Villages ID Replacement Experience...
 

We went to get our new Villages IDs today. We did not have an appointment, so, did a walk-in to the Customer Service Center on Wedgewood Lane. The "sit-down" with the staff specialist took about 5 minutes. The wait to see her was a very frustrating hour and a half plus.

Like Gracie, you will rarely hear anything negative about The Villages management from me. This was one of those unusual times when things did not operate with clockwork efficiency.

We should have had an appointment and we should not have gone around lunch time...but, we did. They had 2 staffers doing the IDs, but, when lunch time came around the "B" team came in. Actually, one of the staffers was very efficient, the other seemed clueless.

Some lessons learned....

1. Schedule an appointment ... those folks pretty much walked right in at their time.

2. Don't go at lunchtime. If anything, call them first to see how much of a wait there is. They also said Mondays are especially hectic.

3. If a resident of the household is not on the deed, they must present additional proof of their residency and you (the owner on the deed) must go with them to fill out/sign the application for their ID. There is a process where the owner can fill out the form in advance but then you have to have it notarized to avoid having to accompany the non-deed resident.

Your experience with this process may differ. For us, it was painful. We were expecting maybe an hour to get this done, but, the whole thing took closer to 2 hours.

And, to those who may question why post here and not inform management... I do intend to offer some constructive advice to the CDD management. Better queue management/communication, better staff training, and manage the lunch period more efficiently.

Sorry to hear about your wait. The wife and I went on a Wed. at 9am took a number (we had no appointment) and waited 10 (ten) minutes each until our photos (mug shots) were completed. Not bad and as you mentioned we stayed away from mon. and fri. for walk-ins.

Seems like your suggestions are the same instructions we all received from the beginning.
I to waited only 15 minutes on a walk in.

Me too
 

waited 10 to 15 minutes as a walkin. I was planning on coming back if there was a long wait but there wasn't. This was about 3 months ago.

bring some knitting....or....
 

What a frustrating experience.
Makes you wanna.......bring in something
oh, for me it's an iphone (or ipad if there's wifi) to catch up on the calendar, email, texts, reading, news, events.
I find it's the only way to get through the mva too.

For her it's knitting or sudoku

you can always catch up on newspapers and magazines or a chat with whoever's in earshot



L&L

We went yesterday morning to get our IDs replaced, without an appointment and yes, we had to wait, also.
We arrived around 8:15AM and both waiting rooms were filled with people ...some with appointments, some without. As people came in, without appointments, they were told approximately how long the wait would be. Some decided they'd stay, others left. Hubby and I brought along something to read (droid phones with games and Kindle) and we just waited. Once we got into an office to get pictures taken, new ID made up, things went very quickly.

I'm sorry you had such an unpleasant experience, but I can't say that we did. We knew we might have to wait and decided that since we were already there, we'd just wait. Heck the sofa was comfortable... :) Can't say I particularly like my picture on my new ID...I think they took a picture of a woman much older than me and just put it there... ;) A number of our friends showed up without appointments at different times and had no waits at all....they all went early in the morning and honestly, I was hoping we'd luck out that way, too....didn't, but it's done!

You're right, everyone should schedule an appointment...those with them are taken pretty much on time, sometimes even a bit earlier.

Good experience on Monday with no appointment
 

Wow. I went in this Monday at 12:50 to replace my lost ID. I walked right up to the desk where my name was taken and called in for my ID card photo 5 minutes later. I spent about 15 minutes there. The waiting room was full and I thought that I would be there all day.

I had made an appointment and it was very easy. Walked in and waited about 5 min. and except for small issue with name on old ID card. Went very fast and was painless. I knew I was in TV for only a limited time and needed to schedule in order to accomplish what was needed on this trip.

Thanks for sharing your experiences. Sounds like our experience was an anomaly. We had been told the wait might be an hour...when it stretched to well over an hour and a half and we observed a pretty inefficient lunchtime operation, it got frustrating.

Oh well... tomorrow is another day.

We stopped by a couple times, the room was full so we decided to try later. On a Thursday at about 10:30 AM, there were two other couples waiting. We took a number and were in and out in 15 minutes.

Other than losing your ID card, how often do you have to have them replaced?

My blue Villages ID card expires after three years from when I got it.
 

I do not know about the green homeowner Village ID cards, but the blue (name not on deed) card lasts three years.

The green cards have no replacement date. Only the blue cards.

I made an appointment for 8:30. We got there at 9:15 and we were out befor the 9:30 appointment time. I thought it was well set up and well managed.

I know this may sound like a stupid question, but inquiring mind want to know. What's the difference between a blue card and a green card?