NeedTags is a highly reputable and reliable online platform that specializes in providing vehicle registration services for California vehicle owners. With a strong track record of customer satisfaction, NeedTags has established itself as a trusted source for individuals and businesses seeking efficient and hassle-free vehicle registration solutions.
NeedTags (needtags.com) has 324 customer reviews on Five Star Index, with an average rating of 3.2 out of 5.
Also known as
needtags.com
Website
needtags.com
Category
Motorcycle & Powersports
Listed on Five Star Index
2026
About these reviews
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The company replied to 47% of reviews.
Latest
Most recent review: October 2026.
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Reviews are shown as their authors wrote them. The company can reply, but cannot edit them.
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I had an awful experience with customer service. I called to ask a simple question about my registration renewal, and the representative I spoke with was extremely rude. She talked down to me as if I were clueless and even told me to be quiet and reread the email. It was clear she didn’t want to be there. When I asked her not to speak to me that way, she raised her voice at me. I ended the call, and I won’t be doing business with them again. No one should be treated like that.
Response from NeedTagsApr 1, 2025
Thank you for sharing your feedback. We are truly sorry to hear about your recent experience with our customer service, and we apologize for not meeting your expectations. Providing excellent service is a top priority for us, and we regret that we fell short in this instance. Please contact our customer care department if we can be of any further assistance.
CU
customer
Deceptive Website with extra fees…JUST say NO!
UPDATE: Standing by original review. Their “notices” about licensing are quite confusing the way they are presented and they should be required to have bold disclaimers rather than vague lawyer-esse fine-print “we are licensed” popups. Clearly a lot of reasonable, busy people have already been duped by this, as you can see by other reviewers as well as a web scam search. One really needs to pay close attention to the details on their site to understand one can still go to DMV to avoid all the extra fees. It shouldn’t be that hard. I am pretty tech savvy and had to work to sift through to get to the real DMV with a simple google search. Needtags is clearly spending a lot of money to show up first in those search engines. They get away with it because people are busy and don’t bother to read it or are understandably confused by their fine print. My 30-something adult and astute daughter read it and was still duped into thinking they were the only option for DMV on-line services. Again, it shouldn’t be that hard to figure out they are just an “expedited” fee service for hire, not the only on-line option.
ORIGINAL: Deceptive website appearing to be official DMV. It is not. They charge outrageous fees for renewing due to “expedited” services. If you are behind on paying your DMV registration, go to a kiosk, AAA office (if you are a member) or directly to DMV and save yourself $60-70. My daughter called me thinking it was a new DMV thing and she was very freaked out. I did some looking on-line and figured out she had been on the needtags site, rather than DMV, but due to their deceptive practices, she was SURE she was on the DMV website and thought they had contracted with this third party with all the extra fees. Buyer BEWARE! It should be shut down and outlawed. Thankfully, we figured it out before she paid all those fees. I am shocked that California DMV would allow this deception.
Response from NeedTagsApr 1, 2025
Thank you for your review. We appreciate your time. NeedTags strives to provide full transparency. We are not the DMV and make absolutely no claims to that effect. NeedTags is in fact a delegated provider for the California Department of Motor Vehicles. On the header of every page of our website we display the following text, as per California Business Partner Automation requirements, “NOTICE: NeedTags has been officially licensed by the California Department of Motor Vehicles to provide DMV services on their behalf. NeedTags is not owned or operated by any government agency and charges fees for value-add DMV services pursuant to CVC Section 1685. Standard service may be obtained from the DMV at no cost.” It should be noted reversal of your registration transaction is not subject to NeedTags’ discretion, but is instead governed by policies established by the California Department of Motor Vehicles pursuant to the Business Partner Automation (BPA) program. Furthermore, The NeedTags' website displays to all customers, before they are asked for any payment information, all fees due, including DMV fees, our service fees, and a detailed explanation of the processes required for order completion. It is impossible to bypass these requirements. Certain transactions may require additional information to be provided by the customer which may not be known at the time of order. Although the registration renewal interface (portal) for our users is online, the real work is done behind-the-scenes, by our awesome employees, and we're doing our very best to keep our offices staffed and continue offering our valued customers the expedited DMV services they've come to expect from us, including our super speedy next-day shipping, instant download of your renewed registration card, and our above par customer support.
CE
Cristina E.
Misled by DMV Lookalike, Hit with outrageous fees,threatened when I complained
Misled by DMV Lookalike, Hit with Fees, Threatened When I Complained
I got caught in a pinch two days before a DMV deadline and thought NeedTags was the official site—my mistake, but their design and Google ranking make it way too easy to mix up. They charged me an extra $77 in “service fees” on top of the DMV costs, which I didn’t catch until after. Felt gullible, sure, but I figured I’d ask for a partial refund since $77 for clicking a few buttons seemed steep. Nope. They sent a canned response saying all sales are final, funds were already sent to the DMV, and threatened legal action—lawsuits, attorney’s fees, the works—if I disputed the charge. No wiggle room, just intimidation.
