Who is in charge of the the Texas CHL office

[mrbug]

Does anyone know who is in charge of the CHL office? I am so beyond my limit of patience with inefficiency and being outright lied to that I feel the need to vent.

[Commander]

Chief Valerie Fulmer is over the Concealed Handgun section and Bureau of Private Security.

[mrbug]

Chief Valerie Fulmer is over the Concealed Handgun section and Bureau of Private Security.

Thank you. I would love to send her a copy of the email I just wrote.

To the CHL office:

Dear Sirs:

Would you be kind enough to please give me a status on my application ######? What backround checks are still pending?

John C.

From the CHL office:

We received your application on 08/27/07; at this time it is going through the normal processing. It can take up to 60 days to process.

To the CHL office:

No, you received my completed application on 7/28/07. I have USPS delivery confirmation to attest to the fact. On August 14th I was told that the mail room was slow and that it takes two weeks or more for mail to get to your office from the mail room which does not make any sense when my check for the application fee was cashed a whole lot quicker than that. On August 21st I was told that the signed fingerprint card was indeed in the office and that my application was being processed. I have since been told that my missing information wasn't received until 8/27/07 because that is the date in the system. I find it quite unique that the original application received date is July 3rd which coincided with the certified and return receipt requested date when tracking of the application was obvious.

Imagine, if you will, if you had ordered and paid in advance for a watch. You were told in advance that it could be up to 60 days for you to receive said watch once your order was received. You failed to indicate whether you wanted this watch in silver or gold on your initial order and it took the company almost a month to notify you of your error. You accept that you made an error and that you have just added a month to your wait time simply because of your error and the company's failure to notify you in a timely manner. You immediately ammend your order to indicate your choice of metal and rush to the Post Office the same day and send back the ammended order. You know the company received it the very next day because you had the envelope tracked. The company gives you the runaround over the next several weeks giving you story after story about what is going on with your order until low and behold a solid month after you KNOW they received the order they finally acknowledge that your processing has begun and that you should receive you watch in about 60 days. How upset would you be with that company turning your 2 month wait into a 4 month wait? How would you feel or react to this situation?

John C.

[WarHawk-AVG]

umm...brother

Here is a tip

DON'T STEP ON THE TOES OF THE GUYS THAT GIVE YOU THE THUMBS UP OR THUMBS DOWN ON A CHL

Kinda like if you get stopped by a LEO, do you give him a huge ration or do you yes sir/ no sir him to death?

P.S. Unless you want everyone to know your complete name..I recommend editing your post

Just my $0.02

[mrbug]

umm...brother

Here is a tip

DON'T STEP ON THE TOES OF THE GUYS THAT GIVE YOU THE THUMBS UP OR THUMBS DOWN ON A CHL

Kinda like if you get stopped by a LEO, do you give him a huge ration of stuff or do you yes sir/ no sir him to death?

P.S. Unless you want everyone to know your complete name..I recommend editing your post

Just my $0.02

I don't mind your $0.02 a bit. I have wrestled with the thought of just being a good little boy and swallowing every bit of bile and disgust that I have been fed and ask for more with a smile on my face. What prevents me from acting like that is principle. Every single one of us is accountable for our actions. If I was to ever treat one of my customers with even half of the miserable customer service in which I have been treated by the CHL office I would be banned by that customer from ever providing service to them again. Nothing I have said in any of my communications to them has been untrue nor have I questioned their character. I have tried to be nothing but respectful to them. Does having the ability to issue a license entitle any government entity the right to bully or force the public to kneel to them? Did our founding fathers fail in their attempt to create an enduring society free from that very concept?

If I am wrong about what I am about to write I would like to be corrected. Texas, in regards to a CHL, is a shall issue state. I have never been arrested, my child support obligations have been met in full, I have no student loans, no unpaid taxes, no mental deficiencies, and no warrants for my arrest. There is not one valid reason to deny issuing me a CHL. There is no vote up or down here.

How can customer service ever improve anywhere if the disgruntled customer never expresses what displeases him?

I respect your opinion, thank you for offering it, and do not feel you are wrong for doing what you feel is right. I hope I have communicated why I feel approaching my situation as I have is right for me. I did take your suggestion for editing my full name. Thank you.

[nitrogen]

I hate to say this, but the app wasn't even processing until 8/27.

To use your analogy, it takes 60 days to make your watch. If you don't tell them what color you want, they won't start making it until the order is complete.

DPS can't/won't start the background checks until they have a completed application, which includes a usable fingerprint card. Since they got that on 8/27, you'll be waiting until around 10/27

I know it's no fun, but dude, that's the way it works.

