture taken by an equally friendly lady, and about 5 minutes after that I'm receiving my temporary license and being sent on my way. Wow, what an experience! A+++ to this DOL location and I am thankful to the staff there for making my time there so pleasurable! read more

The DoL was fast and efficient and the associate assisting me was friendly and understanding. I was in and out in under 20 minutes.

Love the WA DOL promise to offer helpful and friendly service every time. Went to 3 different counters, and received excellent and friendly service. Experienced a two hour wait due to sooooo many people. Recommend not going there on a Saturday. Thank you for all that you do, DOL! read more

Best DMV ever!! Coming from California to Washington I was expecting the worst when I realized they did not take appointments. I was so wrong, for my husband and myself, a license transfer took 15 minutes. Something that would have been a nightmare in California was so efficient, everyone was helpful and friendly. I'm excited to be an official Washingtonian!! read more

I like this place less than before ha. The Lacey DMV is currently outsourcing all DMV type activities. Weirdest set up I have seen thus far... Visited the DMV last Saturday around noon to take the written test as part of the process of getting a WA driver's license. Got through the introductory line where you wait to tell someone why you're there and get a number, and went to wait my turn to actually receive service. My number is called fairly quickly, but after telling the person at the counter why I'm there, I get a request to show my identifying documents and a piece of paper with addresses for driving schools. The DMV doesn't do any kind of testing (written or driving), nor do they do vehicle licensing, as my friend found out when he rec'd a different paper with different addresses on it. A little befuddled, I call the places on the list and the only one still testing that day is Cascade Driving School, so on my way I went. See my review of them if interested. Bottom line is that the DMV wasted an hour of my time to send me somewhere else with zero apology, explanation, or even a smile. Then they took $80 from me for doing nothing other than taking my picture and handing me a paper temporary license. I on the other hand had to wait in two different lines, call six different locations to find a place to take my test, had to drive there and pay $25 to take the test, $45 to take the driving test, and drive to a second location to pay a registration fee for my vehicle. All that before returning to the DMV to pay that $80. Absolutely ridiculous. Department of Licensing you provide no licensing services; maybe change your name to "pay exorbitant prices for paper place". read more

I had the pleasure of getting absolutely NO HELP from the Asian lady that works here!! She basically called my #, looked at my paper work for about 5 minutes (enhanced DL form, birth certificate, ssc & ID) looked at me & said "ok. Take all of this down the street or wherever you want to go. I don't care. Up to you." Shoved the paper work in my hand and threw a card w/ a website on it to me. Smh!! i asked "i cant do any of my testing here?" she just mumbled, said "NO!!" and rushed me out of her little area so she could call the next #. Totally RUDE & NOT AT ALL HELPFUL!! If she hates her job that much she shouldn't be doing it. read more