-- For immediate release --
Customers can sign up for reminders
online or at the Secretary of State’s mobile office at the North American
International Auto Show
DETROIT
– You get the notice in the mail, put it with the stack of bills and in the middle
of your busy life, you forget it’s time to renew your vehicle’s license plate
tab.
But
an innovative new service announced today by Secretary of State Ruth Johnson
will allow customers to sign up for text or emails reminding them a few weeks
before their birthday that it’s time to renew their tabs.
“This
is common-sense customer service,” said Johnson. “I hear from customers all the
time who remember at the last minute and have to visit a branch office on their
birthday. We’re sending reminders so you can spend your birthday with your
families doing something fun instead!”
In
addition to tab reminders, customers can also sign up for reminders notifying
them of an upcoming election. Johnson launched the first such service in
Oakland County as Oakland County Clerk/Register of Deeds.
Customers can sign
up for the reminders by clicking on the red envelope at www.michigan.gov/sos. Johnson said
Michigan drivers can also sign up at the Secretary of State’s booth at the
North American International Auto Show.
Visitors
to the SOS booth can also learn about ExpressSOS.com, which offers some of the
Secretary of State’s most popular services online. Since its launch in 2011, the
website has handled more than four million
transactions, helping to shorten lines in branch offices. It also offers a
special “print-and-go” service that allows customers to print a proof-of-purchase
for tabs on their computers until their tabs arrive in the mail.
The North American
International Auto Show runs through Jan.26 at the Cobo Center in Detroit. The
Michigan Secretary of State display, including the full-service Mobile Office,
is on the concourse outside of the Macomb Hall entrance. The Mobile Office will
be open from 9 a.m. to 8 p.m. on weekends; and noon to 6 p.m. on weekdays. On
Sunday, Jan. 26, the office will be open until 7 p.m.
“We
are thrilled to have the Secretary of State exhibiting again this year at the
North American International Auto Show,” said Paul Sabatini, president of the Detroit
Auto Dealers Association. “It is fitting that show-goers can look at more than
500 cars on the show floor then stop by the SOS Mobile Office in the concourse
of Cobo Center and get a personalized license plate or a demonstration on how
easy it is to utilize SOS services online.”
Customers
may sign up at the auto show display, through a new text-to-subscribe feature
or from home by visiting www.Michigan.gov/sos
and clicking on the red envelope icon. The renewal reminder email or text
message will not replace the renewal mailing that is sent 45 days before the
plate expires.
To
sign up via text message, customers can text “MSOS RENEW” for renewal
reminders, “MSOS ELEX” for election reminders and “MSOS UPDATES” for news
updates plus their email address to 468311 to receive emails. Customers who
only want a text message should text the phrase only to 468311. For renewal
reminders, they’ll just need to enter the expiration month and day of the
plate.
For media questions, please call
Gisgie Dávila Gendreau at 517-373-2520.
For more about the Secretary of State's Office:
To find Secretary of State office locations and services, visit www.michigan.gov/sos. Sign up for the official Secretary of State Twitter feed at www.twitter.com/michsos and Facebook updates at www.facebook.com/michigansos. Online services are available at www.expresssos.com.
Customers may call the Department of State Information Center to speak to a customer-service representative at 888-SOS-MICH (767-6424).
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