Galena Illinois Secretary of State Facility

"Ever since I got out of the service and moved back to this area 17 years ago I have enjoyed going to this office. They are always polite and helpful, the mood is always positive and they do their best to make sure you get all of your vehicle registration and license needs taken care. More than 5 stars for sure for these awesome ladies!!"

"The positive thing is that one doesn't have to wait in a very long line (most times). The bad thing is that there is a manager there who is contemptible. On a few occasions, she has treated me very badly; in fact, I cannot remember a worse customer service experience in the past 20 years. Evidently, others have had very similar experiences. Still, the IL Sec. of State has done nothing. She should be fired. Her name? Fittingly, Karen."

"Karen, who works there has quite the attitude. First, she denied me a new license because she said my license was on hold, raising an eyebrow, saying "you know why." Interestingly, my name is common and if she looked up my ss#, she would have seen that it was the wrong person she had looked up. So, today (two years later), I went in for my Real ID. I got my friend Karen again. I was very polite. I provided all the documentation, including passport, license, voter ID and two bills. She, again, denied me because the service addresses were different than my license and voter ID, even though the bills are sent to my license and voter ID address. AND, my husband went this morning with the EXACT documentation and was able to use it. No problem. Interesting double standard. Looks like I'll use Freeport from now on."

"My husband and I had our licenses renewed, took the written and driving test both times. There were two other individuals seated while we were being served. Our experiences were fantastic. The service was prompt, pleasant and professional. We both failed the vision test and visited our ophthalmologists, who determined my vision was fine and wrote a letter to that effect. My husband needed driving glasses, got his prescription filled and returned for the vision test. Our licenses were renewed without any problem and the service was impeccable during each visit and the driving test. We didn't miss the several long lines and waiting time we had experienced in Chicago, previously, although there, too, we were always treated respectfully.."

"There had been a long line for quite some time. Two ladies were working there. Both of them were professional and courteous to everyone they encountered! I was in awe how they handled the rude and inappropriate behavior of the customers they waited on. There are many stories about things that go on at the DMV but the story today was a fairy tale with a fairy tale ending! Both employees deserve gold stars!"