Complaint Letter To the Management of the DMV, I am writing this letter because I am greatly concerned about the lack

of organization and friendliness in the buildings of the DMV. There needs to be a way to organize the system more and to have more employees staffed at the same time. I have been there twice this year and both times I dreaded being there. It is definitely the place you go that ruins your whole day. The first problem I saw right when walking up to the DMV the line out the door. I understand that there are many people that need to get things done here daily, but the employees dont seem to care if there are ten to twenty people outside. After waiting for thirty minutes or even up to an hour outside, you are let in and the lady at the front desk asks you what you have come to do. I tried to be polite and friendly to her and gave her a smile, but she just talked in her monotonous voice and asked for the next person in line and told me to sit down in whichever area applied to you and gave me a ticket with a number on it. Now that I was finally seated, I had to wait even more than I waited outside. But, one of the only reasons it took so long was because only about a fourth of the twelve or so available desks were staffed with DMV employees. So, there were about 150 people waiting inside to all do multiple different things and they all had to wait on four people. Why would they need to have so many desks if they werent even going to occupy them at all times? People have to take kids to school, go to work, run errands and the last thing they want to do is spend their whole entire day wasted at the DMV just to renew a license or obtain a permit. Once you arrived at the desk areas, they had the most depressing faces you would ever see. It looked like they hated their job so much, which could possibly be true, but if they were going to be working there every day the least they could do was make the most of it. The biggest problem I have with the DMV is that they are aware that they are short staffed and they dont even care that they are wasting peoples time. . The employees have to be there all day anyway so why should they care if you are too? The employees always have the worst attitudes. No one knows how to smile or act friendly in any way at all. One time I had made an appointment to go to the DMV right when they opened at 8 a.m., so I was literally the first person into the building and the lady at the front desk acted as if she had already been there for half the day. She sounded tired, annoyed and ready to go home. Right at the beginning of the work day. I think that people who work at the DMV need to have good social skills, they need to be personable, and they need to know how to do their job because a majority of the employees dont seem to know how to do anything right. Also, if you were waiting in the seated areas and you stood up, they almost yelled at you and told you that you needed to stay seated, unless of course you were going to the bathroom, but other than that you were not allowed to stand up. It seemed a little ridiculous to me that you arent even allowed to get up and stretch your legs after that long time of waiting. The DMV is the most dreadful experience I have ever had and once I finally leave I am tense, tired, and annoyed by the lack of personality within the DMV. Authority of DMV needs to upgrade the method they use for getting people in and out of there to minimize the amount of time people have to wait in line because you wait in more lines there than you get things done. It would be greatly appreciated by ALL citizens who to go the DMV because I know, for a fact, that I am not the only one who has this complaint. Sincerely, Tori Reynolds

Comment [AP1]: If you were to actually send this, would you title it complaint letter?

Comment [AP2]: Ha! Probably the one topic that we all can agree on :)

Comment [AP3]: Well, its probably not a labor of love. Are you arguing that they should smile more? Comment [AP4]: Why? Is this realistic? Comment [AP5]: I feel like youre belaboring the point here. Comment [AP6]: Would I believe you were speaking figuratively if not for this word here?

Comment [AP7]: Why? Arent they still performing the fundamental function of their jobs? Is their poor customer service going to dissuade you from going to the DMV next time?

Comment [AP8]: I feel like youre missing an article or two here.

Analysis In my complaint letter, I tried to use rhetoric in the form of ethos, pathos, and logos. Ethos is the ethics of something; what is right or wrong. Logos is the logic of something; actual facts used to prove something. Lastly there is pathos; the appeal to emotions. I used pathos in my paper when I talked about how parents had to bring children to school, go to work, or run errands because many people can relate to that and also wouldnt want to waste their time at the DMV if they had those responsibilities to take care of. I used logos because I said that I know for a fact that there are many people that go to the DMV and I know I am not the only one who hates long waits and negative atmospheres. I used ethos while talking about employees because whoever reads this should be aware of what is right and change the way they do things. I said that they were short staffed at all times and that they have to be there all day so why should they care if we have to be there too? They have a huge lack of concern for the people they are servicing and I think that the management will see that it is important that their employees are as friendly as possible to people coming into the DMV. The word choice of my letter shaped the mood I wanted to have for this paper. I was disappointed and annoyed with the ways of the DMV and I wanted it to come across that way and allow people to see that I wanted something to change and it isnt just me that had the same complaint. The only option for this paper was a negative tone, or else no one would care about what I had to say if I wasnt annoyed and bothered. My letter appealed to the reader because everyone that would read my letter most likely shares the same experiences as me when going and everyone 15 and older has been to the DMV so it is a relatable letter. It is also relatable because it affects everyone if the system at the DMV were to change. It would make everyones lives easier when taking a trip there and they wouldnt have to waste so much of their day in trying to get things done. The reader should care because this isnt just a personal complaint. A majority of people going here hate the attitudes of the employees and the long waiting time. My writing persuades the reader I think because of its ability to be related to.
Comment [AP13]: But arent you trying to appeal to the DMV and not everyone else. Im sure they get plenty of complaints, so how might your complaint be different. Maybe you are writing to a specific DMV location. Comment [AP12]: Can you be more specific? Comment [AP9]: These are appeals more than they are forms. Formatted: Indent: First line: 0.5" Comment [AP10]: I already know these things, so why are you trying to teach me? Also, your definition of ethos is a little incomplete. Comment [AP11]: Good. I can see this. I think this also speaks to an ethos of busy middle class people.

Tori, I think you have a really great complaint here. One that we all certainly share. I wonder if your complaint is a little long. It seems that your central complaint is about the wait and the general pleasantness with the employees. Good complaints all. But your letter is long. 700 words was a max not a minimum. Try to shore up some of your word count but also reconsider how youve maybe harped on the employees some. Maybe more specificity in terms of an actual complaint as opposed to generalities might help. They are government employees after all, so there is little incentive for them to change right? So with that in mind, how might that affect your approach? In your analysis, I would like to see more of a conversation and I would like to see some specificity in terms of your conversation. Discuss a particular word choice and why that particular word was chosen. Also, your analysis is a little short.