TexasCHLforum.com

What an interesting conclusion to this saga.

Received by DPS Feb 21 08
Received PIN Mar 3rd 08
Received notice of approval by EMAIL May 6 08 - That's TODAY!

Total Time - SEVENTY NINE DAYS

But this is weird!!! I finally after 75 days decided to call them and after 6 attempts over 3 days I could not get thru to a live person!
So- Finally yesterday I wrote a VERY COMPLAINING type of an email. Complaining of - How long this was taking, Not being able to talk to someone,
The huge disparity in the different ways and times peoples applications were being processed. Etc Etc Etc.. It WAS NOT a nice email.

The result!!! An email back from:

Simone
Administrative Asst I
Texas Department of Public Safety
Austin, Texas 78773
512-424-2934
1-800-224-5744

And this is what Smone wrote: !!!!!

Your license was issued out 05/06/2008 please allow 7-10 days for delivery.

Now go and figure!!! I don't know if it was just lucky timing and my license was going to be approved today anyway
or if my lengthy complaining email made the difference and the person that read it went and got my final approval to happen!
I even told them I was about to go to the link for expressing your satisfaction with the department at the DPS site and put my complaints
on the record! I was not nice.

But for whatever reason after writing the long ugly email I guess I'm APPROVED!
I checked the texasonline.com and it said - PROCESSING APPLICATION still !!!

So- All you folks that are still waiting - especially after 70-80 days write that nasty email and you'll be approved within TWENTY FOUR Hours !!!

Can you copy the e-mail you sent to them here on the forum?

I emailed them again today and did not receive a response. Glad you did. And it was positive on top of that!

I'm expecting a response like "We're sorry, but we have lost your application. You must apply again."

Hi

OK - You asked for it. Here is the email I wrote. The person that read it wrote me back 14 hours later - The NEXT MORNING !!! and says your license has been issued TODAY!!!!

I couldn't believe it! Here is the letter:

From: melvincurtice@msn.com
To: chl@txdps.state.tx.us
Subject: My Application
Date: Mon, 5 May 2008 16:29:03 -0500

Concealed Handgun Licensing
Texas Dep. Public Safety

Dear Sir and/or Madam

I mailed my application to you on February 18th 2008. That would be exactly 78 days ago. My wife
mailed her application the exact same day and received her license a good while back! . At your texasonline.com
site my application as show as "PROCESSING APPLICATION" for 70 plus days now. I have never been in violation
of any laws that would give any grounds for any problems in securing my license. Hundreds of us that are waiting

for our license to be approved chat daily on our Texas Concealed Carry Forum - "Waiting Room"and there are literally

hundreds of horror stories like of good Texas citizens waiting 2 months just to get their PIN and 3 more months to get the

license.

For the last week now I have tried on a daily basis to call your telephone number and have spent more
than a few hours on hold only to finally be hung up on as the voice mail box that I as finally transferred
to in most cases was not accepting messages. Finally today I at least after holding for quite a while
was able to leave a voice message. Why do you publsh these numbers if you do not even have the

courtesy of awnsering the phone EVEN after 3 days. This is very poor.

Can someone please tell me how my application really stands other than still waiting on background
check and processing application. What is the real delay in procssing my application? And please about
how much longer does it look like before my license might be mailed? Are a lot of people having to wait
longer than the 60 days that you try to get these licenses out as advertized on your site?



Next I will go to the DPS survey link where you can brag about a DPS employee that is particularly helpful or

complain about a problem you are having with DPS. GUESS which one I will be doing! Look I know it's not you

(the person that reads this email) that is at fault but this branch of the DPS is understaffed or appears to be

just broke.

THANK YOU SO MUCH for any information you might give me. That is all I could hope for. That you PLEASE email me back

and at least give me some HONEST feedback on how my application stands and maybe approximately how much longer

you think I have to wait!



THANKS

Edward Melvin Curtice

Feel like I've been waiting forever, but hesitant to e-mail. Mine was "recieved" per the office on 2/22, but according to them nothing is causing the delay? What do you guys think?

I just checked and my "Application Completed - license issued or certificate active".

53 business days since I mailed my application

Congrats to having the license issued.

Play nice!

Just goes to show you that the squeaky gun gets the oil (Mil-Tec 1 weapons grade). It reinforces my image of the CHL office of being a chaotic papermill that is stacked floor to ceiling with paper and files. Good to know however that someone took the time to pull your particular file from within a stack, dust it off and actually examine it to find out that it has been completed for the last 30 days but was just waiting for a temp to run the photo through the laminator.

Hey everyone - start emailing!!!!!!

Hopefully they are not just messing with you.

As a final note. The person that emailed me back was right. THREE days after receiving that email my license came in the mail!
I'm on my 3rd WALLY WALK since yesterday. I think many of you might be afraid to make a fuss when it's way overdue that you receive
your license. I say complain like I did! You might actually have someone read the email and make it right like I did! Hooray!