[mrbug]

They received it on 7/28. 7/28 is the date they received a completed application. 8/27 is the date they finally pulled it from wherever they stuffed it and finally entered it into their system.

My whole issue is not so much about when I will finally receive my license. I have accepted that it will be here when it arrives. What I can not accept is a disregard for telling the truth, blaming a mistake on someone else, and generally poor customer service.

Nothing is going to accelerate my processing and nothing will ever change for anyone else who may be caught in similar circumstances if no one ever squeaks.

[badkarma56]

They received it on 7/28. 7/28 is the date they received a completed application. 8/27 is the date they finally pulled it from wherever they stuffed it and finally entered it into their system.

My whole issue is not so much about when I will finally receive my license. I have accepted that it will be here when it arrives. What I can not accept is a disregard for telling the truth, blaming a mistake on someone else, and generally poor customer service.

Nothing is going to accelerate my processing and nothing will ever change for anyone else who may be caught in similar circumstances if no one ever squeaks.

Dude, I certainly understand your frustration. Other states like Arizona seem to have this process down to a matter of days. If I were you, I'd feel done in as well...however, I think a little nuance and tact are called for here.

I respectfully recommend that you stop sending the CHL staff members email messages from now on. Email communications are very impersonal, and bureaucrats rarely respond well to them. In fact, in my line of work (Professor/Attorney), I regularly ignore or outright delete email messages that contain the slightest amount of 'tude! The bottom line is that email communication is a very poor substitute for true communication (i.e., actually talking with someone). When in doubt, call to discuss an issue first.

Accordingly, you need to call the department to discuss your concerns. I suspect that if you were to call, and conduct yourself tactfully, you would likely discover the specific cause of this delay. Conduct yourself professionally when you call, and ask the staff-member direct questions about your application (not broad questions concerning application policy, stay on-task) and allow them to respond to your concerns. Sometimes beginning the conversation with a simple pleasantry such as "how are you today" can go a long way when you're seeking satisfaction from an over-worked/under-paid civil servant... If you still aren't satsified after speaking with the staff member, then and only then should you follow-up with a formal letter to the department.

I placed two calls to DPS/CHL while I was waiting for my plastic, and I felt very positive about the level of service each time. I also suspect that my CHL was processed a little quicker than it could have been otherwise...remember, a little "charm" on the phone never hurts!

Best of luck,
-BK

[mrbug]

Tried by telephone a while back with all the sweetness of a charm school graduate and got just as far. I should know better when dealing with our public serpents. I got steamed, I vented, and now for better or worse its time to let sleeping dogs snore.

The sad thing about all this is that if they had simply told me a while back that they had messed up and lost my information for a month and that while sorry may not cut it nothing can be done to speed up the process once it has finally been put back on the track. I would not have liked it but I would have respected them for being honest and I would have taken the wait like a quiet mouse in a corner.

I am no longer going to email or call them.

Thank you everyone for your responses. I do appreciate that you care enough to take the time to offer your thoughts and wisdom.

[Kalrog]

They received it on 7/28.

And that is the day that the 60 CALENDAR days start then. Unfortunatly, there is no penalty in the law if they takelonger than 60 days. So yes, they are in violation right now, but there is nothing that you can do about it. Mine took almost 120 days and it was 100% right the first time with absolutely nothing on my background to require a second look. I even hand delivered mine!

Keep being the squeaky wheel, but don't yell at the DPS anymore. Go to your elected officials and have them raise a stink.

[KD5NRH]

Keep being the squeaky wheel, but don't yell at the DPS anymore. Go to your elected officials and have them raise a stink.

Maybe we can get a "60 days or it's free" guarantee. That would fix the problem in record time.

Hmm...$140 and 60 days...how about prorating it from the date of receipt plus, say, 14 days. That's around $3/day, so for every day over 14, they have to refund you $3. I'd be willing to bet that would get the process streamlined in a hurry.

[AEA]

mrbug.......

If you are this concerned about the way the CHL office operates, why don't you just take a drive over to Austin (you're not that far away) and get all the satisfaction that you require?

I do not understand that if your are upset about all of this, why not take it into your own hands and do something about it instead of playing the email/phone call routine that has led you to this circumstance.

[mrbug]

I got a reply from the CHL office today. It reads as follows:

Your license was issued out yesterday please allow 7-10 day for delivery.

[CompVest]

Mrbug, you said;

"How can customer service ever improve anywhere if the disgruntled customer never expresses what displeases him?"

I totally agree with you.

[starrbuck]

I was emailing at first and they told me everything was normal. I bothered them a few times and then I stopped worrying about it. When I stopped worrying about it, it came in the mail. I was happy.

You attract more flies with honey than with vinegar.