Check your receipt and the fine print—they’re a third-party, not the DMV, despite how they present. Save yourself the hassle and go straight to dmv.ca.gov next time. Wish I had.
PS; they may leave a predictable canned response here trying to make themselves look legit. I will be contacting the California consumer fraud division to report them. I'm sure I won't be the first. Google them for how they treated an 81 year old man who went to Channel 7 news. Pathetic company.
Response from NeedTagsMar 24, 2025
Thank you for your review Cristina. We appreciate your time. NeedTags strives to provide full transparency. We are not the DMV and make absolutely no claims to that effect. NeedTags is in fact a delegated provider for the California Department of Motor Vehicles. On the header of every page of our website we display the following text, as per California Business Partner Automation requirements, “NOTICE: NeedTags has been officially licensed by the California Department of Motor Vehicles to provide DMV services on their behalf. NeedTags is not owned or operated by any government agency and charges fees for value-add DMV services pursuant to CVC Section 1685. Standard service may be obtained from the DMV at no cost.” It should be noted reversal of your registration transaction is not subject to NeedTags’ discretion, but is instead governed by policies established by the California Department of Motor Vehicles pursuant to the Business Partner Automation (BPA) program. As for the benefits of utilizing our service, although the registration renewal interface (portal) for our users is online, the real work is done behind-the-scenes, by our awesome employees, and we're doing our very best to keep our offices staffed and continue offering our valued customers the expedited DMV services they've come to expect from us, including our super speedy next-day shipping, instant download of your renewed registration card, and our above par customer support. You may visit the DMV but keep in mind on average DMV wait times are usually 3 hours and typically DMV appointments are 1 month out. It's best to have a trusted DMV registration service provider on your side. Please contact our customer care department if we can be of any further assistance.
JS
Jared S.
Scam
Scam. Paid and they never sent me my tags. I emailed and "Adriana" tells me "we just got your smog today", when the smog was done 5 weeks ago
Make sure, you use a credit card to pay, because your chargeback is easy when they steal your money. Thank god, i used my credit card
Response from NeedTagsMar 18, 2025
Thank you for your review Jared. We appreciate your time and apologize for the inconvenience. NeedTags retrieves registration data from the DMV database in real-time. If you do not receive a confirmation email within 72 hours of passing the smog inspection, it is possible that the DMV system may have not updated records properly. Stated in our customer emails, are instructions to contact us so that we may look into your order and if need be, manually update your records. You'll be glad to know that this time around you've renewed your vehicle's DMV registration through California highest rated online registration service provider! As testament of our dedication to our customers, please see our 60,000+ Shopper Approved reviews and 4.8 STAR rating. Please contact our customer care department at [email protected] for a welcomed opportunity to further discuss your concerns and we appreciate you taking the time to voice this matter.
RL
Rochelle L.
***SCAM*** BE AWARE!
***SCAM*** BE AWARE!! This site is a total scam and saying they are licensed by DMV to help with registration renewal transactions. They are NOT, and DMV will tell you they are a SCAM! Read the reviews. They have essentially duped the DMV website and when you put in the basic information like license plate # and last five of your vin they are able to pull up your registration information some how? They add fees and charge you more than what you owe DMV. And never send you your tags. Don't even bother trying to get to their support team, they don't answer!! And don't reply to messages either! AWFUL, scamming people out of their hard-earned money. I will make sure there is recourse taken for this, I won't stop until they are shut down and punished by law!
Response from NeedTagsMar 4, 2025
Thank you for your review Rochelle. We appreciate your time. NeedTags strives to provide full transparency. We are not the DMV and make absolutely no claims to that effect. NeedTags is in fact a delegated provider for the California Department of Motor Vehicles. On the header of every page of our website we display the following text, as per California Business Partner Automation requirements, “NOTICE: NeedTags has been officially licensed by the California Department of Motor Vehicles to provide DMV services on their behalf. NeedTags is not owned or operated by any government agency and charges fees for value-add DMV services pursuant to CVC Section 1685. Standard service may be obtained from the DMV at no cost.” It should be noted reversal of your registration transaction is not subject to NeedTags’ discretion, but is instead governed by policies established by the California Department of Motor Vehicles pursuant to the Business Partner Automation (BPA) program. We guarantee that you'll receive your new tags 100% and if for any reason you don't, for example... mail theft, misdelivered, lost, any reason... we guarantee to replace your order at no cost to you. As for the benefits of utilizing our service, although the registration renewal interface (portal) for our users is online, the real work is done behind-the-scenes, by our awesome employees, and we're doing our very best to keep our offices staffed and continue offering our valued customers the expedited DMV services they've come to expect from us, including our super speedy next-day shipping, instant download of your renewed registration card, and our above par customer support. Please contact our customer care department if we can be of any further assistance.
