Got replacement LTC for lost CHL in 6 days.

[HadEmAll]

I lost my wallet, with my CHL in it on Sunday, Dec. 6. I immediately cancelled the one credit card in it, filed a police report, and then set about figuring what to do to get a replacement CHL.

The DPS website made it pretty clear how to apply for a replacement. Went through the online process, and received an email saying I had given all necessary documentation, and it was "in the works". This is still the 6th.

There were two fees listed, a $12.50 fee for the licence, and a $14.83 "Texas.gov price" fee.

I had not yet cancelled my debit card, so used it to pay the fees.

About an hour later, I called to cancel the debit card, figuring the fees paid online should be the last two legit charges against that card.

When talking with the card company rep, they said that the $14.83 Texas.gov fee had been charged but not the $12.50.

I thought "Great. Now an already cumbersome process is going to get slowed even further because when they go to charge the $12.50 fee, it'll be against a cancelled card number.

Monday the 7th I tried to call the phone number given for the CHL program and heard "Due to the volume of calls, we are not answering the phone right now. Please try again some other time".

So I was bummed about having no CHL, and not sure how to proceed. I wasn't even sure if I could carry, using the emailed receipt from DPS, showing it was a replacement for a lost valid licence, one I've had for 19 years.

Anyway, fast forward to Saturday, Dec 12. In the afternoon mail were a replacement credit card, a replacement debit card, and an envelope from DPS.

I opened the DPS envelope with bated breath, figuring at best it would be a letter saying to provide a valid credit card number for the $12.50 replacement fee.

You can't imagine how great it felt to see my ugly mug looking up at me from a new LTC card.

So, six days. Not bad. I haven't even received my replacement driver's licence yet.

Got to get myself some kind of retention wallet. I don't want to go through this again. Credit cards and driver's licences are quickly replaced. That precious, and I do mean precious LTC, not so easy to replace, even though it was MUCH faster than I had anticipated.

[n5wd]

You only have to pay the Texas.gov price which includes the DPS fee mentioned. The difference in the two is what the State of Texas pays the private company running Texas.gov to handle the business of the State.

Outsourcing at its most basic.