I don't know what to say, except that the woman on the phone sounds like that power-abusing minion at paypal.

I think that guy was worse!

The DMV is an abyss of Lovecraftian despair, so I assume that working for them sucks almost as much as trying to get them to hand a license over, but I would just have done better if she had not started straight from a stonewall of your problem, your fault.

Is there any way to get hold of someone else at the DMV, who might make more sense?

I need to call them back and I need to write letters. I'm just not looking forward to the process.