TT
Terea T.
Horrible website and customer service
Horrible website and customer service! I wish I would have gotten the lady’s name on the phone. Horrible attitude and not even helpful with my situation. Paid for next day shipping for my registration, all my paperwork was legit and it shouldn’t have been a problem to ship my order out. They kept asking for more and more info to ship it out which was unnecessary. Even after sending all the info needed they still refused to send my registration. I had no choice but to cancel. I better get my refund or I will be seeing this company in court.
Response from NeedTagsFeb 20, 2025
Thank you for your review Terea. We understand your concern. You can only imagine the problems that can arise should a vehicle's registration get into the wrong hands. NeedTags, along with the Department of Motor Vehicles, takes the security of personal identifiable information (PII) very seriously. Certain orders may trigger our ID Theft Prevention System. This may very well be due to nothing of your wrongdoing and simply because of the sensitivity of our system security settings. Please contact our customer care department so we can further assist.
PA
PAPI
Scam & Rude customer service!
I honestly thought i did my title transfer through DMV and had no idea that i submitted the title transfer request through Needtags (or just didn't pay close attention) I jsut thought it was done.... two months later i called DMV to find the status and turned out i had placed order with Needtags and their confirmation email was filtered into "other" section.
Anyhow, when i read the email where they request me to mail the original supporting documents at my own mailing cost, on top of their ridiculously high service fees. Since i was charged and had paid already, I mailed them the documents i had received from finance company after lease buyout. Next thing i know is i have a huge charge from Needtags for sales tax which i had already paid at the time of purchase. Now this is a battle I need to fight with DMV in person to get the refund.
When i called to talk to them about these issues, both the agent and her supervisor were extremely rude. Kept telling me you had the send the bill of sale to avoid such issue and kept telling me "where do you wanna get to with this call? we got your order and we completed and now your title is on the way." Ignoring the fact that they never asked me about bill of sale or if i ever paid the sales tax upon purchasing the car to avoid double tax.
and then told me I need to go to DMV to get a refund. Question is, why am I paying for the service fees?
Even if the mistakes are made, they should be the one to correct and figure it out as you are charging the service fees.
In summary, I paid the service fees just to now go to DMV in person to get it corrected. such a mess! and complete RUDE people working there.
Response from NeedTagsFeb 19, 2025
Thank you for your review. NeedTags strives to provide transparency throughout the customer journey. With regards to Title Transfer services, it is true that NeedTags charges service fees for expedited DMV title transfers with concierge level first class support. The cost of the actual transfer itself, i.e. DMV registration fees, are finalized/collected only after your paperwork is received by our office. These fees are disclosed and explained in detail prior to checkout, along side a full explanation of the process. Title transfers can be tedious, and it's best to have a trusted DMV registration service provider on your side. Please contact our customer care department if we can be of any further assistance.
AH
Andromeda H.
Really screws people
Ridiculous! Needtags' website appears to look like the DMV's website. It even comes up as the first site available in a search. You are NOT dealing directly with the DMV. If this is not a scam, then it is pretty close to a scam because you can use the DMV's website and not get charged extra excessive fees - 1/2 again as much as thru the REAL DMV website.
Response from NeedTagsFeb 19, 2025
Thank you for your review Andromeda. We appreciate your time. NeedTags strives to provide full transparency. We are not the DMV and make absolutely no claims to that effect. NeedTags is in fact a delegated provider for the California Department of Motor Vehicles. On the header of every page of our website we display the following text, as per California Business Partner Automation requirements, “NOTICE: NeedTags has been officially licensed by the California Department of Motor Vehicles to provide DMV services on their behalf. NeedTags is not owned or operated by any government agency and charges fees for value-add DMV services pursuant to CVC Section 1685. Standard service may be obtained from the DMV at no cost.” Furthermore, The NeedTags' website displays to all customers, before they are asked for any payment information, all fees due, including DMV fees, our service fees, and a detailed explanation of the processes required for order completion. It is impossible to bypass these requirements. You'll be glad to know that this time around you've renewed your vehicle's DMV registration through California highest rated online registration service provider! As for the benefits of utilizing our service, although the registration renewal interface (portal) for our users is online, the real work is done behind-the-scenes, by our awesome employees, and we're doing our very best to keep our offices staffed and continue offering our valued customers the expedited DMV services they've come to expect from us, including our super speedy next-day shipping, instant download of your renewed registration card, and our above par customer support. Please contact our customer care department if we can be of any further assistance.
