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I’m
now ready to take the certificate of origin to the Virginia Department of motor vehicles.
I always look forward to dealing with our local DMV as I’m sure most of you do as well. Don’t forget to take all the pertinent documentation. I
took pictures of the VIN on the bike, shipping papers and Virginia DMV form VSA-17A.
To my surprise there were very few people at the DVM on that Thursday afternoon.
I went right to the next window after getting my number. Never been that
lucky in the past. After she input the VIN into the system she told me that it
was not coming up as a correct number. What is a CORRECT VIN anyway? Well, I had pictures of the VIN etched into the frame as well as a sticker on the swing arm all matching
the VIN on the certificate of origin. BAM!
I got you guys this time, right….wrong! Where is your bill of sale? Well I have a copy of the pay-pal statement and also a copy of my credit card transaction. How about that? I thought of everything. NOT! You have to have the
bill of sale. We can’t accept anything but a bill of sale, she tells me.
Ok, so I’m back to e-mailing Gordon for a bill of sale. While I
was at it I also asked him for a replacement on the fender and the point of contact for this great warranty that they talked
about on their website. Three weeks later I still have not heard anything. I e-mailed the company that actually did the shipping and they told me that I had
to contact the person I purchased the bike from. So what now? Gordon finally e-mails me and says that he is in Sweden. I
guess when your only employee, yourself, goes on vacation your business has to shut down.
I receive the Faxed bill of sale. You would think that since most states
want a bill of sale that he would just go ahead and send one. Of course he doesn’t
ship out the motorcycle, so how would he know what the VIN is? No VIN, no bill
of sale.
I take off of work another afternoon to go to the
Virginia DMV. This time it’s a long wait till my number is called. Right away she looks at my certificate of origin and tells me that she has never seen
one quite like this. There is no embedded security on the paper and it is glossy. I had read of problems in other states with the certificate of origin because it looks
too easy to duplicate. I guess it’s just one of those things they get taught
at DMV School. I tell her that I was in last week and that I was just missing
the bill of sale. The other woman last week had already looked at it and input
the VIN into the computer. At least that is what I was told. Then she takes the COO to the back to have someone else to look at it.
I think to myself, this whole process has become a major pain in the ass! She
comes back and asks the lady in the next window if she has ever seen a COO like this?
She tells her, no. She then goes back to the computer. OK, good I might get out of here in only 2 hours vice 3 or 4. Finally
a police officer shows up and asks me if I got the motorcycle from a company in California. I told him yes and he said that
they had a few others last week come through with COO just like mine. I’m
glad all the other employees at DMV know about these COO. I love government inefficiencies. It’s a fact of life. I got my new
title and tags and made a break for the door. YES….. Just have to get it inspected……
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