4 ms·

Court isn't cheap. You're paying for it with a lawyer or with your own time

giancarlostoro 7y ago
> Droogie contacted the DMV who told him to change his plate. He refused because he didn't do anything wrong. While they wiped the fines off his record, unfortunately for him, they didn't fix the problem in the system so once again, Droogie has accrued another $6,000 in tickets that he had nothing to do with. He says he won't be paying those either. Except he just contacted the DMV. No lawyers necessary.
- jedberg 7y ago
  Knowing the California DMV, that contact probably took at least two hours.
  - dawnerd 7y ago
    Number of years ago I was frustrated because they never sent me my renewed card and it turned out they never updated my address even though I did the paperwork. Took it to twitter and tagged @CA_DMV and they responded pretty quickly and took care of it. Got my new card pretty much next day.
- rtkwe 7y ago
  Really I'm surprised they didn't just add NULL to the list of banned words and ban/refuse to renew the tag which seems eminently within their powers.
  - c22 7y ago
    Perhaps they did and the renewal system just assumed that banned word was missing and silently skipped it.
- kelnos 7y ago
  ... and then the second half of the parent's sentence (which you conveniently ignored) applies: he's paying with his own time. I dunno about you, but I value my time way too highly to voluntarily use it to spend time on the phone with the DMV every month or three.
  - xeromal 7y ago
    Yeah, we're on Hackernews so I assume most people on here make at least 50+ an hour. The CA DMV will cost $200+ at least.
vageli 7y ago
> Court isn't cheap. > You're paying for it with a lawyer or with your own time At some point surely you can countersue for harassment?
- kelnos 7y ago
  For the first time or two, maybe. But you'll be paying for it with hours, possibly tens of hours, of your own free time. And the US legal system is a fickle beast; what seems to you like a slam dunk might not actually be so certain. After the second or third time, the judge will ask, "why didn't you just change your license plate to something else and avoid all this hassle?" And when you answer, "I've grown fond of the plate, and want the DMV to fix its systems", the judge will sigh, and rule against you for wasting his/her time instead of just changing your license plate.
  - vageli 7y ago
    What do you mean "after the second or third time"? Are you suggesting that if this person were to sue for the repeated harassment and presumably prevail (with some kind of damages attached) that the behavior would persist?

> Droogie contacted the DMV who told him to change his plate. He refused because he didn't do anything wrong. While they wiped the fines off his record, unfortunately for him, they didn't fix the problem in the system so once again, Droogie has accrued another $6,000 in tickets that he had nothing to do with. He says he won't be paying those either. Except he just contacted the DMV. No lawyers necessary.

jedberg 7y ago
Knowing the California DMV, that contact probably took at least two hours.
- dawnerd 7y ago
  Number of years ago I was frustrated because they never sent me my renewed card and it turned out they never updated my address even though I did the paperwork. Took it to twitter and tagged @CA_DMV and they responded pretty quickly and took care of it. Got my new card pretty much next day.
rtkwe 7y ago
Really I'm surprised they didn't just add NULL to the list of banned words and ban/refuse to renew the tag which seems eminently within their powers.
- c22 7y ago
  Perhaps they did and the renewal system just assumed that banned word was missing and silently skipped it.
kelnos 7y ago
... and then the second half of the parent's sentence (which you conveniently ignored) applies: he's paying with his own time. I dunno about you, but I value my time way too highly to voluntarily use it to spend time on the phone with the DMV every month or three.
- xeromal 7y ago
  Yeah, we're on Hackernews so I assume most people on here make at least 50+ an hour. The CA DMV will cost $200+ at least.

vageli 7y ago

> Court isn't cheap. > You're paying for it with a lawyer or with your own time At some point surely you can countersue for harassment?

kelnos 7y ago
For the first time or two, maybe. But you'll be paying for it with hours, possibly tens of hours, of your own free time. And the US legal system is a fickle beast; what seems to you like a slam dunk might not actually be so certain. After the second or third time, the judge will ask, "why didn't you just change your license plate to something else and avoid all this hassle?" And when you answer, "I've grown fond of the plate, and want the DMV to fix its systems", the judge will sigh, and rule against you for wasting his/her time instead of just changing your license plate.
- vageli 7y ago
  What do you mean "after the second or third time"? Are you suggesting that if this person were to sue for the repeated harassment and presumably prevail (with some kind of damages attached) that the behavior would persist?